Edmonton Police Service to no longer use 'street check reports'

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The Edmonton Police Service is eliminating the use of “street check reports” and will instead separately track when officers either observe individuals or record personal information.

In a presentation to the Edmonton Police Commission Thursday, Sgt. Jeffrey Westman said police will discontinue “street checks reports” because it is an old term. Instead, they will track interactions with the public using two different mechanisms — “observed” reports and “officer contact” reports.

“Changing the terms from street checks to officer contact reports and observed reports makes the language more precise, less likely to be confused with what the province has defined as street checks, and more clear in terms of the fact that our officers are relying on their existing lawful authority to collect personal information from members of the public,” Westman told reporters following the commission meeting.

Observed reports are defined as a report made when officers do not interact with an individual, such as making an observation of someone known to police.

Officer contact reports are when police interact with a member of the public and collect personal information. This is only done when police officers have a pre-existing duty, responsibility or authority and usually when a person is detained or enforcement action is being taken, including warnings.

The change comes after the Alberta government amended the Police Act in 2021, formalizing the ban on carding and introducing regulations on how street checks are done.

Westman said under the act, a street check is defined as a contact between an officer and a member of the public that collects personal information and where there isn’t an existing duty, responsibility or authority to do so. He said since at least 2015, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) hasn’t used street checks. Under EPS policy, however, no officer is allowed to collect any personal information unless there is an existing duty, responsibility or authority to do so.

Chief Dale McFee told reporters there needed to be a “reset” around street checks.

“I think by setting it straight, knowing that we’re using lawful authority to actually do these things, reporting, auditing and then being transparent about it, I think we get to a better place,” he said.

The commission heard bias audit reports will continue to examine officer contacts and observed reports to learn what is working and what isn’t.

Edmonton police will also be relaunching the Know Your Rights campaign, which has been translated into 16 languages, so the public understands how officers will be interacting with them.

“You take the immigrant population … they’re coming from a different area of the world, policing is a lot different there and nobody really knows what those differences are,” McFee said. “We need to also do the upfront education in relation to this to actually know and respect what their rights are. And then follow that up, we actually are going to record it and review it based on an audit process to ensure that we’re living up to what we need to do.”

Meanwhile, the commission elected Erick Ambtman as chairman and Aneela Hussainaly as vice-chairwoman on Thursday. Ambtman said he is humbled to lead the commission in making a difference in Edmonton and looks forward to helping make the city a safer and more inclusive place for everyone.

Ambtman replaces John McDougall, who was elected in January 2022, as chairman of the commission.

ajunker@postmedia.com