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100+ recommendations to combat anti-Black racism by Toronto police announced by Ontario Human Rights Commission

(Courtesy: Toronto Police Operations/X )

More than 100 recommendations to address anti-Black racism in the Toronto Police Service have been released in a significant new report. 

After a lengthy public inquiry that began in November 2017, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released its final report on Thursday in regards to racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black people by Toronto police.

Titled From Impact to Action, the final report concludes that Black people are subjected to systemic racial discrimination, racial profiling, and anti-Black racism by the Toronto Police Service (TPS) and the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB).

Some recommendations include developing a policy or procedure on racial profiling and revising policies and procedures to set out circumstances where unnecessary force should not be used. 

The OHRC also suggests purging the TPS database of photographs, fingerprints and biometric information that was collected in relation to charges that do not result in convictions, and requiring supervisory approval and/or equity audits of charges.

In addition, the commission recommends that the TPS expand the collecting, analyzing and reporting of race-based data on stops, searches, charges, arrests and use of force.

Other recommendations include, but are not limited to:

  • Providing greater transparency on officer discipline
  • Taking proactive investigative steps following tribunal or court decisions that contain findings of racial profiling, racial discrimination or violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • Integrating scenario-based training on anti-Black racism into other training programs with effective evaluation
  • Supporting calls to expand civilian-led mental health crisis response services

The OHRC released two interim reports during the inquiry, A Collective Impact in December 2018 and the second, A Disparate Impact, in August  2020. Data from the second report showed that Black people were more likely than other people to be arrested, charged, over-charged, struck, shot or killed by Toronto police.

“I am grateful to the many Black communities, individuals, police officers and experts who provided input to make this report and its recommendations comprehensive,” Patricia DeGuire, OHRC’s chief commissioner, said in a statement on Thursday.

“Their openness and diligence were essential in delivering the final report and evidence-based practices which, if followed, will enable a cultural transformation within TPS.”

The final report follows over six years of extensive consultations with Toronto’s Black communities, policing experts, academics and expert findings by Dr. Scot Wortley, a professor and researcher at the UofT Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies.

“Since the release of OHRC’s interim report, A Disparate Impact, the TPS has enacted more meaningful reforms on important issues, including race-based data collection, than anytime during the previous three decades,” Wortley said in a statement.

“I am cautiously optimistic that, if adopted, the OHRC’s recommendations will help reduce systemic racism, improve public transparency and police oversight, and begin to foster a relationship of trust between the TPS and Toronto’s Black communities.”

The Toronto Police Services Board and Toronto Police Service issued a joint statement in response to the report, saying they welcome the findings.

“We have consistently made clear that the goal of the OHRC – to address anti-Black racism in all its forms – is also our goal,” the statement reads in part.

“Change is required at all levels, and in all parts, of our police service. It must include our leadership, our culture, our mechanisms of accountability, our training and education, and beyond,” Toronto Chief of Police Myron Demkiw said in a statement.

“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.” 

The police board and service says they will now carefully review the recommendations for “legal compliance, operational feasibility, and budgetary impact to determine if and how each can be implemented.”

They added that they are aiming to provide an update on this work at the board’s March 2024 meeting.

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