By Neil Armstrong
 |
| Photo contributed Adaoma Patterson, president of the Jamaican Canadian Association |
The Jamaican Canadian
Association (JCA) says it will hold the Toronto Police Service (TPS) accountable
in light of the troubling findings of an interim report by the Ontario Human
Rights Commission (OHRC) on its inquiry into racial profiling and racial
discrimination of Black persons by the police service.
On International Human Rights
Day, December 10, the OHRC released “A Collective Impact,” a report which
examined racial disparities in how police services are provided in Toronto, and
marrying the hard data with lived experiences and case law.
The
inquiry found that between 2013 and 2017, a Black person was nearly 20 times
more likely than a White person to be involved in a fatal shooting by the
Toronto Police.
Despite
representing only 8.8% of Toronto’s population, Black people made up
approximately 30% of police use-of-force cases that resulted in serious injury
or death, 60% of deadly encounters with Toronto Police, and 70% of fatal police
shootings.
“The JCA is very disturbed by
the findings in this report. While we will continue to work with the Toronto
Police Service on various community initiatives, we will also hold them to
account on these serious findings,” says Adaoma Patterson, president of the
JCA.
The OHRC says its goal is to build trust in
law enforcement and “make our communities safer, because when diverse
communities trust the police, they see themselves as allies of law enforcement
rather than targets.”
“A Collective Impact is the latest in a body of reports,
findings and recommendations—over the past 30 years—that point to persistent
concerns about anti-Black racism in policing in Toronto,” said OHRC Chief
Commissioner Renu Mandhane. “Our interim findings are disturbing and call for
immediate action.”
The
report includes
analysis of quantitative data received from the Special Investigations Unit,
and a review of SIU Director’s Reports. It also highlights legal decisions that
have found discrimination against Black persons by the Toronto Police.
The SIU Director’s Reports
reveal instances where there was a lack of a legal basis for police stopping
Black civilians in the first place, inappropriate searches and unnecessary
charges or arrests. The reports and legal decisions also raise broader concerns
about officer misconduct, transparency and accountability.
The data shows an
over-representation of Black people in use of force cases that result in
serious injury or death.
The OHRC heard first-hand about
the experiences of Black people with the TPS and the resulting fear, trauma,
humiliation, mistrust and expectations of negative treatment, and about the
damage that one person’s negative experience can have on entire Black
communities.
The next phase of the inquiry
will involve looking at lower-level use of force incidents, and analyzing data
received on carding, certain charges and arrests, and conditions and forms of
release for adults. The OHRC will also examine culture, training, policies,
procedures and accountability mechanisms, and will continue to engage with
Black communities.
All of this work will lead to a
final inquiry report, with findings, recommendations and next steps.
 |
| Photo contributed Renu Mandhane, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission |
In light of the interim
findings, the OHRC is calling on the TPS and Toronto
Police Services Board (TPSB) to acknowledge that the racial disparities and
community experiences outlined in this Interim Report raise serious concerns.
It
wants the TPS and TPSB to continue to support the OHRC’s inquiry into racial
profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons, and calls on the TPSB to
require the TPS to collect and publicly report on race-based data on all stops,
searches, and use of force incidents.
The
commission is calling on the Ontario government to implement recommendations in
the Report of the Independent Police
Oversight Review.
It
wants the City of Toronto to implement recommendations in the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism.
In a
joint statement, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Toronto Police
Service said they “understand
that the report’s preliminary findings, as well as its recommendations, require
a thoughtful and comprehensive response from us that builds on the hard work we
have been doing already to confront issues of systemic bias.”
They said members of the Toronto
Police Service are dedicated, professional and fair.
“We recognize that there are
those within Toronto’s Black communities who feel that, because of the colour
of their skin, the police, including when it comes to use of force, have at
times, treated them differently. We understand that this has created a sense of
distrust that has lasted generations. We – the Board and the Service – know that
only by acknowledging these lived experiences can we continue to work with our
community partners to achieve meaningful changes.”
They said the Board and the
Service acknowledge that no institution or organization, including the Toronto
Police, is immune from overt and implicit bias.
“We have seen examples of other
organizations, which are, by their nature, composed of people, dealing with the
same challenges that we face. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that a unique
obligation is required from those of us who are charged with upholding the law
and protecting all of our city’s people. And, while we may be confronting these
challenges with resolve today, we are committed to doing even better.”
Both organizations say they
accept the recommendations, “recognizing that one of them will require further
study. Specifically, the Board will refer its existing Policy concerning data
collection to its Anti-Racism Advisory Panel (ARAP) – comprised of Board
members, community members, experts and Service members – and ask for
recommendations to improve the Policy. This work will consider the legitimate
concerns surrounding the impact of race-based data collection on interactions
between police and members of Toronto’s communities, and look to collect this
data in a manner that will strengthen our connection to the communities we
serve.”
They said they have been working
for several years to confront these challenges in a variety of ways and with a
variety of partners.
 |
| Photo contributed Andy Pringle, chair of the Toronto Police Services Board |
Meanwhile, the Partnership &
Accountability Circle says it is “shocked, deeply disappointed, upset, but not
surprised” by what it has learned from the interim report.
“Being Black should not be a death
sentence for so many Black civilians who are engaged by our city's police. Sadly,
police killing of Black people in this city is not new.”
As part of the Toronto Action Plan to
Confront Anti-Black Racism, the Confronting Anti-Black Racism (CABR) Unit of
the City of Toronto engages the Partnership &
Accountability Circle (PAC), an assembly
of 12 Black Torontonians.
The Circle guides the CABR Unit and supports
the full implementation of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black
Racism.
It
is in full support of all of the OHRC's recommendations, including the call for
the City of Toronto to implement the recommendations of the Toronto Action Plan
to Confront Anti-Black Racism.
“We further demand that the Toronto
Police Services Board immediately adopt all recommendations and actions in the
Action Plan that apply to the Toronto Police Service, and that fall within
their powers under the Police Services Act.
The PAC also wants the police service
to immediately establish the Community and Police Eliminating Anti-Black Racism
Team (CAPE-ABR Team), comprised of community and police leaders.
It says the CAPE-ABR Team must work with the
City's Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit as a resource to inform the development
and implementation of actions related to policing and the justice system.
No comments:
Post a Comment