Quebec's Human Rights Commission is recommending a $42,000 fine for the Repentigny police force and three of its officers, for racial profiling at a birthday party for 12-year-olds.
The incident happened on June 8, 2013 outside a restaurant in Repentigny. Two black youngsters, Kélian Ruault and Shwany Tshilombo were playing hide-and-seek when no less than three police cars arrived. The boys, both aged 12, were searched, handcuffed, and herded into separate cars.
Later, when they were brought in, they were repeatedly by the officers they should just break down and confess to breaking the window of a BMW.
The boys, and their parents, were told had been told that witnesses saw the boys do it — or at least two boys who matched their description.
It turns out, however, the owner of the BMW called police later to report the window had been broken days earlier, but the officer told the one of the boys' mothers the incident would appear on both their files.
The city has until Friday to pay the money — $12,000 to each boy for moral damages, and another $9,000 each in punitive damages. If it doesn't, the case will go before the Human Rights Tribunal.
The Repentigny police force, meanwhile, has indicated it intends to contest the decision — which also includes increased racial sensitivity training for officers, and a review of how the force deals with children under the age of 14.
In October, another black Repentigny resident, Stanley Jossirain, said the harassment he suffers at the hands of Repentigny police is constant, both at his home, and at his work. He says he's received $1,500 in a six-month period this year — mainly for things like talking back to police officers.
Fo Niemi with the human rights group Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR) suggests these kinds of incidents are becoming more common with suburban or small town police forces, as their demographics change.
"This is a challenge for many small towns and especially towns in the suburbs of Montreal," Niemi says. "People are more and more moving into those different towns, people of different backgrounds, and those administrations and organizations have to adapt very quickly to the challenges and the benefits of diversity, otherwise...police employees will continue to face complaints of bias and discrimination."