Saskatchewan carding policy needed, Regina police chief says

Regina's police chief says the public wants more information about when and how officers perform street checks.

Troy Hagen says that's why the Saskatchewan Police Commission and the province's association of police chiefs are working to come up with protocols for such checks, which are sometimes called carding.

We want, hopefully, to strike a balance between the duties that we have in terms of protecting our communities and above all, respecting the rights of individuals.- Troy Hagen, Regina Police Chief

Such checks are regularly conducted and documented in the course of a police officer's day, and often they don't result in charges or further action.

Across Canada, however, critics have expressed concerns that such checks can lend themselves to racial profiling or charter rights violations.

Hagen says stopping people on the street is a necessary part of police work, but more clarity about the rules is needed.

"We're wanting a policy," he said."And we want, hopefully, to strike a balance between the duties that we have in terms of protecting our communities and above all, respecting the rights of individuals."

Hagen says once there is a policy in place, police will track how often street checks happen.

Those statistics will be released to the public, he said.