More than a year after a banana peel was tossed onto his truck, Constable Brent Bowden of the Truro Police Service remains off duty — a situation that has exposed divisions within the force, the union, and the wider community.
Bowden, who is African Nova Scotian, discovered the banana peel on his vehicle in June 2024 and immediately recognized its racial undertones. “The racial context between Black people and monkeys is well known,” Bowden said. “With all the evidence they have, people should know this kind of thing is still happening.”
Security footage later revealed two officers leaving the detachment in heavy rain, one holding a banana. The peel was thrown from the passenger window of their vehicle and landed on Bowden’s truck.
The Town of Truro said an internal investigation found no evidence of intent, calling the toss accidental. But Bowden says that response amounted to “checking a box” rather than accountability. “My concerns were ignored,” he said. “There was no solution other than to return to work like nothing happened.”
An internal Police Act investigation found no misconduct, noting the act didn’t meet the threshold for discipline. The report did, however, recommend new cultural competency and unconscious bias training, which the town says has since been implemented along with a whistleblower policy.
Advocates, including DeRico Symonds of the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute, argue intent is secondary to impact. “Even if unintentional, the harm is real,” Symonds said.
Bowden, an Afghanistan veteran and former corrections officer, also suffers from PTSD linked to prior on-duty trauma. Psychologist assessments found the incident exacerbated his condition. “I don’t feel supported or safe in the workplace,” Bowden said.
The town’s return-to-work plan proposed keeping the involved officers away from Bowden, but he declined to return, leading to a temporary loss of benefits — later overturned by the Workers’ Compensation Board, which ruled his inability to work was legitimate.
Adding to the turmoil, Bowden’s union, the Atlantic Police Association, refused to represent him, citing conflicts of interest because his complaint involved fellow officers. The Nova Scotia Labour Board has since found there may have been a breach of fair representation.
Bowden has filed a human rights complaint and is seeking a public apology from the town to himself, his family, and the Black community. “I stand on the shoulders of ancestral giants who paved the way for me to serve,” he said. “I just want justice — not only for me, but for others who come after.”
The Town of Truro maintains that internal reforms have strengthened accountability, but Bowden’s case remains unresolved — a reminder of how a single act, intentional or not, can ripple through a community still struggling with trust and inclusion.
