Quebec Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel is now investigating the incident, his office said in a statement Saturday. “The video that is being circulated raises questions. We are very sensitive to the comments that are being circulated,” the minister’s spokesman said in an email to CTV News. “We will make the necessary verifications with the SPVM so that they can shed light on the context surrounding the events that were filmed.” The video, which shows part of the police interaction, shows a man and two plainclothes officers standing in a parking lot next to the vehicle. The man, who has his hands in handcuffs behind him, demands the police explain why they stopped him. “Is it because I’m black?” asked the man, more than once, who repeated that the car belonged to him. “Not at all,” replied the plainclothes officer. “Then what is it?” continued the handcuffed man. “A vehicle I bought, you say it looks like a stolen vehicle… it’s so humiliating.” CTV News has reached out to Montreal police for comment on the incident. A police spokesman said on Saturday that the force was investigating the matter but had no further details. On Friday, the Montreal police service wrote on social media that it was aware of a video of the police interaction circulating online and that the force “immediately” looked into the officers’ conduct. “Yesterday afternoon, two specialized motor vehicle theft investigators observed a Honda CRV SUV parked in a shopping center parking lot,” police wrote. “The unoccupied vehicle showed typical and obvious signs of attempted theft in one of the locks (damage).” “Before they could complete their checks, a citizen approached to take possession of it,” the post said. “He was temporarily detained for investigation … The citizen was released unconditionally and without charge once the checks were completed.”
The SPVM became aware of a video posted on social media regarding an intervention by Montreal police officers. We immediately carried out checks in order to find out the detailed circumstances surrounding the incident. (1/4) — Montreal Police (@SPVM) November 4, 2022
OFFICERS PLACED WRONG KEY
Before he was freed, however, it appeared that officers were unable to release his cuffs because they did not have the key. “If it’s his car, why is he still wearing the cuffs?” asks the man filming the fight. “That’s my question,” the man said to the camera, visibly upset. “What is this? They don’t have the key… What kind of business is this?” Officers reiterated that they were waiting for the key to be handed over. It was a “shameful moment” for police, according to Alain Babineau, a former RCMP officer and current director of racial profiling and public safety at the Red Coalition, an anti-racial profiling advocacy group. “Professionally, this is very embarrassing,” Babineau said. “I can tell you that these things have happened in my career, not necessarily to me, but to other officers that I’ve been with,” he added. “I want police officers to do their best, and most of the time they do,” he said. “But, I think throughout this encounter, there are a lot of questions about the professionalism that the officers displayed.” When other officers arrived, the man was released and later released. “It’s over, it’s over,” said one of the officers. “No,” the man replied. “You humiliated me.” Babineau says it’s hard to tell from the video if the methods police used were inappropriate. The video begins at a point where the investigation seemed to have already been resolved. He said it is not unusual to arrest people suspected of stealing vehicles and that the use of handcuffs is discretionary. “There’s this piece of information that we don’t know: what prompted the officers to handcuff this person?” Babineau said. But he said people need to look carefully at interactions between police and people of color, especially when that person is a suspect, “because the reality of racial profiling is well documented across Canada.” Civil rights activist Fo Niemi, who has for years defended several people in the past who have accused Quebec police officers of racial profiling, said it’s the first time he’s seen officers lose the key to handcuffs.
“TOO FAST TO USE THE PALS”
After seeing the video, he said there are many unanswered questions about the interaction and suggested the man in the video file a complaint with the Police Ethics Commissioner to investigate the matter to determine whether or not the wiretapping was racially motivated. “We don’t know what happened before that arrest. We don’t know how long they followed that car or followed that man, how long that surveillance, so we don’t know exactly what happened,” said Niemi, the associate. -founder of the Montreal-based Center for Action Research on Race Relations (CRARR). He said it appears the officers reacted too quickly. “I guess we can say that some officers are a little, shall we say, handcuff happy. “Very quickly to use the handcuffs before they realize they don’t have the key and secondly we don’t know if the use of handcuffs in this case was justified,” he said. He also said the ordeal raised “serious” health and safety concerns as officers did not have the key readily available in case the man suffered a medical problem.
