Toronto police to begin collecting race-based data in January

The logo for Toronto Police Service is seen in this undated file image.

TORONTO — The Toronto police have announced that they will begin collecting race-based data next month as part of a new initiative aimed at identifying, monitoring and eliminating potential systemic racism within the service.

In a news release issued Thursday, police said that service members will begin collecting race-based data based on their “own perception” on Jan. 1. No further details have been released regarding the scope or the data that will be collected.

“The Service will return back to the Board in 2020 with a mid-year feasibility report on self-identification after broad community consultation,” the release reads.

Police say that the data will be collected when a use of force or physical strip search is required. The service said officers currently average 1,500 reportable use of force incidents and 15,000 strip searches annually.

The initiative comes two years after the Ontario government passed the Anti-Racism Act, which called for the collection of race-based data for organizations in the public sector, including child welfare, education and justice.

The Toronto police have experienced accusations of racism in the past.

In 2017, activist Desmond Cole interrupted a Toronto Police Services board meeting demanding the destruction of historical data from police street checks, widely known as carding, a practice critics say amounts to racial profiling.

In 2018, an Ontario judge tasked with reviewing the controversial policy found that carding offers little to no value as a law enforcement tool.

“The Toronto Police Service is not immune to bias and racism, and we have been working diligently over the past several years to make positive changes to address both overt and implicit bias within the Service,” Toronto Police Service Chief Mark Saunders said in the press release.

“However, we recognize that we cannot fully understand or change what we do not measure. The Race-Based Data Collection initiative will help the Service recognize how bias and racism might influence how we interact with racialized communities within Toronto, and help us eliminate systemic racism.”

In September, the Ontario Human Rights Commission said that police officers who are found guilty of race-based discrimination should face disciplinary measures that include firing.

Police said that a community conversation will take place Thursday night in Regent Park to discuss the strategy.