The Vancouver Police Board has agreed to order an investigation into police surveillance of pro-Palestinian demonstrations after protesters and legal advocates lodged complaints over concerns of privacy and the excessive use of force.
The complaints emerged following a May 31 pro-Palestinian demonstration at CN Rail train tracks in East Vancouver, where police arrested more than a dozen protesters.
The group representing the protesters, Pivot Legal Society, alleges police used excessive force that day, while the Vancouver Police Department says those taken into custody had first refused multiple requests to move and resisted arrest, with one person allegedly punching an officer.
On Thursday, advocates took their concerns to a police board meeting at the Vancouver police headquarters.
“We strongly condemn VPD’s attempts to criminalize and repress people’s expressive rights,” said Simone Akyianu, a staff lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society prior to the board meeting.
The society detailed some of the alleged use of force in a statement issued Thursday.
“Extreme use of force included deploying military grade pepper spray; standing on the backs of cuffed people and placing knees on necks (in contravention of VPD’s own policy on restraints); and strangling and choking a person,” it said.
Around 100 people blocked traffic and a rail line in East Vancouver calling for Canada to cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Vancouver police say 14 were arrested.
Protesters and legal advocates also allege there has been surveillance of demonstrations and individual protesters.
“The surveillance activities — through drone, through personal cell phones and body-worn cameras, potentially — violate the policy of the Vancouver Police Department,” Meghan McDermott of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said Thursday outside VPD headquarters.
Advocates spoke to the Vancouver Police Board, outlining their concerns over surveillance.
They called for an independent investigation led by someone with expertise in human rights and anti-Palestinian racism.
“The role of the police at protests should be to maintain the peace and protect the safety of all,” Meena Dhillon, managing lawyer with the South Asian Legal Clinic of B.C., told the board.
The board agreed to move ahead with an investigation, citing serious privacy concerns.
It recommended that Bob Rolls, a retired Vancouver police deputy chief constable, lead the investigation into surveillance allegations.
McDermott questioned whether a former high-ranking VPD officer could be impartial, though.
“This is not how you do a proper investigation,” she said. “You don’t hire an ex-cop who is so closely aligned with the very police department that is doing it.”
The police board deferred the excessive force complaint until the conclusion of criminal proceedings around the May 31 protest. Those who were arrested currently face criminal charges. Police said at the time that protesters were arrested for mischief and obstruction.