Police carding in Calgary needs addressed, says Ward 10 candidate

“When an Indigenous person calls the police, I want them to feel like they are just as important as a non-Indigenous person.” — Ward 10 candidate Michelle Robinson

Sprawl reporter Amy Tucker recently spoke with Robinson. In their interview, the candidate touched on infrastructure and safety, secondary suites, and missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Robinson also highlighted the issue of carding—the police practice of stopping people, questioning them and obtaining personal information—within the ward. Carding disproportionately affects people of colour, and has come under intense scrutiny in cities such as Toronto.

But in Calgary, both police and the broader public have been slow to acknowledge the problem.

Learn more: White Alberta Should Care About Police Carding, Too

In 2016, the Rocky Mountain Civil Liberties Association (RMCLA) analyzed Calgary police statistics, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, on carding. Here’s what they found: “According to CPS’s own records, the districts that write the greater numbers of checkups slips are the districts with high diversity and more low-income neighbourhoods.”

The RMCLA found that police district 5, which covers most of the city’s northeast and overlaps with Wards 5 and 10, had the most “checkup slips”—another term for carding—in 2015.

Robinson said the issue needs attention.

“While safety is an issue, at the same time being able to trust your police force is also an issue,” Robinson said.

“We need to work with the Calgary police and give them the tools they need in their diversity training so that everybody is on the same page.”

Watch Amy Tucker’s interview with Robinson below. —Jeremy Klaszus