Will the Police Department Amend its Stop & Search Practices?

Leslie Mendez

But does the ruling now set precedence for stop and search? Attorney Leslie Mendez, who represented the complainants in the case, says that the decision should provide critical guidance to the police department in conducting legal searches.  While she says that by law the police are allowed to conduct stop and searches, the violation is when a person’s picture is taken when he has done nothing wrong.

Leslie Mendez, Attorney-at-law

“The message here is one to the government, one to the ministry, one to the minister, one to the department. The message of the case is one for them, not on us. It is not on us to fix the department. Of course, we should also be thinking of ways in which we can support persons and our fellow citizens better – when they are assaulted, when one of their rights are violated – absolutely. But the message here is that if the ministry or the police department or this government as a whole values the rules of law, then they would take this decision under serious consideration and they would consider and implement changes that would prevent this from recurring. The fix here is not to get a hundred claims before the court. That should not be the position. The point of the case is to highlight to the government and to the department that this has happened and this happens and that this is the legal standards and these are your legal obligations and so you should implement it from a systemic position.”

The court awarded damages to the claimants.