Questions of Racism in Police Investigations and Implications for Our Justice System

• Author: Roger Shallow
• Pages: 101-121



QuestionsofRacismin

PoliceInvestigationsand

ImplicationsforOurJusticeSystem

Roger Shallow*

“Race,” writes the great historian Nell Irvin Painter, “is an idea, not a fact.

IndeedRacedoesnotneedbiologyRaceonlyrequiressomegoodguyswith

big guns looking for a reason

A. INTRODUCTION

On a beautiful September eveni ng in my two Black friends and

I were walking home from campus We all grew up in Toronto and

wereinour secondyearofst udiesatthe UniversityofWindsorAswe

nearedour destinationwe observeda policecrui serdrivepast usWe

instinctivelylookedateachothera ndmyfriendsbegancountingdown

thenumberofsecondst hatwouldpassbeforetheinev itablehappened

Iwasjustabouttotellthem theywerewrongwhentheywere quickly

provenrightThepolicecruis erexecutedaUturnandappearedalong

sideofu sin lesst hana minuteTwouni formedocers alightedfrom

thecru iseranddema ndedtoknowwho wewerewhereweliveda nd

whereweweregoing

 OftheCrownLawOceCri minalMin istryoftheAorneyG eneralforOntario

Idonotspeakonbehal fofmyemployerAnyviewsandopinionsexpres sed

throughoutthi spieceshouldnotbetakena smyemployersposition

 TaNehisiCoates WhatWeMean WhenWe SayRaceIs aSocia lConstr uctThe

AtlanticMay

RS 

Ifoundmyselfspeak ingwiththe olderocerwhiletheyoungerof

cerstoodbymytwofriends andwatchedIsurmi sethatIbecame the

focusof the olderocersaentionbecauseI hada skedwhywe were

stoppedand expressedsome knowledgeofmy rightsAs ac riminology

studentIknewwehadsomeT heocerlookedatmelikeI wasapor

traitof ignorance and then recited apred ictablemantraSo yourea

wiseguyWelltherehavebeenbreakandentersin theareaandyout

thepro leIwaspr eyfamilia rwith thatma ntraa ndhadbec omecon

ditionedtounderstanditasanobviousandconvenientreasontoooften

usedtomaskanoensivetruthThepowerimbalancewaspalpableand

undeniablea ndt heci rcumstances were precarious  Accordingto the

ocersallwehadtodowasjustplaythegameshowsomeidentica

tionandmyfr iendsandIcouldgoalongItwasnotabigdealPer

hapsfromtheirperspect iveitwasnotButwhataboutourperspective

I havebeen a skedto w rite aboutracia lization of police investiga

tionsandrelatedimplicationsforourjusticesystemT heintersectionof

raceand cri minal lawa nden forcementcontinues to receive consider

ableaentioninlegal academicandpublicpolicy discussions There

sulting national conversations surrou nding race are critical issues for

legalanalysisparticularlyinlightofthewelldocumentedhistoryofra

cisminCanadaThepern iciousnessofracismanditsvariousmutations

createanumber ofimplications forthecr iminal justicesystema ndare

frequentlyli nkedto complaintsofracialproling andoverpolicing of

certain communitiesCondenceinthepolicehelpskeepcommunities

safea ndpromotes publictr ustArbitrar yand discr iminatory policing

does notIt is importa nt to encouragevoluntary i nteractions between

policeandpotentialwitnessesorbystanderswhocomeforwardtoshare

informationIt isequally importantto ensure thatsuch encountersare

 IusedtothinkthatCrownswereanextensionofthepoliceandpartoftheproblem

Tha tmi sper cep tion wasc orr ect edt hro ugha ser ieso fluc kyc irc ums tan cesa ndI went

ontoenjoyafu llling careerasCr owncounse laftergraduat ingfromth eUniversity

ofWi ndsor law school in  Unf ortunately many young people of colou r who

experienceracia lbiasintheadmi nistrationofjust icedontgetsuchopportunit ies

 OntarioHumanR ightsCommissionUnderSu spicionResearcha ndConsultation

ReportonRacialPro linginOntar ioTorontoOntarioHumanRightsCom mis

sionDavidMTanovichUsingt heChartertoStopRacialProlingThe

DevelopmentofAnEqualit yBasedConceptionofArbitrar yDetention

Osgoode Hall Law JournalatTanovichUsingtheCharterRobynMay

nardPolicingBlackLivesStateViolencei nCanadafromSlaverytot hePresent

WinnipegFernwoodch