Toronto police have published race-based data it's been gathering, which was collected from officers’ perceptions of people’s races in use-of-force incidents and strip searches in 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 in a Wednesday press release. .“This data demonstrates the unfortunate realities of those experiences.”.The Ontario government required police services in 2019 to start collecting race-based data in use-of-force instances. .The data showed racialized people were overrepresented in use-of-force incidents and strip searches across Toronto. .According to the data, black people are 2.2 times more likely to have an interaction with police officers and 1.6 times more likely to have force directed at them. Toronto police said black, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latino people were overrepresented in use-of-force incidents. .The data revealed there were differences by race in strip search rates, with black, indigenous, and white people being overrepresented. .Ramer apologized for what was revealed in the data. Ramer said the release of this data will “cause pain for many.” .Toronto police have identified 38 steps they will take to reduce these disparities. Some of these actions include meeting with racialized communities to learn more about what can be done, mandatory video reviews for all use-of-force incidents, and publishing analytics online. .Ramer said the police force will do better. .“As difficult as these findings are, we recognize this is some of the most important work we have ever done,” he said. .“Getting to this point with our data has been challenging, but we are committed to using the 2020 findings as a baseline to build upon actions that have already begun and will continue in the years ahead.” .British Columbia’s Anti-Racism Data Act received royal assent on June 2. .British Columbia Premier John Horgan and NDP MLA Rachna Singh spoke about the province’s plan to introduce what it calls “anti-racism data legislation” in March when demanding people stand together against racism. .“We are seeing a rise in white supremacy and brazen displays of hateful speech, symbols and acts that many hoped we had left behind us,” said Horgan and Singh. .“Now more than ever, we must come together as a society to stand against this rising hate.”
