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Black owner business target of police raids Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Last Updated | Feb 9 2004 06:29 PM CST
Another black-owned business target of police raids
OTTAWA - Another restaurant owner in Ottawa is questioning whether the fact she's black has anything to do with all the attention she's getting from Ottawa police.
She's been investigated several times after police received tips about guns—tips that have turned out to be false.
Police are currently conducting an internal investigation into the arrests of several black men after a white neighbour claimed to have been threatened with a gun at a Somali-owned restaurant.
No gun was found.
Tracey Gooden's case raises similar concerns. She opened her west-end Caribbean Restaurant about six months ago, serving up the food of her native Jamaica.
But police suspected her of having more than just roti and fried dumplings on the premises. In late December, they broke into the restaurant in the middle of the night, using a search warrant based on what they said was a tip about guns.
Gooden only found out when police called her at home. They had found nothing, but had broken the door. "Could she come down and fix it?" they asked. About five hours later, they were back. They said they had another tip that guns were lying on the counter. Again they found nothing.
"It doesn't make any sense, especially the last call," Gooden says. "They should be able to pick sense out of nonsense."
In one month, this woman, with no criminal record, was subjected to no less than four investigations—two about guns, one about selling drugs, and one about the alleged molestation of her daughter in the restaurant. None of the investigations led anywhere.
Gooden, who works full-time at the Perley Hospital, as well as running her restaurant and raising two kids alone, says she has no enemies and no time to make any. She doesn't know what's going on, but she says her business has suffered.
"I don't want to think that the police are doing this because it's a black business. I don't want to make accusations like that ... but it could very well be," Gooden says.
Gooden is still trying to recover the money she spent to fix her door after police broke it in. She says all she wants is compensation for that damage, and to be left alone in future.
Police so far have made no comment about Gooden's claims, but they do say there is a standard procedure she can follow to get back the money she spent to fix the door.
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