Black people in Toronto disproportionately stopped and searched by police: Human rights commission
Posted December 14, 2023 11:18 am.
Last Updated December 14, 2023 6:48 pm.
A new report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission has found Black people in Toronto are disproportionately stopped and searched by police despite the Ontario government’s efforts to regulate so-called “street checks.”
The commission’s final report on anti-Black racism within the Toronto Police Service, released today, says that while official street checks appear to have been effectively eliminated, Black people still report being stopped and searched at a much higher rate than people from other racial groups.
It points to, among other things, a survey conducted in 2019 – two years after the provincial regulation banning official street checks took effect – that found 40.4 per cent of Black respondents reported being stopped by police at least once in the previous two years, compared with 24.7 per cent of white respondents and 24.9 per cent of Asian respondents.
The report says part of the problem is the existence of “significant gaps” in the provincial regulations and Toronto police policies and procedures that govern officers’ interactions with the public, particularly when it comes to stops and searches.
For one thing, it says police procedures don’t “adequately restrict officers’ discretion” when it comes to stopping people in “non-arrest circumstances,” or give enough guidance on when searches are appropriate.
The report also says Toronto police collected and retained “significant personal data” through street checks before the provincial rules took effect, which it says should be destroyed unless the data is needed for investigative purposes.
In a release, the Toronto Police Service said it welcomed the report “and view it as an important contribution to the work already underway in our continued efforts to proactively and decisively address anti-Black racism.”
“Change is required at all levels, and in all parts, of our police service,” said Chief of Police Myron Demkiw.
“It must include our leadership, our culture, our mechanisms of accountability, our training and education, and beyond. Change must also be co-developed, co-designed, co-delivered, and evaluated in meaningful and continued partnership with the members of Toronto’s Black communities.”
