A local criminal defence lawyer believes the police practice of doing street checks in Ottawa is worse than in it is in Toronto.
“In Toronto you had the mayor weigh in on it, you had the Toronto police services board actually try to implement some sort of policy and rule about it,” Michael Spratt said Tuesday. “In Ottawa, it’s the wild west, there are no rules, and it’s a practice that’s rampant here as well.”
Ottawa police have been building a street check policy and they plan to present it to the board when the proposed guidelines are ready. The province announced Tuesday it wants to standardize a street check policy across Ontario police forces.
Spratt said a street check policy should require police to inform people what their rights are.
Read Jon Willing’s full article: Ottawa Sun
