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Chapter 3 - Anti-Black racism in policing

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This chapter summarizes the evidence gathered and analyzed during the Inquiry. The evidence involves the OHRC’s consultations with Black communities and policing experts, and the data analyzed by Dr. Scot Wortley and his team. It conclusively confirms the existence of anti-Black racism within the TPS.

The evidence includes:

  • voices from Black communities
  • reports on anti-Black racism
  • OHRC and TPS statistical analyses
  • voices of TPS officers
  • the courts
  • TPS acknowledgement of anti-Black racism.

The TPS has acknowledged anti-Black racism within the Service and apologized to the Black communities of Toronto. Acceptance of anti-Black racism as an established fact is the first step on the path from impact to action.

The Inquiry’s focus is not on individual TPS officers, but rather the effects of the policing system on Black communities. However, individual officer bias and stereotyping can be related to systemic racial discrimination, racial profiling, and anti-Black racism. The failure to properly account for and address racial profiling and racial discrimination arising from an individual’s bias can also have a broader, systemic impact.

 

 

Voices from Black communities

Members of Black communities in Toronto have long identified and protested anti-Black racism in policing. For decades, their voices were ignored when they should have been heard, respected, and acted upon.

As part of this Inquiry, the OHRC met with approximately 190 individuals from Black communities, as well as community and advocacy groups. They told the OHRC about their negative lived experiences with TPS officers, including discriminatory street checks, stops, searches, charges, arrests, and use of force. Their experiences echoed what Black communities have been saying for decades. They detailed stories of harm, conflict and/or fear resulting from anti-Black racism in policing. A full account of these voices can be found in A Collective Impact and in Chapter 4 of this report.

 

Prior reports on anti-Black racism, including reports commissioned by the TPS and TPSB

Decades of government, quasi-government, independent, and media reports have confirmed the existence of anti-Black racism at the TPS and/or made recommendations to address the issue.1 These reports are summarized in Appendix 4.

Reports commissioned by the TPS and TPSB confirm that Black people are subjected to systemic racial discrimination, racial profiling, and anti-Black racism in policing services provided by the TPS:

  • In a 2010 focus group, Black people described instances of being pulled over by TPS officers because they were Black, and shared negative perceptions of the TPS.2
  • In a 2013 focus group, Black people described being unfairly targeted and beaten by TPS officers, and TPS officers abusing their authority.3
  • The 2014 Report on the Evaluation of the Project Charter noted that racial profiling and carding were identified by “several internal and community participants,” and were “perceived as pervasively and negatively influencing the Service’s relationships with Black and other racialized communities.” Internal and external participants “favourably discussed [then]-Police Chief Blair’s 2009 acknowledgement of racial profiling in the Service,” but noted that racial profiling “was insufficiently addressed by the Project Charter and raised questions regarding its usefulness in combatting this issue.”4
  • The 2014 Community-Based Assessment of Police Practices Contact Carding in 31 Division – Final Report (CAPP Report) found that people who live in 31 Division, including Black and White people, overwhelmingly believed that Toronto police officers engage in racial profiling.5
  • The 2014–2015 Intercultural Development Inventory Assessment Project found that officers did not have sufficient intercultural competence. It also revealed a lack of trust between diverse communities and the TPS, and mistrust in the TPS about diversity initiatives and racial profiling.6
  • The 2017 Understanding the Impact of Police Stops report highlighted research indicating that police stops and searches disproportionately targeted Black people and that Black people were disproportionately arrested.7
  • The Way Forward, the 2017 final report of the Transformational Task Force, found that in public consultations, “concerns were expressed about individual and systemic bias, racism, discrimination, inappropriate use of force and escalation.”8
  • The 2018 TPS Organizational Culture Assessment stated that 44% of community members from an online survey and town halls disagreed with the statement that “Members of the Toronto Police Service make ethical and bias-free decisions.”9
  • The 2019 Perceptions of the Toronto Police and Impact of Rule Changes Under Regulation 58/16 report found that most Black people surveyed did not agree that the TPS treated them fairly and did not agree that TPS officers were honest. Further, 50% of people surveyed (across all racial groups) believed that TPS officers were not impartial but instead favoured members of particular ethnic groups.10
  • In 2021, in Missing and Missed, the Report of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations, the Honourable Gloria Epstein found that systemic discrimination contributed to deficiencies in many of the missing person investigations that she examined, and she noted that much work needed to be done to address systemic discrimination “head on.”11
    • Justice Epstein noted that Black people have “personally experienced or are well aware of systemic racism in policing” and there is “demonstrated distrust of the police” among Black communities. “The Service has a long history of troubled relationships with the city’s Black communities.”12

These reports have confirmed the adverse experiences of Black people in their interactions with Toronto police over many years, and echo repeated calls for change.

 

 

OHRC’s data analysis

During the Inquiry, the OHRC retained Dr. Scot Wortley to analyze data from various sources on police interactions with the public.

The Inquiry’s two previous reports, A Collective Impact13 and A Disparate Impact,14 detailed the findings in his expert analysis. Dr. Wortley and his team found that Black people were significantly overrepresented in all areas of policing interactions with the public, including but not limited to:

  • arbitrary street checks and stops
  • arrests and charges, and
  • use of force, including deadly force.15 

Since A Disparate Impact was released, Dr. Wortley and his team have prepared two more reports that are included in this final report:

  • Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences, and policy options (SQS Report) provided an analysis of data and research on stop, question, and search practices.
  • Additional Benchmarking of TPS Use of Force and Charge Data (Addendum Report) is an addendum to a Use of Force report featured in A Disparate Impact.
 

The SQS Report

The aim of the SQS Report was to review empirical research on anti-Black racial profiling by the TPS – specifically in stop, question, and search practices.

It reviewed various definitions of racial profiling, including the concept of “carding,” followed by a theoretical discussion of the possible causes of racially biased policing.

The report reviewed documentation of racial profiling involving the TPS over the past 25 years, noting that “TPS stop, question and search practices … have had a hugely disproportionate impact on Toronto’s Black community.”16 

The report examined street checks in detail, documented the impact of racially disproportionate policing, and looked at policy implications. The full report can be found at Appendix 2. Dr. Wortley’s findings are summarized below.

 

Understanding street checks

Community members tend to use the terms “street checks” or “carding”17 to describe being stopped, questioned, and searched by the police.18

Before January 1, 2017, street checks were unregulated and were:

Originally intended as an investigative tool to capture the information of people who police had reason to suspect of being involved in criminal activity. Over time, however, it grew into a much less focused practice. Some police services began collecting and storing personal identifying information of many citizens without any belief that they were involved in criminal activity, and without much evidence that such databases were particularly useful in solving crime.19

As of January 1, 2017, Ontario Regulation 58/16: Collection of Identifying Information in Certain Circumstances – Prohibitions and Duties under the Police Services Act (O. Reg. 58/16) came into full effect. TPS 04-14 Regulated Interactions Procedure was revised to reflect the new terminology, and stated that a regulated interaction means an:

Attempt by a police officer to collect identifying information by asking an individual, in a face-to-face encounter, to identify himself or herself or to provide information for the purpose of identifying the individual, and includes such an attempt whether or not identifying information is collected

  1. only if that attempt is done for the purpose of,
    1. inquiring into offences that have been or might be committed; and/or
    2. inquiring into suspicious activities to detect offences; and/or
    3. gathering information for intelligence purposes;
  2. but does not include an attempted collection made by a police officer for the purpose of investigating an offence the officer reasonably suspects has been or will be committed;
  3. and does not include an attempt by a police officer to collect identifying information from an individual if,
  • the individual is legally required to provide the information to a police officer;
  • the individual is under arrest or is being detained;
  • the police officer is engaged in a covert operation;
  • the police officer is executing a warrant, acting pursuant to a court order or performing related duties; or
  • the individual from whom the police officer attempts to collect information is employed in the administration of justice or is carrying out duties or providing services that are otherwise relevant to the carrying out of the police officer’s duties. 20

Michael Tulloch, then-Justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, defined a street check as when “information is obtained by a police officer concerning an individual, outside of a police station, that is not part of an investigation.”21

He defined carding as “a small subset of street checks in which a police officer randomly asks an individual to provide identifying information when the individual is not suspected of any crime, nor is there any reason to believe that the individual has information about any crime. This information is then entered into a police database.”22

 

Stops and searches: qualitative research and survey data in Toronto

In the SQS Report, Dr. Wortley examined research that explored racial profiling in Toronto. Highlighting studies since 1998, Dr. Wortley noted the observation that “little has changed” with respect to TPS stop-and-search practices since the street-checks regulation was enacted is:

Reinforced by a number of recent, smaller-scale qualitative studies. These studies, all conducted since 2017 and the imposition of Ontario’s Street Check Regulation, focus on Black youth from disadvantaged Toronto communities. All of these studies document negative encounters between Black youth and the TPS, including allegations of racially biased stop and search practices. All document how TPS stop and search activities contribute to community distrust of the police, reduce the likelihood that youth will report crime, and increase reliance on self-help strategies designed to ensure personal safety. (see Haag 2021; Samuels-Wortley 2021; Samuels-Wortley 2020; Nichols 2018). 23

He found that qualitative research involving both Toronto residents and Toronto police officers has produced findings that “are highly consistent with the argument that the Toronto police engage in racial profiling. The nature of these qualitative results has not changed over the past three decades.”24

He also discussed the use of survey methods to document the perceptions of racial profiling in Canada. While there are strengths and weaknesses to this method, he noted that “[t]he results of the … Toronto-area surveys are remarkably similar to the results produced by qualitative studies and studies that examine official statistics from the Toronto Police Service.”25

 

Police statistics

One strategy for measuring stop-and-search activities is the use of official police statistics. Dr. Wortley examined TPS street-check data from pre-regulated street checks and regulated interactions from 2008 to 2019.26

 
TPS pre-regulation street-check data, 2008–2014

Dr. Wortley found that Black people were significantly overrepresented in the TPS street-check data compared to their representation in Toronto’s population. For example:

  • Black people made up 25% of street checks between 2008 and 2013, despite representing only 8.08% of Toronto’s population.27
  • Black people made up 26.5% of street checks in 2014, despite representing only 8.9% of Toronto’s population.28

Between 2008 and 2013, Black Toronto residents were 3.47 times more likely to be subjected to a street check than White residents.29 For every Black person in the city, the TPS conducted approximately 2.1 stops. For every White person, the street-check rate was significantly less than one stop.30 Between 2008 and 2013, the TPS conducted street checks on approximately 61% of Toronto’s Black population, compared to 23% of the White population.31

There was a significant reduction in the number of reported street checks between 2012 and 2014. This reduction corresponded with “increased public concern about racially biased policing and community allegations of racial profiling,” the introduction of receipts,32 and the release of the PACER Report. The PACER Report recommended that, among other things, front-line officers no longer be evaluated on the number of street checks completed. However, significant racial disparities in street checks persisted into 2014.33

 
Race, age and gender

Young Black men, aged 15 to 24, were particularly overrepresented in TPS street-check data. Although they represented only 0.5% of Toronto’s population, young Black men accounted for 10.3% of all street checks between 2008 and 2013. Young Black men were 20.6 times more likely to be street-checked than their representation in the general population would predict.34

 
Community-level crime rates

Dr. Wortley found that racial disparities in street checks were not explained by differences in neighbourhood crime rates. Black people were overrepresented in street-check data in patrol zones with high-crime rates and low-crime rates. Black people were “even more highly overrepresented in contact cards collected in low-crime, predominantly White neighbourhoods.”35

This finding directly contradicts a commonly offered explanation that overrepresentation occurs simply because the police are patrolling high-crime neighbourhoods with large Black populations.

Also, Black people were more likely than people from other racial groups to be street-checked both within the patrol zones they lived in and when they travelled outside of their immediate neighbourhood.36

 

Types of street checks

Street-check data contain categories of reasons for conducting stops. These included: drug-related, biker gang, street gang, vehicle-related, suspicious activity, vulnerable persons check, and general investigation.

Black people were overrepresented in all categories, except for those related to biker gangs and vulnerable persons.37 The 2014 data also confirms that street checks occurred through both pedestrian and vehicle stops.38

Black people were overrepresented in street checks related to “general investigations.” Despite making up 8.9% of Toronto’s population, in 2014, Black people represented 25.8% of general investigation street checks.39 These stops were not the result of a specific traffic violation, criminal investigation, or suspect description.

The overrepresentation of Black people in this category is consistent with racial profiling allegations – that “skin colour makes Black people more vulnerable to general police investigations that do not involve an articulable cause or individualized suspicion.”40

 
Comparison to other Canadian cities

While Toronto is not the only urban Canadian police service that conducts street checks, Dr. Wortley noted that its street-check rate was notably higher than any other Canadian city, including Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, Peel Region, Ottawa, and Hamilton.41

Toronto also had the greatest racial disparities for Black people in street checks.42  

 

TPS post-regulation street-check data, 2015–2019

The TPS placed a moratorium on street checks in January 2015. No street checks were formally recorded in 2015 and 2016.43 On January 1, 2017, restrictions on street checks came into force through the provincial government’s street-check regulation, i.e., O. Reg. 58/16. Under this regulation, the TPS recorded 25 regulated interactions in 2017, two in 2018, and only one in 2019.44

However, qualitative and survey research shows that Black people are stopped by the TPS at a rate “far higher than people from other racial groups.”45 The research also shows that Black people are more likely to be searched than White people.

Dr. Wortley pointed to three studies that suggest that despite street-check regulations, alarming racial differences still exist with respect to police stop, question, and search activities.

The Toronto Guns and Youth Violence Project involved “in-depth interviews [from 2018 and 2019] with 492 young people, 16 to 24 years of age, residing in economically disadvantaged, high-crime communities within the City of Toronto.” According to the data collected by Dr. Wortley and other researchers as part of that project:46

Black respondents (44.6%) were much more likely to report being stopped by the police in the past year than respondents from other racial backgrounds (28%). Indeed, almost a third of Black respondents (31.9%) indicated that they had been stopped by the police on multiple occasions in the past year, compared to only 16.8% of respondents from other racial backgrounds. Furthermore, 27.9% of Black respondents indicated that they had been physically searched by the police in the past year, compared to only 14.6% of non-Black respondents. These racial differences are statistically significant.

Similar results were produced by a study commissioned by the TPSB. The Perceptions of the Toronto Police and the Impact of Rule Changes Under Regulation 58/16: A Community Survey47  described the results of a 2017 survey of 1,500 people. The survey and report stated that street checks or carding:

[…] refers to police officer stopping and asking you a series of questions e.g. your name, age, height, weight, names of your friends etc. and recording this information on a contact card. The information is subsequently entered into a database for possible use in future criminal investigations.48

In this survey, 11.3% of survey respondents reported being street-checked by the TPS, and of this group, “21% indicated that they had been street- checked in 2017 – the year that the new street regulations came into play.”

There were also significant racial disparities. Black respondents were 3.5 times more likely to report being street-checked than White respondents, and 19.1% of Black respondents reported being street-checked compared to 5.5% of White respondents. “[A]fter controlling for gender, age, education, income and neighbourhood crime rate, Black respondents were still 2.2 times more likely to be subject to a street check than White people.”49

In 2019, the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), Legal Aid Ontario, and the Lincoln Alexander School of Law commissioned a survey. Race and Criminal Injustice: An examination of public perceptions of and experiences with the Ontario criminal justice system50 described the results of a 2019 Environics survey of 1,450 residents, aged 18 or over, from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).51

Dr. Wortley found that in the two years before the survey was administered (between 2017 and 2019):

  • 40.4% of Black respondents reported being stopped by the police at least once, compared to only 24.7% of White and 24.9% of Asian respondents52
  • 26.2% of Black respondents reported being stopped two or more times, compared to only 11.8% of Asian and 9.8% of White respondents.53

Consistent with the TPS street-check data, Black men were particularly overrepresented.54

Racial differences persisted when controlling for “other theoretically relevant variables including respondent age, education, income, immigration status, driving frequency, late-night leisure activities, community crime and disorder, violent victimization, illegal drug use, and criminal history.”55 When these variables are taken into account, Black people were:

  • 1.9 times more likely to report one or more instances of being stopped by the police
  • 2.8 times more likely to report two or more instances of being stopped
  • 7.3 times more likely to report three or more instances of being stopped
  • 9.0 times more likely to report four or more instances of being stopped
  • 6.1 times more likely to be searched by the police during a stop incident.56

Dr. Wortley said: “racial differences are much more pronounced among City of Toronto respondents than respondents who live elsewhere in the GTA (i.e., Peel, Durham, York, and Halton regions).” Black Toronto residents were also “particularly vulnerable to multiple police stops.”57

For example, 32.8% of Black Toronto residents reported that they have been stopped by the police on multiple occasions in the two years before the survey was administered (between 2017 and 2019), compared to only 18.7% of Black respondents who live in other areas of the GTA. This is consistent with official TPS street-check data, described earlier, which shows that the TPS “historical street check rate is much higher than other Canadian police services.”58

Dr. Wortley notes that the findings are particularly important given O. Reg. 58/16:

Thus, although the Ontario Street Check Regulation may have eliminated the formal documentation of street checks, it has not decreased racial disparities in police stop and question activities. Eliminating the street check paper trail has not eliminated all evidence of racial profiling. This finding also supports the argument that the police should be mandated to collect information on all police stops – not just those that result in a formal street check.59

He concludes that qualitative research, involving both Toronto residents and Toronto police officers, has produced findings that are highly consistent with the argument that the Toronto police engage in racial profiling.

 

Correlation of racial disparities in TPS street checks, stops and searches with use of force, charges and arrests

Racial disparities in TPS street checks and qualitative research and survey data on stops and searches correspond with the racial disparities in use of force, charges and arrests reported in A Collective Impact and A Disparate Impact.

Dr. Wortley stated:

It is also likely that racial profiling and biased police surveillance practices directly contribute to the gross overrepresentation of Black people in TPS use of force incidents. The greater the overall exposure to police contact, the greater the likelihood that some police encounters will deteriorate into use of force. Furthermore, the results of the OHRC’s investigation reveal that, compared to incidents involving White people, use of force incidents involving Black people are more likely to result from proactive policing (i.e., police stops) than calls for service. 60

 

Additional Benchmarking of TPS Use of Force and Charge Data (Addendum Report)

Findings from the Additional Benchmarking of TPS Use of Force and Charge Data (Addendum Report) incorporate data that were not available during the preparation of A Disparate Impact. Dr. Wortley and Dr. Ayobami Laniyonu supplement their previous work through additional analysis of use-of-force incidents, out-of-sight traffic charges, and failure-to-comply charges.

 
Use of force

In A Disparate Impact, Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu compared Black peoples’ representation in use-of-force cases against their presence in the general population, and found that they were grossly overrepresented. This is also known as census benchmarking or general population benchmarking.

While Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu strongly agreed with the reasoning underlying the use of census benchmarking, there are those who argue such a tool will not completely explain racial disparities. Some examples of this position include:

  • “Racial groups with high levels of contact with the police are at greater risk of experiencing police violence than those with lower levels of contact.”
  • “Those who have broken the law – and targeted for arrest – are at especially high risk of police use of force.”
  • “Violent offenders (i.e., those involved in arrests for violent crime) are more likely to demonstrate ‘resistance’ to the police and are thus particularly vulnerable to police use of force incidents.” 61

To address these arguments, Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu supplemented the analysis of race-based data on use of force by using race-based arrest and street-check data as additional benchmarks in this Addendum Report.

When benchmarking use-of-force incidents against street checks between 2008 and 2013, the results indicate that Black people remain overrepresented in TPS use-of-force statistics.62

Using street checks as a benchmark, Black people are in fact significantly overrepresented in lower-level use-of-force incidents, SIU shooting investigations, and TPS use-of-force incidents that resulted in civilian death. Black people are still grossly overrepresented in TPS shooting deaths.

Drs Wortley and Laniyonu explain overrepresentation in their report:

As discussed in our earlier report, there is no set standard for determining when racial disproportionality (i.e., the over- or under-representation of a particular racial group with respect to a specific social outcome) is cause for concern. However, for the purposes of this study, we have used a relatively high threshold of 50%. In other words, for the purposes of the present analysis, an Odds Ratio of 1.50 or higher will be used to determine whether the over-representation of Black people in TPS use of force cases is noteworthy or not. At times we will discuss the notion of “gross” racial disparity. For the purposes of this report, a gross racial disparity exists when the level of over-representation is 200% or greater (i.e., as indicated by an odds ratio of 3.00 or higher)…

Odds ratios were calculated by dividing the percentage of all use of force cases involving Black people by their percent representation within each benchmark. An odds ratio approaching 1.00 indicates that Black people are neither overrepresented nor under-represented in use of force cases. An odds ratio less than 1.00 indicates that Black people are underrepresented in use of force incidents. An OR greater than 1.00 indicates that Black people are overrepresented in use of force cases. For example, an OR of 2.00 would indicate that Black people are twice as involved in TPS use of force cases as they are in the population benchmark under consideration. By contrast, an odds ratio of 0.50 would indicates that Black people are 50% less represented in use of force cases than their proportion of the benchmark population would predict.

Street-check benchmarks did produce lower odds ratios than general-population benchmarks.

This finding suggests that higher rates of police contact may help explain the overrepresentation of Black people in TPS use of force statistics. These results are also consistent with other report findings which suggest that, compared to cases involving White people, use of force incidents involving Black people are more likely to involve proactive policing practices (i.e., traffic stops). Overall, these findings are consistent with the argument that racial profiling contributes to the overrepresentation of Black people in use of force incidents by increasing the number of negative, involuntary contacts between the police and Black residents. The higher the number of negative, involuntary contacts, the greater the likelihood that some cases will devolve into an incident involving police use of force. 63

Using the arrest benchmark, Black people were still significantly overrepresented in lower-level use-of-force incidents, TPS use-of-force incidents that resulted in civilian death, and TPS shooting deaths. Black people were also overrepresented in TPS shootings and SIU use-of-force investigations, but below the 1.5 noteworthy threshold64 for a disproportionality.65 The results are very similar using the TPS arrests for property crime benchmark as they are for the total arrest benchmark.66

Using TPS arrests for violent crime as a benchmark, Black people remain significantly overrepresented in use-of-force incidents that resulted in civilian death and TPS shooting deaths. Black people were also overrepresented in lower-level use-of-force incidents and SIU shooting investigations, but below the 1.5 noteworthy threshold for a disproportionality.67

Using TPS arrests for “serious” violent crime68 as a benchmark, Black people remain significantly overrepresented in TPS fatal shootings. However, when using firearms-related arrests as a benchmark, Black people were overrepresented in TPS fatal shootings, but below the 1.5 noteworthy threshold for a disproportionality. Black people were also underrepresented in lower-level use-of-force incidents and SIU use-of-force investigations. However, due to very small numbers,69 the use of “serious violence” to benchmark use-of-force incidents may be statistically problematic.”70

It is important to note that the analysis presented shows that using street-check and arrest benchmarking practices reduces – but does not eliminate – the overrepresentation of Black people in TPS use-of-force incidents.

In other words, even when we consider the proportion of arrests that involve Black suspects, Black people remain significantly overrepresented in TPS use of force incidents -- including police shootings and shooting deaths. These findings, in our opinion, provide further evidence that racial bias contributes to racial disparities in TPS use of force.71

According to Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu, some may interpret the findings that “the more serious the arrest category – the less significant the overrepresentation of Black people” as “‘evidence’ that it is ‘serious criminal behaviour,’ not race, that explains why Black people are more likely to be involved in TPS use of force incidents[.]”72

However, such an interpretation “should only be considered with great caution. Indeed, aggregate-level associations between arrest statistics and use of force statistics diverge significantly from the information provided in individual case files.”73 For example:

  • The fact that Black people are overrepresented in TPS arrest statistics may be misinterpreted as evidence that the Black individuals involved in police use of force incidents have lengthy criminal records involving violent offences and are thus “known to be dangerous” during police encounters. However, between 2013 and 2017, 55.6% of the Black people involved in SIU use of force investigations had no previous criminal record.74
  • The fact that Black people are overrepresented in firearms arrests may give the impression that the Black individuals involved in TPS use of force cases were often usually armed with a gun at the time of the incident. This is not the case. The data indicate that, between 2013 and 2017, two-thirds of the Black individuals involved in SIU investigations were unarmed during the use of force incident. Only 8.3% were in possession of a firearm. 
  • [In addition,] very few of the TPS use of force cases analyzed (lower-level and SIU cases) involved an attempt to arrest a suspect for a serious violent offence like homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, or firearms possession.75

The potential explanation for why Black people were overrepresented in TPS arrests for violent crime while most Black people involved in use-of- force incidents were unarmed and did not have a criminal record is that officers stereotype Black people “as potentially dangerous.”76 This explanation is supported by the TPS’s analysis of its 2020 use-of-force data (see below), which found that this:

… overrepresentation cannot be explained by other factors including age, gender, nature of police contact, arrest statistics, or the presence of weapons. For example, consistent with the racialized fear or stereotype argument, the TPS analysis reveals that, in 2020, TPS officers were 2.3 times more likely to point a firearm at an unarmed Black person than an unarmed White person.77

Finally, in the Addendum Report, Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu supplemented the multivariate analysis of use of force in A Disparate Impact by benchmarking using race-based arrests and street-check data. They noted that “benchmarking on street checks and arrests should be considered conservative estimates of racial disparities.”78 Overall, the results of the multivariate analysis using these additional benchmarking techniques are consistent with the results presented in A Disparate Impact “with some important caveats:”79

We find that Black Torontonians are still far more likely to experience force relative to White Torontonians, and that other racialized minorities are less likely to experience force than White Torontonians, even when race-specific rates of contact with the police and race-specific arrests are set as benchmarks. The relative risk that Black Torontonians will experience force estimated in these models, however, is smaller than the relative risk estimated in the main report (A Disparate Impact). Also, we do not estimate a statistically significant difference between risk of force between Black and White Torontonians when arrests for violent crimes are set as the population at risk for force.

 Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu concluded that:

Despite controlling for violent crime and other patrol zone factors, however, our overall finding is that racial disparities persist and remain troubling. That is, they point to the unjustified and disparate involvement of Black Torontonians in force incidents that can erode mental and physical wellbeing, police legitimacy, success in school for children, and trust in government.80

 

Out-of-sight driving offences

Out-of-sight driving offences are those that cannot be observed by an officer, and are only identified once a traffic stop has been initiated. They can include driving without a licence, driving while suspended, driving without insurance, and driving without proper vehicle registration.

Using estimates of Toronto’s driving population as an additional benchmark, Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu found that the overrepresentation of Black people in out-of-sight driving offences increased when compared to using the general population of Toronto as a benchmark.

Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu drew upon data from the 2016 Canadian census that captured the “number of Toronto residents who drove to work using a car, truck, or other personal motor vehicle.” According to Dr. Wortley, “commute to work estimates may be considered superior to population benchmarks because they better capture the driving population (i.e., those who are of the legal driving age and have access to a motor vehicle)” but they are “not without their limitations” (e.g., they don’t capture people who use a car frequently for leisure purposes or to go to school).81

Drs. Wortley and Laniyonu concluded that “Black people remain grossly overrepresented in TPS out-of-sight traffic charges.”82

In fact, the overrepresentation of Black people – particularly Black women – increases when we use the driving benchmark as opposed to the general population benchmark. These findings are consistent with both police statistics and survey data that suggest that Black people are much more likely to be stopped and questioned by TPS officers than people from other racial backgrounds. Together, these findings strongly support the argument that the TPS has engaged in racial profiling. 83

Using the general population benchmark, Black people were 4.0 times more likely to be involved in an out-of-sight driving offence than their presence in the general population would predict. However, using the driving population benchmark, Black people were 5.1 times more likely to be involved in an out-of-sight driving offence than their presence in the driving population would predict.84

 

Failure to comply

Failure to comply is a criminal offence that one can be charged with if they do not follow a court order or a police undertaking, such as conditions imposed when a person is on probation or terms of release when a person has been charged with an offence.

Using arrest statistics as a benchmark, Dr. Wortley found that Black people were 1.3 times more likely to be charged with failure-to-comply charges than their representation in arrest statistics, which is less than the 1.5 times threshold established by Dr. Wortley for a noteworthy disproportionality. Using the arrest benchmark significantly reduced the overrepresentation of Black people in failure-to-comply charges.

However, according to Dr. Wortley, this reduction in Black overrepresentation “does not eliminate evidence of the possibility of racial bias.”85 One must look at the many steps involved in the application and enforcement of release conditions that could affect the representation of Black people in failure-to-comply charges.86

 

 

TPS and TPSB’s reports and statistical analyses

Multiple surveys, reports, and studies commissioned by the TPS and TPSB themselves have confirmed that Black people are subjected to systemic racial discrimination, racial profiling, and anti-Black racism in policing services provided by the TPS.87

Recently, as part of its Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy, the TPS commendably analyzed race-based data from 2020 on use-of-force incidents that involved the completion of provincial use-of-force reports, and strip searches.

This data confirms the OHRC’s finding of anti-Black racism in policing in Toronto.88 In particular, it confirms that in 2020, Black people were disproportionately the subject of:

  • enforcement actions
  • strip searches
  • use of force.

 

 

Enforcement actions

The TPS used “enforcement actions” as a benchmark to determine whether there were racial disparities in its engagement with the community. They were considered a measure of police contact and were defined as:

All incident reports of arrests resulting in charges (including released at scene) or released without charges, Provincial Offences Act Part III tickets (serious offences), summons, cautions, diversions, apprehensions, and those with the role type of “subject” or “suspect.” It excludes police interactions related to victims, complainants, witnesses, traffic or pedestrian stops, lower levels of tickets, and parking enforcement.89 

The TPS’s data demonstrates that TPS enforcement actions disproportionately impacted members of Black communities.

Although only 10.2% of the Toronto population in 2020:

  • Black people comprised 22.6% of the people involved in “enforcement actions”; and
  • Black people were 2.2 times overrepresented in “enforcement actions” compared to their presence in Toronto in 2020.90

 

 

Strip searches

The TPS’s data also revealed that Black people were disproportionately impacted by strip searches.

Although only 10.2% of Toronto’s population in 2020:

  • Black people comprised 31% (2,223) of all police strip searches;91 and
  • Black people were overrepresented in strip searches even when benchmarking based on arrests. On that analysis, Black people were 1.1 times overrepresented.92

 

 

Use of force

Although only 10.2% of Toronto’s population in 2020:

  • Black people comprised 39% of people involved in use of force incidents (482 people);93
  • Black people remain overrepresented in use of force incidents even when benchmarking based on “enforcement actions” rather than population statistics in the census;94
  • Black people and Black youth (under the age of 17) were 1.6 and 1.5 times overrepresented in use of force incidents respectively compared to their presence in enforcement action;95 and
  • Black people were also 2.3 times more likely than White people to have firearms pointed at them by an officer where no civilian weapons were perceived by the officer.96

 

 

Voices of TPS officers

During the Inquiry, the OHRC interviewed 12 officers, seven of whom were members of the Black Internal Support Network (BISN), an employee group within the TPS. Our goal was to learn about police culture, training, policies, procedures, and accountability mechanisms relating to racial profiling and discrimination, and the relationship between the TPS and Black communities.

The officers gave personal and poignant examples of their experiences with anti-Black racism and racial discrimination within the TPS. They discussed how the TPS culture perpetuates racism and discrimination. Furthermore, the culture resists any actions or attempts at change, including education, training, and increased diversity of service at the member and leadership levels.

The officers also gave first-hand accounts of the anti-Black racism and discrimination they observed in the provision of services to the public. The OHRC appreciates the courage of these officers in coming forward and speaking so candidly with us. Their experiences further confirm the existence of anti-Black racism in the TPS. A summary of these interviews is contained in Chapter 4. 

 

 

The Courts

The Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice have all acknowledged the existence of anti-Black racism in the criminal justice system, including within the TPS.97 Multiple trial courts and human rights tribunals have found instances of racial discrimination and/or profiling by the TPS.98

The OHRC identified eight HRTO and court decisions decided between 2009 and 2017 that found that Black people were the victims of racial profiling or racial discrimination by TPS officers.99

 

 

TPS acknowledgement of anti-Black racism

The existence of anti-Black racism was denied for many years by the TPS and other police services in Ontario and across Canada.

However, the overwhelming evidence of racial discrimination and profiling, and the prolonged and resilient voices of Black communities in Toronto, have resulted in the TPS, the TPSB and City officials, among others, to acknowledge the reality of anti-Black racism in policing.

In 2009, then-Toronto Police Chief William Blair acknowledged the possibility of racial profiling within the TPS.100

In 2017, then-Mayor John Tory acknowledged that “[a]nti-Black racism exists in Toronto” and eliminating it must be the city’s goal.101 Accordingly, Toronto City Council adopted the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism.102 The plan recognized that “Black Torontonians face many disparities related to law enforcement” and are “disproportionately affected by racial profiling and over-policing.”103

In December 2018, after the release of A Collective Impact, then-Chief Mark Saunders acknowledged that racial profiling and racism exist within the TPS.104

In June 2020, Chief Saunders acknowledged that anti-Black racism is a “reality”, and the criticism has been “more than fair.”105

Also in June 2020, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) acknowledged the existence of systemic racism in policing, which they recognized represented “a serious threat to the ability of Ontario’s police professionals to deliver effective, fair, and accountable policing services to the people of Ontario.”106

In July 2020, following Chief Saunders’ resignation, Mayor Tory stated that, “sensitivity to anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and a commitment to ushering in a ‘change in policing’ [were] prerequisites” in choosing the next Chief of Police.107

In August 2020, then-Interim Chief James Ramer stated that one of his priorities would be to identify and eliminate systemic anti-Black racism in the TPS.108

Also in August 2020, the TPSB acknowledged that “systemic racism occurs within policing,” it “must do better” and the “status quo is not adequate.”109

In November 2020, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CAPA) stated:

We have study after study, including government-commissioned reports, that demonstrate we have an issue with systemic racism throughout our justice system, which includes our legal system, our courts and our police services.119

On June 15, 2022, then-Interim Chief Ramer stated that the results of the TPS analysis of 2020 data on enforcement actions, strip searches, and use of force confirmed what Black communities had been telling the TPS for years: that the TPS continues to disproportionately over-police Black communities, among others. Based on the TPS data, he apologized for systemic racism within the TPS:

[Black and Indigenous communities] are disproportionately over-policed. This data demonstrates the unfortunate realities of those experiences. As an organization, we have not done enough to ensure that every person in our city receives fair and unbiased policing. For this, as Chief of Police and on behalf of the Service, I am sorry and I apologize unreservedly…

With the release of the initial results of this report and ongoing work, I recognize that today will be a difficult day for many within the Service and within the communities we serve.

It is difficult for the Toronto Police Service because our own analysis of our data from 2020 discloses that there is systemic discrimination in our policing in these areas. That is that there is a disproportionate impact experienced by racialized people and, particularly those from Black communities when there is a use-of-force interaction with the Toronto Police Service. 111

These acknowledgements by the TPS, TPSB, and City officials form an important first step. Acknowledgement of the findings of this Inquiry would be an important next step.

As stated in 2020 by Ena Chadha, then-OHRC Chief Commissioner, after the release of A Disparate Impact:

The time for debate about whether systemic racism or anti-Black racism exists is over. It is time to come together to change law enforcement institutions and systems that produce such disproportionate outcomes – community trust and safety, especially the safety of Black lives, depend on it.112

Accordingly, the question is, “What can be done about it?” The answers and the OHRC’s recommendations are found in the following chapters.

 

 

Chapter 3 Endnotes

 

1] For example, see: Claire Lewis et al, The Report of the Race Relations and Policing Task Force (Toronto: Government of Ontario, 1988), online (pdf): https://www.siu.on.ca/pdfs/b-cover_page_letter_preface.pdf; Stephen Lewis, Report of the Advisor on Race Relations to the Premier of Ontario (Toronto: Government of Ontario, 1992), online (pdf): https://www.siu.on.ca/pdfs/report_of_the_advisor_on_race_relations_to_the_premier_of_ontario_bob_rae.pdf; Margaret Gitten et al, Report of the Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System (Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1995), online (pdf): https://collections.ola.org/mon/25005/185733.pdf; Jim Rankin et al, “Singled out” series, Toronto Star (19 October 2002), online: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/known-to-police/singled-out/article_abe5f144-b412-5692-8290-683a291a2a37.html; OHRC, Paying The Price: The Human Cost of Racial Profiling (Toronto: OHRC, 2003), online (pdf): https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Paying_the_price%3A_The_human_cost_of_racial_profiling.pdf?_gl=1*1jcuhdi*_ga*MTkwOTEwMjQ1NC4xNjkwNTYxOTk2*_ga_K3JBNZ5N4P*MTY5MDkwNjQzNy4xNi4wLjE2OTA5MDY0MzcuMC4wLjA; OHRC, Policy and guidelines on racism and racial discrimination (Toronto: OHRC, 2005), online (pdf): https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Policy_and_guidelines_on_racism_and_racial_discrimination.pdf; The 2007 OHRC Ontario Human Rights Charter; Hon. Roy McMurtry and Alvin Curling, The Review of the Roots of Youth Violence (Toronto: Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2008), online (pdf): https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cnmcs-plcng/cn30240-vol1-eng.pdf; OHRC, Human rights and policing: Creating and sustaining organizational change (Toronto: OHRC, 2011), online (pdf): https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/Human_rights_and_policing%3A_Creating_and_sustaining_organizational_change.pdf; “Known to Police” Series, Toronto Star (2012—2013), online: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/known-to-police/; The 2013 Mukherjee Report on Police Carding and Issue of Profiling; Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), “Evaluation of the Human Rights Project Charter” (February 2014), online (pdf): https://www.torontomu.ca/content/dam/diversity/reports/HRPC_Report_WEB_2014.pdf; Logical Outcomes, “This issue has been with us for ages”: A community-based assessment of police contact carding in 31 Division – final report (Toronto: Logical Outcomes, 2014), online (pdf): https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cnmcs-plcng/cn000043559042-eng.pdf; The 2015 OHRC Report Under Suspicion: Research and consultation report on racial profiling in Ontario; The 2016 United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; OHRC, Under Suspicion: Research and consultation report on racial profiling in Ontario (Toronto: OHRC, 2017), online (pdf): https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/Under%20suspicion_research%20and%20consultation%20report%20on%20racial%20profiling%20in%20Ontario_2017.pdf?_gl=1*1xq9phq*_ga*MTkwOTEwMjQ1NC4xNjkwNTYxOTk2*_ga_K3JBNZ5N4P*MTY5MDkwNjQzNy4xNi4xLjE2OTA5MDg1NDcuMC4wLjA; OHRC, A Collective Impact: Interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service (Toronto: OHRC, 2018), online (pdf): https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/TPS%20Inquiry_Interim%20Report%20EN%20FINAL%20DESIGNED%20for%20remed_3_0.pdf?_gl=1*1ahj0je*_ga*MTkwOTEwMjQ1NC4xNjkwNTYxOTk2*_ga_K3JBNZ5N4P*MTY5MDkwNjQzNy4xNi4xLjE2OTA5MDg3MzQuMC4wLjA.&_ga=2.137198521.801170755.1690908715-1909102454.1690561996#overlay-context=en/news_centre/ohrc-interim-report-toronto-police-service-inquiry-shows-disturbing-results; OHRC, A Disparate Impact: Second interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service (Toronto: OHRC, 2020), online (pdf): https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/A%20Disparate%20Impact%20-%20TPS%20inquiry%20%28updated%20January%202023%29.pdf; Hon. Gloria J Epstein et al, Missing and Missed, Report of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations (Toronto: TPSB, 2021), online: https://www.tps.ca/chief/chiefs-office/missing-and-missed-implementation/report-independent-civilian-review-missing-person-investigations/.

2] Market Dimensions, “Toronto Police Community Evaluation” (2010) at 10, 11 and 21.

3 Your Voice Canadian Market Research Company Inc., Report on Focus Groups held for the Toronto Police Service (December 2013).

4 Diversity Institute – Ryerson University, “Evaluation of the Human Rights Project Charter” (February 2014) at 53, online (pdf): www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/diversity/reports/HRPC_Report_WEB_2014.pdf.

5 Logical Outcomes, “The issue has been with us for ages: A community-based assessment of police contact carding in 31 Division – Final Report” (2014).

6 Mitchell Hammer, Hamlin Grange and Michael Paige, “IDI Assessment Project on Building Intercultural Competence with the Toronto Police Service” (2015) – Executive Summary and Final Report.

7 Anthony N. Doob and Rosemary Gartner, Understanding the Impact of Police Stops, A report prepared for the Toronto Police Services Board (17 January 2017), online (pdf): https://www.crimsl.utoronto.ca/sites/crimsl.utoronto.ca/files/DoobGartnerPoliceStopsReport-17Jan2017r.pdf.

8 TPS and TPSB, The Action Plan: The Way Forward – Modernizing Community Safety in Toronto (2017) at 19, online (pdf): https://www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/5f/5d/5f5d80b1-16d1-46d8-a116-74bc3acc2c71/executive-summary-mobile.pdf#:~:text=With%20this%20action%20plan%2C%20we,all%20Toronto%20residents%20and%20communities.

9 MNP, “Organizational Culture Assessment of the TPS” (2018) at 41.

10 Dr. Gervan Fearon and Dr. Carlyle Farrell, Perceptions of the Toronto Police and Impact of Rule Changes Under Regulation 58/16: A Community Survey (May 2019).

11 The Honourable Gloria J. Epstein, Missing and Missed: Report of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations (Toronto: TPSB, 2021) vol 3 at 720.

12 The Honourable Gloria J. Epstein, Missing and Missed: Report of the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations (Toronto: TPSB, 2021) vol 3 at 606–611.

13] OHRC, A Collective Impact: Interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service (Toronto: OHRC, 2018), Appendix E at 94, online: OHRC www.ohrc.on.ca/en/public-interest-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-discrimination-toronto-police-service/collective-impact-interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination-black.

14] OHRC, A Disparate Impact: Second interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service (Toronto: OHRC, 2020), at 109–110, online: OHRC www.ohrc.on.ca/en/disparate-impact-second-interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination-black.

15] OHRC, A Collective Impact: Interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service (Toronto: OHRC: 2018), Appendix E at 94, online: www.ohrc.on.ca/en/public-interest-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-discrimination-toronto-police-service/collective-impact-interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination-black; OHRC, A Disparate Impact: Second interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service (2020), at 109–110, online: www.ohrc.on.ca/en/disparate-impact-second-interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination-black;.Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) – see Appendix 2

16 Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 4, see Appendix 2.

17] “Carding” is a shortened term for “contact card collection” or “contact card stops,” undertaken by the police when stopping an individual.

18] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 55, see Appendix 2.

19] The Honourable Michael H Tulloch, Independent Street Checks Review (Ontario: King’s Printer, 2018) online: https://www.ontario.ca/page/report-independent-street-checks-review.

20] https://www.tpsb.ca/policies-by-laws/board-policies/178-regulated-intera...

21] The Honourable Michael H Tulloch, Independent Street Checks Review (Ontario: King’s Printer, 2018) online: https://www.ontario.ca/page/report-independent-street-checks-review.

22] The Honourable Michael H Tulloch, Independent Street Checks Review (Ontario: King’s Printer, 2018) online: https://www.ontario.ca/page/report-independent-street-checks-review.

23] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 21, see Appendix 2.

24] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 22, see Appendix 2.

25] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 35, see Appendix 2.

26] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021), see Appendix 2.

27] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 37, see Appendix 2.

28] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 43, see Appendix 2.

29] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 38, see Appendix 2.

30] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 37, see Appendix 2.

31] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 39, see Appendix 2.

32] Requiring TPS officers to provide a receipt to all civilians involved in street-check incidents.

33] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 42–43, see Appendix 2.

34] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 40, see Appendix 2.

35] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 41, see Appendix 2.

36] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 41, see Appendix 2.

37] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 45, see Appendix 2.

38] See also Jim Rankin et al, “As criticism piles up, so do the police cards,” Toronto Star (27 September 2013), online: www.thestar.com/news/gta/knowntopolice2013/2013/09/27/as_criticism_piles_up_so_do_the_police_cards.html.

39] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 45, see Appendix 2. Black people were also overrepresented in “general investigation” street checks in 2008. Twenty-four per cent of these street checks involved Black people – Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 42, see Appendix 2; The Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) unit had the highest Black carding rate of any policing unit. Eighty-three per cent of TAVIS cards were for general investigation and 40% were of Black people – Toronto Star Analysis Package (7 August 2013) at 15–17.

40] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 42, see Appendix 2.

41] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 49–50, see Appendix 2.

42] While Black people were overrepresented in street-check data from all Ontario police services, with the exception of the OPP in 2008 to 2013, the street-check rate for Black people in Toronto was approximately five times greater than the rate for any other Ontario jurisdiction. This includes jurisdictions with a similar proportion of Black people that make up the population, like Peel, where 9.5% of the population is Black, and Ottawa, where 6.6% of the population is Black. Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 52, see Appendix 2; Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2016 Census, Peel, RM [Census division], Ontario and Ontario [Province] (table), Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, (2017) online: www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E.

43] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 55; see also Patty Winsa & Jim Rankin, “Toronto Police chief Bill Blair suspends controversial practice of carding,” Toronto Star (6 January 2015), online:www.thestar.com/news/crime/2015/01/06/toronto_police_chief_bill_blair_suspends_controversial_practice_of_carding.html.

44] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 55, see Appendix 2.

45] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 62, see Appendix 2.

46] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 56–57, see Appendix 2.

47] Gervan Fearon and Carlyle Farrell, Perceptions of the Toronto Police and the Impact of Rule Changes Under Regulation 58/16: A Community Survey (2017).

48] Gervan Fearon and Carlyle Farrell, Perceptions of the Toronto Police and the Impact of Rule Changes Under Regulation 58/16: A Community Survey (Toronto Police Services Board, 2017) at 53 and 96.

49] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 57, see Appendix 2.

50] Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, “Race and Criminal Justice: New report from CABL, Ryerson’s Faculty of Law and the University of Toronto confirms significant racial differences in perceptions and experiences with the Ontario criminal justice system” (10 February 2021), online: cabl.ca/race-and-criminal-injustice-new-report-from-cabl-ryersons-faculty-of-law-and-the-university-of-toronto-confirms-significant-racial-differences-in-perceptions-and-experiences-with-the-ontari/.

51] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 58, “Quotas were set to ensure that the final sample consisted of at least 450 respondents from each of three racial groups: 450 of the respondents identified as Black, 450 as Asian (including people of Chinese, Korean, Japanese backgrounds) and 550 as White/Caucasian.” See Appendix 2.

52] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 59, see Appendix 2.

53] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 59, see Appendix 2.

54] Half of Black male respondents (49.2%) reported they had been stopped by police in the past two years, compared to 25.5% of White males and 29.8% of Asian males. Black women also reported more police stops than White or Asian women – see: Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 59, see Appendix 2.

55] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 60, see Appendix 2.

56] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 60, see Appendix 2.

57] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 28, see Appendix 2.

58] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 61, see Appendix 2.

59] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 62, see Appendix 2.

60] Scot Wortley, Racial profiling and the Toronto Police Service: Evidence, consequences and policy options (OHRC, September 2021) at 71, see Appendix 2.

61] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 4. See Appendix 3.

62] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 6. See Appendix 3.

63] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 7. See Appendix 3.

64] For the purposes of this study, Dr. Wortley used a relatively high threshold of 50%. In other words, for the purposes of their analysis, an odds ratio of 1.50 or higher will be used to determine whether the overrepresentation of Black people in TPS use of force cases is noteworthy or not. Dr. Scot Wortley and Dr. Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 8. See Appendix 3.

65] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 7. See Appendix 3.

66] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 7. See Appendix 3.

67] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 7. See Appendix 3.

68] i.e., homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and firearms violations, see Dr. Scot Wortley and Dr. Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 8. See Appendix 3.

69] Between 2014 and 2017, the TPS made only 164 arrests for homicide (41 per year), 281 arrests for attempted homicide (70 per year), 911 arrests for aggravated assault (228 per year), and 2,469 arrests for firearms offences (617 per year). By contrast, during this same period, the TPS conducted 110,218 arrests in total (27,554 per year) and 43,245 arrests for violent crime (10,811 per year). Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 8. See Appendix 3.

70] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 8. See Appendix 3.

71] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 8. See Appendix 3.

72] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 9. See Appendix 3

73] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 9. See Appendix 3

74] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 9. See Appendix 3.

75] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 9. See Appendix 3.

76] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 9. See Appendix 3.

77] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022)at 9. See Appendix 3.

78] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 14. See Appendix 3.

79] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 14. See Appendix 3.

80] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 24-25. See Appendix 3.

81] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 23. See Appendix 3.

82] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 23 to 25. See Appendix 3.

83] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 25. See Appendix 3.

84] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 7. See Appendix 3.

85 Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 28. See Appendix 3.

86] Scot Wortley and Ayobami Laniyonu, Addendum Report: Additional benchmarking of TPS use of force and charge data (November 2022) at 30. See Appendix 3.

87] Market Dimensions, “Toronto Police Community Evaluation” (2010); Your Voice Canadian Market Research Company Inc., Report on Focus Groups held for the Toronto Police Service (December 2013); Mitchell Hammer, Hamlin Grange and Michael Paige, “IDI Assessment Project on Building Intercultural Competence with the Toronto Police Service” (2015) – Executive Summary and Final Report; Anthony N. Doob and Rosemary Gartner, Understanding the Impact of Police Stops, A report prepared for the Toronto Police Services Board (17 January 2017), online: University of Toronto https://www.crimsl.utoronto.ca/sites/crimsl.utoronto.ca/files/DoobGartnerPoliceStopsReport-17Jan2017r.pdf; TPS and TPSB, The Action Plan: The Way Forward – Modernizing Community Safety in Toronto (2017) at 19, online (pdf): Toronto Police Service https://www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/5f/5d/5f5d80b1-16d1-46d8-a116-74bc3acc2c71/executive-summary-mobile.pdf; MNP “Organizational Culture Assessment of the TPS” (2018) at 41, online TPSB https://www.torontopolice.on.ca/tpsb-reform-implementation/docs/R30_-_Preliminary_report_on_Diversity_in_Human_Resources.pdf; Dr. Gervan Fearon and Dr. Carlyle Farrell, Perceptions of the Toronto Police and Impact of Rule Changes Under Regulation 58/16: A Community Survey (May 2019).

88] OHRC, A Disparate Impact: Second interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service, online: OHRC:www.ohrc.on.ca/en/disparate-impact-second-interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination-black.

89] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at Appendix C – Glossary of Terms, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

90] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 38 and 45, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

91] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 61-62, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

92] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 76, online: www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

93] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 48, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

94] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 49 and 53, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

95] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 49 and 53, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

96] TPS, Race & Identity Based Data Collection Strategy: Understanding Use of Force & Strip Searches in 2020 – Detailed Report (June 2022) at 54 and 55, online (pdf): www.tps.ca/media/filer_public/93/04/93040d36-3c23-494c-b88b-d60e3655e88b/98ccfdad-fe36-4ea5-a54c-d610a1c5a5a1.pdf.

97] For example R. v. Parks, 1993 CanLII 3383 (ON CA); R. v. Brown, 2003 CanLII 52142 (ON CA); Peart v. Peel Regional Police Services 2006 CanLII 37566 (ON CA); R. v. Jackson, 2018 ONSC 2527; R. v. Dudhi, 2019 ONCA 665; R. v. Le, 2019 SCC 34; R. v. Sitladeen, 2021 ONCA 303; R. v. Theriault, 2021 ONCA 517 (CanLII); R. v. Morris, 2021 ONCA 680 (CanLII), R. v. Sitladeen, 2021 ONCA 303 (CanLII).

98] For example, Abbott v Toronto Police Services Board, 2009 HRTO 1909; Maynard v Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 HRTO 1220; Shaw v Phipps, 2012 ONCA 155; R v Ahmed, [2009] OJ No 5092 (SCJ); R v K(A), 2014 ONCJ 374; R v Smith, 2015 ONSC 3548; R v Thompson, [2016] O.J. No. 2118 (Ont CJ); Elmardy v Toronto Police Services Board, 2017 ONSC 2074.

99] Abbott v Toronto Police Services Board, 2009 HRTO 1909; Maynard v Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 HRTO 1220; Shaw v Phipps, 2012 ONCA 155; R v Ahmed, [2009] OJ No 5092 (SCJ); R v K(A), 2014 ONCJ 374; R v Smith, 2015 ONSC 3548; R v Thompson [2016] O.J. No. 2118 (Ont CJ); Elmardy v Toronto Police Services Board, 2017 ONSC 2074.

   The incidents that that were the subject of Abbott v Toronto Police Services Board, 2009 HRTO 1909; Maynard v Toronto Police Services Board, 2012 HRTO 1220; R v Ahmed, [2009] OJ No 5092 (SCJ); and Shaw v Phipps, 2012 ONCA 155 occurred before 2010.

   For brief summaries of R v Thompson, [2016] O.J. No. 2118 (Ont CJ); Elmardy v Toronto (City) Police Services Board, 2017 ONSC 2074; R v K(A), 2014 ONCJ 374 and R v Smith, 2015 ONSC 3548.

100] Robyn Doolittle, “Racial bias exists on police force, chief says” (30 September, 2009) online: The Toronto Star https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2009/09/30/racial_bias_exists_on_police_force_chief_says.html.

101] City of Toronto, “Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism” (2017) at Executive Summary, online (pdf): City of Toronto www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-109127.pdf.

102] City of Toronto, “Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism” (2017), online (pdf): City of Toronto www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-109127.pdf.

103] City of Toronto, “Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism” (2017) at Executive Summary, 33–35, online (pdf): City of Toronto www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-109127.pdf.

104] “Toronto police chief acknowledges racial profiling challenges in wake of human rights report,” CBC News (11 December 2018), online: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/saunders-ohrc-response-1.4940677.

105] Bryann Aguilar, “Criticism of police in wake of protests ‘more than fair,’ Toronto police chief says,” CP24 (4 June 2020), online: www.cp24.com/news/criticism-of-police-in-wake-of-protests-more-than-fair-toronto-police-chief-says-1.4969953.

  Further, as indicated in A Collective Impact, in 2009, then-Chief Blair acknowledged that racial bias exists within the Toronto Police. Robin Doolittle, “Racial bias exists on police force, chief says,” Toronto Star, (30 September 2009), online: www.thestar.com/news/gta/2009/09/30/racial_bias_exists_on_police_force_chief_says.html.

106] Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, statement, “Racism, in any form, is evil” (14 November 2020), online: OACP www.oacp.ca/en/news/statement-racism-in-any-form-is-evil.aspx; Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, statement, “OHRC’s Framework for the Province to Address Systemic Racism in Policing” (29 July 2021), online: OACP www.oacp.ca/en/news/statement-ohrc-s-framework-for-the-province-to-address-systemic-racism-in-policing.aspx.

107] Chris Fox, “Next Toronto police chief must have ‘sensitivity to anti-Black racism,’ mayor says,” CTV News (27 June 2020), online: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/next-toronto-police-chief-must-have-sensitivity-to-anti-black-racism-mayor-says-1.5002615.

108] Kayla Goodfield, “‘Trust has been broken’: Toronto’s interim police chief apologizes to Dafonte Miller, promises transparency,” CTV News (6 August 2020), online: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/trust-has-been-broken-toronto-s-interim-police-chief-apologizes-to-dafonte-miller-promises-transparency-1.5053280.

109] TPSB, “Police Reform in Toronto: Systemic Racism, Alternative Community Safety and Crisis Response Models and Building New Confidence in Public Safety” (August 2020) at 2, online (pdf): TPSB https://tpsb.ca/images/agendas/PUBLIC_AGENDA_Aug_18.pdf.

110] Canada, Parliament, House of Commons, Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, 1st sess., 43rd Parliament, Meeting No. 12, 2020, 2, CAPA), https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/SECU/meeting-7/evidence.

111] TPS Media Centre (article by Ron Fanfair), “Race-Based Data Shows Over-Policing” (15 June 2022), online: https://www.tps.ca/media-centre/stories/race-based-data-shows-over-policing/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w80pKL3RdMY.

112] Ena Chadha, “Remarks by Interim Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha at the August 10, 2020, news conference on the release of A Disparate Impact: Second interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service,” OHRC, accessed October 2, 2021, http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/remarks-ohrc-interim-chief-commissioner-ena-chadha.

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