Human rights organizations are demanding Toronto police have funding cut after the service published a report saying racialized people were over-represented in use-of-force incidents and strip searches. .Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) criminal justice director Abby Deshman said in a Wednesday statement the report “paints a deeply concerning picture of the state of policing.”.“The picture is disturbing — but it is not a surprise,” said Deshman. .“Impacted communities have been sharing their experiences of discrimination, harassment, and trauma at the hands of police and the criminal justice system for decades.”.Deshman said publishing this data was essential. She added what communities are demanding is “concrete action that will lead to real change for individuals, families and communities.”.According to her, police need to step back and allow social services to respond to crimes. She said there has to be a conversation about why 911 calls go to police by default and how it can be changed. .“We need to continue the broader conversations about better ways — outside the criminal justice system — to achieve community safety,” she said. .“And we need government at all levels to listen and take action, turning those conversations into a reality.”.Black Legal Action Centre executive director Moya Teklu said the report confirms “what black people have known for decades.”.“The police continue to fail to fulfill their purported mandate,” said Teklu. .“They continue to fail to serve and protect black people.”.Teklu said governments continue to spend money on policing while failing to fund black communities. She said the solution “is not to provide the police with more money for body scanners or training.”.“It is to de-task the police and to redirect funding into those services that will actually protect and serve and increase the public safety of black people,” she said. .“The police have shown that they are not up to the task.”.Toronto police published race-based data it had been gathering, which was compiled from officers’ observations of people’s races in use-of-force incidents and strip searches throughout 2020. .“The results have confirmed what, for many decades, racialized communities — particularly the black and indigenous communities — have been telling us; they are disproportionately over-policed,” said Toronto police chief James Ramer. .“This data demonstrates the unfortunate realities of those experiences.”.Canadians do not want police to be defunded, according to a study done by the Canadian government. .Former public safety minister Bill Blair commissioned confidential research about defunding the police. .There were 29% of respondents who said police funding should be increased, 27% who wanted current budgets to be maintained, and 28% “would prefer to see police budgets and staffing reduced with the money reallocated to social services.”
