Petitioners: Halton Black Voices, Halton Hills Alliance for Social Change

The decision by Halton Regional Police Services to honour Black History Month with a ‘design a Black heritage themed police cruiser’ contest falls terribly short of the real action that is needed to address systemic, anti-Black racism, and racial biases within police organizations, including the HRPS.

Until the HRPS recognizes and makes an effort to overcome the anti-Black racism and systemic racism that disproportionately targets Black lives, both in and outside of its organization, this effort is merely performative and we object to our revered Black figures and imagery being tokenized by this performative and self-serving gesture. 

We demand that the HRPS immediately retract this contest that was conceived without transparent consultations with the diverse Black community. 

We demand that the HRPS make a commitment to engage with the diverse Black and racialized communities and with the number of Halton grassroots organizations in an effort to build a foundation of trust. 

We demand that the HRPS work with the Black community through open and transparent consultations and collaboration to create a framework that will address anti-Black racism with real results.