Black man filing complaint against SPVM after being pulled over in a rental car
Posted April 16, 2021 3:52 pm.
Last Updated April 16, 2021 6:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – A Montreal man is filing complaints against police after he was pulled over for driving a rental car on Easter Friday.
The Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) says Wayne King, who is black and has dreads, was gassing up the rental car around 5:15 p.m. before returning it to the Enterprise on De le Savane.
A police car was in the parking lot of the gas station that King stopped at, and he noticed the cruiser begin to tail him as he left the station.
After several minutes–and shortly before King pulled into the Enterprise to return the BMW X1 SUV he had rented–police pulled him over. Both officers got out of the car and asked to see his paperwork for the car.
According to the CRARR, the officers claimed it was a routine traffic stop since they noticed the plates were that of a rental.
“It was clear to the police that a Black man driving a rented car, especially a BMW SUV, is suspicious,” said the father of four in a release.
Had the traffic stop lasted much longer than it did, it could’ve cost King an extra day for the rental since it needed to be returned by 5:30 p.m.
“It’s very frustrating because Black drivers like me aren’t free to drive whatever car we want and go anywhere we want without being stopped and checked by the police. Every Black person I know in Montreal knows what it is like, so I am doing what I want my brothers and sisters to do: speak up and take legal action, ” he added.
The CRARR’s executive director, Fo Niemi, says this case is far from unique.
#WATCH Fo Niemi, Executive Director of the CRARR questions why so Black drivers have been intercepted by police when driving a rental car, saying “we want to know whether there’s even a directive somewhere of stopping black drivers who drive a rented car.” More at 6pm. pic.twitter.com/oGu6bZjvFu
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) April 16, 2021
“Each year, we get complaints about “Driving A Rented Car While Black” from Black drivers who are pulled over for driving with a rental car plate,” said Niemi.
“We hope that Mr. King’s case will lead to a closer examination of this systemic practice.”
The CRARR is helping King file complaints with the Police Ethics Commissioner and the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission.
The SPVM said in a statement to CityNews that it wouldn’t be commenting on the case but that traffic stops and fines are up to officer discretion.
“Officers apply the highway safety code and it’s to their discretion to issue fines. Many factors can influence the decision. The nature of the infraction and its length are examples,” reads the statement in part.
