Black people about 3 times more likely than whites to be stopped by Repentigny police, report says

In 2019, a group of researchers found that Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately targeted for police checks in Montreal.

As it turns out, police in Repentigny, Que., have a similar problem.

In their latest report, the same group of experts concluded that Black residents in Repentigny — which is located just east of Montreal — were two-and-a-half to three times more likely to be stopped by local police than their white counterparts.

"The data show that it's [even] more disproportionate when you're looking at what happens at night," said Victor Armony, a sociology professor at l'Université du Québec à Montréal. Armony is also a candidate for Projet Montréal in the upcoming municipal elections.

The report lends credence to the frustration, concerns, and fears expressed by many members of Repentigny's Black community who feel targeted by local law enforcement — feelings that appeared to reach a peak last month after police gunned down 37-year-old Jean René Junior Olivier.

At the time of the shooting, Olivier was going through a mental health crisis.

The killing, along with several racial profiling complaints in recent years, put the local police force under heavy scrutiny.