Côte des Neiges Caribbeans fear popular gathering spot is being shut by cops

The green space at the northwest corner of the intersection has been notable, especially during the summer. Large crowds of people of Caribbean origin have congregated there, usually in the evenings, for conversation and to indulge themselves in a Caribbean tradition — the game of dominoes. However in recent weeks, heavy duty fence posts have been erected around the lot, in preparation seemingly for closing it off.

Keeton Clarke, a former president of the Caribbean Associations Council of Montreal who is running locally for Vision Montreal, acknowledges there are some behaviours among Caribbeans in the neighbourhood, such as smoking weed and drinking in public, that are questionable and justify police intervention from time to time.

But he and others seriously question why Eclipse, the Montreal Police Department’s specialized anti-gang squad, is regularly being sent into neighbhourhoods of Côte des Neiges where there are concentrations of Caribbeans blacks. “When they come in, they really don’t know the people here,” says Clarke, noting that the style of law enforcement used by the anti-gang squad differs sharply from the neighbourhood policing practiced by officers from the local stations. “When they come in targeting, they see people in the corner somewhere, and they just want to clear the area and they do it very heavyhandedly. We have to question where are the gangs in Côte des Neiges? Where are the gangs on Victoria? The police have never really identified any gangs here.”

According to Clarke, the local police usually recognize some of the cultural context for behaviour like rowdiness among Caribbeans, and are more likely to tolerate it. The anti-gang police, on the other hand, seem heedless to cultural practices and often disperse the Caribbeans almost as soon as they gather in public.

Two years ago around the time the Montreal Police Department started a major crackdown on street gangs, Clarke spoke out at a public meeting held by the Borough of Côte des Neiges-NDG’s Intercultural Commission on black Caribbean youths who were being harassed for weeks at a time by anti-gang squad police. It became a common sight on streets like Victoria to see squad members openly detaining, frisking and sometimes arresting youths.

Clarke’s gripe isn’t just about human rights or heavyhanded police treatment. It’s also about the impact such conduct has on local businesses. “With the amount of police going around here all the time, it doesn’t help the merchants,” he says. Jean Joseph, the owner of a Victoria Ave. restaurant in the heart of the affected area, agrees with Clarke that a lot of the activity being targeted by the police is benign. “Guys are standing around talking and playing dominoes and that doesn’t disturb anyone,” he says.