According to the report, Black Canadians accounted for 32% of all costs analyzed between 2013 and 2017, including non-compliance, possession of cannabis, violation and some driving licenses – violations that the research team chose to concentrate on, because they typically up are at the discretion of an officer.
And although they make up less than a tenth of Toronto’s population, Black people were almost four times more likely to pay than White people and seven times more likely than other races.
Evidence of racial profiling
Although they were more accused than other racial or ethnic groups, Black Canadians were also more likely to have their accusers involved, and their accusers were less likely to be convicted than White people, per the report.
This finding “endorses the suggestion that [Black Canadians] against more charges because they are more involved in wrongdoing, “the commission said in its report.
But it suggests that police in Toronto may override Black Canadians if they are targeted because of their race.
Race profiling by police is perhaps most evident, the commission said, in driving licenses. One-third of all people who received a single charge “out of sight” of driving costs – or charges that could only be discovered after the police pulled someone over and questioned them – were Black. Driving costs “out of sight” include driving without a valid license or insurance.
These crimes are the result of ‘pro-active policing’, said the commission, where an official checks a license plate or pulls a driver without knowing if that driver has committed a crime. That black people land these charges more often indicates that Toronto police are more likely to use these proactive policing tactics with Black Canadians.
Black Canadians are more likely to be shot and killed by police
Black residents of Toronto were over-represented in a number of violent incidents with police.
At that point, Black Canadians also accounted for nearly 30% of violent use cases, 36% of shootings, 61% of violent-use cases that resulted in civilian deaths, and 70% of police officers, according to the report.
Why police arrest and accuse Black Canadians more often
Since the time it was reported, the Toronto Police Service has created a unit for Equity, Inclusion and Human Rights that “strives to provide bias-free services”, began anti-Black racism training and now collects its own data on racial bias among Toronto officers, the service said.
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