Stanley Jossirain say there is a sickness inside the Repentigny police force, and he's been forced to suffer because of it.
The 22-year-old resident of Repentigny, just off the eastern tip of the island of Montreal, is accusing the local police force of engaging in racial profiling, saying he's constantly being stopped and questioned for no good reason — sometimes, as often as five times per week.
"I have no confidence in the police of Repentigny," Jossirain told a Wednesday afternoon news conference at the headquarters of the Montreal anti-racism group Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR). "I'm really, really, really scared. I know I'm not the only one that's going through this."
Between March and August, he says he's been handed $1,500 worth of tickets. He says the fines were never for speeding, but rather for things like talking back to a police officer.
Jossirain says the police harassment doesn't stop there — he described how police would stalk his house at night, shining their flashlights through his windows, and would even show up at his workplace.
"Even at work, they come at work just to show me they know where I work," he said.
Stanley Jossirain, 22, from Repentigny has received $1,500 in fines in last 6 months. Says he is stopped by police at least 5 times per week. Has had guns pointed at him during routine stops. CRARR says its the worst case of small town racism it's ever seen #CJAD800 pic.twitter.com/wOS4y5jNpD
— Matt Gilmour (@MGilmourMTL) October 31, 2018
Jossirain is filing 15 separate human rights complaints. He hopes others in the black community will come forward with their stories.
“For them, the cops, since there’s not a lot of black people, when they see us black people they automatically think we’re criminals and bad kids,” he said. “I think that’s why we’re being harassed by the cops in Repentigny.”
Alain Babineau, a former police officer who currently serves as a law student intern at CRARR, called Jossirain’s case as blatant a racial profiling case as he's ever seen.
“It seems to me that when a police officer seeks a black individual, there’s this trigger of ‘Hmm, let me check them out, they might be up to no good,’” Babineau said.