Matthew Green police carding complaint substantiated, discipline hearing set

Coun. Matthew Green's complaint about being "carded" by Hamilton police has been substantiated and he says a disciplinary hearing has been set for next month.

In a brief statement to CBC News, Green said he learned this week that the Office of the Independent Police Review Director has completed its complaint investigation process and rendered a decision.

He said he also learned that a Police Services Act hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15, "involving my April 26 arbitrary street check."

The OIPRD website says that "when complaints are substantiated serious, they proceed to a disciplinary hearing." 

The April incident re-ignited the local discussion about racial profiling, the controversial practice of carding or street checks and the emotional and psychological impact that police activity in a diverse city can have on people on the receiving end of that activity.

'What are you doing there?'

It's been six months since Green, the city's first black councillor, was waiting for a bus on the corner of Stinson Street and Victoria Avenue South.

He was standing in the cold, checking emails on his phone, around 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, when he said he was stopped and questioned for several minutes by a Hamilton Police officer who seemed not to realize who he was.

"What are you doing there?" was the first thing Green said he heard the officer say.

For those of you who think police carding is over. I was just arbitrarily stopped/questioned by <a href="https://twitter.com/HamiltonPolice">@HamiltonPolice</a> as a City Clr in my own city

&mdash;@MGreenWard3

The incident came less than a week after Hamilton Police Acting Chief Ken Weatherill said a dramatic drop in street checks last year was in part because the service doesn't need the tool as much anymore. 

Asked earlier in the week for an update on the status of Green's complaint, Hamilton Police spokeswoman Catherine Martin told CBC News that the service does not comment on employer-employee relations. 

"As a Service, we respect the PSA process and do not comment in order to protect the integrity of the proceedings," Martin said. "Please note that PSA proceedings are open to the public."

'He repeatedly questioned my credibility'

While Green said at the time he didn't know what the officer was thinking, he feels he was approached and questioned because he is black.

He felt like a suspect in his own neighbourhood, he said. He felt intimidated, frustrated and angry.

People who've been stopped by police when they haven't done anything wrong say that being asked random questions by police when you're minding your own business – and having it happen more than once – sticks with them. That's something that people who oppose carding and street checks have cited as a reason for reform.

"He repeatedly questioned my credibility, acting in an intimidating manner and continued to harass me even though it was clear I was not a suspect in any crime nor involved in criminal activity," Green wrote in the formal complaint he filed.

The main interaction is described between Green and one officer, but it is not known if the disciplinary hearing will include more than one officer.

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