On September 19, 2019 the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) approved a race-based data collection in all stops, searches, interactions involving Use of Force, charges, apprehensions and arrests. The race-based data collection will not track race data on those who commit crimes. In collecting race-based data Toronto Police will use the following categories: Black, East/Southeast Asian, Indigenous, Latino, Middle Eastern, South Asian and White.
TPSB stated:
We are very pleased that the Toronto Police Services Board (Board) approved a new Race-Based Data Collection, Analysis and Public Reporting Policy today. The Toronto Police Service is committed to the promotion of equity, fairness and non-discriminatory policing in Toronto.
In fact, we began working on our strategy to guide the organization in supporting the “Anti-Racism Act” over one year ago.
This work continues and we will be engaging the community, and our officers over the coming weeks with the objective of launching our new Race-Based Data Collection Strategy in January of 2020.
The purpose of the new policy, and our strategy, is to identify, to monitor, and to eliminate potential systemic racism.
Collecting the data will allow us to analyze, and report on it.
It will allow the Service to be informed, to recognize trends, and to develop training and procedures to best equip our officers to do their jobs safely. With that, it will support our Members in delivering intelligence-led, bias-free policing.
It will also eliminate speculation about our interactions with the community – and allow both the public and the Service to learn from our experiences.
And while we will meet all of the requirements of the Board’s new policy – including the collection and analysis of data, transparent reporting on findings, and the development of action plans – I’m pleased to advise that we will be going one step further.
When we implement the Strategy, we will be adding “Level 3 searches”, also known as strip searches, in order to address what we heard from the “Golden Rule Report” from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
Our Strategy will be led by our Equity, Inclusion and Human Rights Unit which we have developed over the last year and have carefully staffed with considerable subject-matter-expertise.
With over 4,000 police agencies collecting race-based data worldwide, we will also learn from their Best Practices to inform the implementation of our own Strategy.
This is a pivotal point in the history of the Toronto Police Service.
Our work today to incorporate an anti-racism approach to our policies and procedures, will have far-reaching and progressive impacts for generations to come.
Our modernization plan, The Way Forward, calls for us to meet the needs of a complex city, embrace partnerships and be where the public needs us.
And, our core values direct us to do the right thing, and connect with compassion. I am confident our new Strategy will meet all of these principles.
We continue to develop as modern police service that is consistent, transparent, inclusive and community-focused.
The new policy was unveiled in a document “Race-Based Data Collection, Analysis And Public” issued by TPSB. Here are excerpts from the document:
Guiding Principles – The Toronto Police Services Board… is committed to ensuring that the Toronto Police Service provides policing services in a professional manner that… promotes trust and confidence by working to address community concerns with respect to policing with racialized individuals and in communities… the Board recognizes the importance of collecting, analyzing and publicly reporting on data related to the race of those who are receiving police services… it is vital to track and publicly report on race-based data that is collected in the context of the powers police exercise… it is the Board’s policy that race-based data will be collected by the Service in all stops, searches, interactions involving Use of Force, charges, apprehensions and arrests…
The purpose of this Policy is to: preserve the dignity of individuals and communities; enhance measures of accountability; advance the delivery of police services that are not discriminatory or contrary to law; and, identify disparities in service through the public reporting of the information collected under this Policy…
A race-based data collection, analysis and public reporting approach examines the effectiveness of police intervention with members of the community, and not crime rates of the communities with whom the police interact.
To monitor and ensure that the Chief of Police and Service provide police services in a manner that does not discriminate based on race, contrary to law, this Policy directs the Chief to design and implement a system to collect race-based data with respect to the delivery of police services, using a phased-in implementation approach…
It is the policy of the Toronto Police Services Board that the Chief of Police will:
1. Establish a procedure(s) for the mandatory collection, analysis and public reporting of race-based data that considers models developed by other jurisdictions for the collection, analysis and reporting of race-based data…
4. In developing these procedure(s), use only the following race categories (which are the
categories listed in Ontario’s Anti-Racism Data Standards), as follows:
a. Black
b. East/Southeast Asian
c. Indigenous
d. Latino
e. Middle Eastern
f. South Asian
g. White
h. Another race category
i. Prefer not to answer (applicable only to self-identification data collection)…
Identifying information means any information that alone, or in combination with other information, can be used to identify an individual. It may include information about an individual’s race, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status, economic circumstances, and education, medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history.