‘Gross incompetence:’ Man ticketed for contraband cigarettes says he was racially profiled | 24CA News
An Iranian man in Quebec says he was racially profiled by police once they carried out a “routine stop” which he says led to over $1,100 in ticket fines for offering his insurance coverage papers “too late,” possessing two packs contraband cigarettes and obstructing a peace officer.
Iman Niknam held a press convention on Wednesday alongside the Red Coalition, an anti-police profiling group, detailing the “gross incompetence and troubling unprofessionalism” by Roussillon Police when the incident occurred again on July 8.
Niknam, a renovation contractor, says he was heading to satisfy a consumer at round 8 a.m. when he was pulled over for what the officers known as a “routine stop” on Rue Centrale in Sainte-Catherine, Que., on Montreal’s south shore.
Once stopped, he says he requested one of many two officers why they’d achieved a U-turn to drag him over.
According to Niknam, the officer replied “are you smoking Indian cigarettes? I can give you a ticket for that if you want to be rude.”
Iman Niknam (far proper) speaks to reporters at a press convention in Montreal alongside Red Coalition founder and govt director Joel DeBellefeuille (left) and director on problems with racial profiling and public security Alain Babineau (centre). July 26, 2023.
Karol Dahl/Global News
She then requested for his license, registration and proof of insurance coverage. He says he confirmed his license however had a tough time discovering his insurance coverage papers.
The officer then took the motive force’s license and automobile registration, returned to the police cruiser and got here again with a $64 ticket for failure to supply his insurance coverage papers. By that point he had discovered the paperwork and handed them over.
He says she informed him it was too late and issued the ticket anyway.
Niknam says he continued to ask why they’d achieved a U-turn to cease him. “She gave me a bunch of different answers. She said, ‘You have an F plate (a license plate issued to commercial and special use vehicles) and we wanted to see who the driver was. It’s a normal routine stop — we have done it to six others already this morning.’”
Niknam says he then requested the officer for her identify and badge quantity, and claims that escalated the incident. The officers ordered him out of his automotive so they might search it, which he says he didn’t consent to, and says they then discovered contraband cigarettes in his automobile.
The contractor was subsequently issued with a $549 ticket for the possession of the cigarettes and a $499 ticket for obstructing a peace officer — totalling $1,112 in fines.
“The officer showed gross incompetence and troubling unprofessionalism. Not only was Mr. Niknam racially profiled, but he was also detained illegally, and his vehicle searched without a warrant,” mentioned Alain Babineau from the Red Coalition.
“This is once again an example of the perverted use of article 636 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code that leads to racial profiling.”
Roussillon police informed Global News that the division didn’t want to remark, however that “verifications” relating to the incident can be carried out.
Article 636 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code states that each peace officer can require a driver to cease a automobile, and the motive force “must comply with this requirement without delay.”
“The financial burden of racial profiling seems to be beyond the comprehension of law enforcement officers whilst they intercept members of the BIPOC Community,” mentioned Joel DeBellefeuil, founder and director of the Red Coalition.
“Perhaps if they better understood what racialized members of the community go through on a regular basis, they would refrain from this type of illegal interception altogether.”
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