A Halifax police superintendent and his wife, a lawyer, are launching a complaint alleging the RCMP stopped their vehicle and ordered the officer out at gunpoint based on racial profiling.

       Dean Simmonds, a 20-year-veteran of the Halifax police, and Angela Simmonds, a lawyer who was acclaimed this week as the provincial Liberal candidate for Preston, said Friday the incident of “driving while Black” occurred as they were on their way to buy groceries in their community of Preston at about 12:30 p.m. on July 4.

       Angela Simmonds, reached by telephone, declined further comment but said she and her husband stand by the details they provided in a news release issued by the African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition.

       The coalition quotes the couple as saying that when they were stopped, one of the Mounties ordered the 45-year-old police superintendent, who was wearing plain clothes, out of the vehicle with his hands up, while the other officer pointed a carbine rifle in his direction.

       It was only after several minutes, once Mr. Simmonds managed to explain who he was, that the two officers told the couple there had been a report of shots fired in the area. The officers “did not explain if Dean and Angela fit a description of the alleged perpetrators,” the release says. “The experience was traumatic for the couple, who feared for their lives.”

       Ms. Simmonds is quoted saying the case was an example of the way Black people continue “to be subjected to inhumane treatment and are regarded as dangerous, dishonest, guilty criminals.” The release calls the incident “another brutal reminder of the broader problem of systemic racism within the RCMP, and it further erodes the trust between police and Black communities in Nova Scotia.”

       The couple say they intend to file a complaint with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission “and want a full investigation into the incident.”

       The RCMP were not immediately available for comment on the Simmonds’ allegations.

       Mr. Simmonds says in the release that he has been dedicated to addressing the mistrust between the Black community and police. “I truly believed that my core values, leadership and respect for my community, my job and fellow officers would contribute to positive changes within community policing,” he said.

       Improper policing of Black Nova Scotians has an extensive history, said Vanessa Fells, director of operations at the coalition. She said that for two years the coalition has been calling on the RCMP to collaborate with the group to establish an African Nova Scotian policing strategy.

       Story continues below advertisement

       “We have had absolutely no traction with it,” she said. “They seem not interested. We need to stop what is currently happening and what has been happening for decades and generations. It causes trauma to our community.”

       The RCMP, which polices the suburbs of Halifax, was part of a study by criminologist Scot Wortley released in March, 2019, that condemned the practice of street checks as creating a “disproportionate and negative” impact on the Black community. The study found Black citizens in the Halifax region were five times more likely to be street-checked than white citizens. Street checks are the police practice of randomly stopping people, collecting personal information and storing it.

       On Nov. 29, 2019, Halifax police Chief Dan Kinsella issued an apology before several hundred members of the Black community, but the RCMP has yet to issue a similar apology on the street checks issue.

       The phrase “driving while Black” became well known in the province after a 2003 decision of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in the case of boxer Kirk Johnson, who was repeatedly pulled over by police and once had his car seized. Mr. Johnson was pursued and his car was towed after the officer wasn’t satisfied by the documents offered. A board of inquiry ruled in 2003 that Mr. Johnson’s treatment was a violation of his human rights.

       Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.