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Do Toronto police engage in racial profiling?
On 19 October 2002 the Toronto Star began a series of articles "Race and Crime," (1) making claims that "justice is different for blacks and whites" ("Singled out" 2002), "Blacks arrested by Toronto police are treated more harshly than whites" ("Singled out" 2002), and that "Police target black drivers" ("Police target" 2002: A1). Subsequent stories suggested that Toronto police were engaging in racial profiling, defined by the Star as "the practice of stopping people for little reason other than their skin colour" ("Police target" 2002: A8). Published interviews with black community leaders and advocates added the weight of anecdote and presumption to charges of racial profiling, and University of Toronto criminologist Scott Wortley, whose research has focused on race issues in criminal justice, deemed the Star analysis "clear evidence of what, until now, has been based largely on assumption" ("Singled out" 2002: A13).
Representatives of the police responded angrily, denying accusations of singling out blacks. The Toronto Police Service commissioned an independent review of the Star's analysis by a prominent criminal lawyer (Alan Gold) and a University of Toronto sociology professor (Edward Harvey) (see Harvey and Liu 2003; Harvey 2003; Gold and Harvey 2003). Their review concluded that the Star analysis was "junk science" and the conclusions of the articles "completely unjustified, irresponsible and bogus slurs" to be "put down at once" (Gold and Harvey 2003). The police union went further and on 17 January 2003 launched a $2.7 billion class action libel suit on behalf of its 7,200 members ("Police union" 2003). The furor has since spread throughout the Ontario criminal justice system, with judges, attorneys, crown prosecutors, and police officials making additional controversial statements supporting or refuting the allegations of racial profiling in the criminal justice system. The media have given considerable attention to the issue, as befits its renewed prominence in public debate, but perhaps also in defence of one of their own. The debate is likely to be given further play in municipal, provincial, and federal election campaigns. Whatever else may come out of these events, it is already clear that the Toronto Police Service has now joined the ranks of North Americ...See the full content of this document
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