Professor Beverly Bain told Chief Ramer and his brass that Blacks have been protesting police brutality for decades. Courtesy photo.
Many Blacks in South Etobicoke welcome Toronto Police Chief James Ramer’s long-awaited apology to the Black and Brown-skinned communities as others took his words with a grain of salt.
Ramer in an emotional apology on June 15 said his officers have to do better in their treatment of non-white residents, who are often over-represented in the justice system.
The apology stems from statistics gathered in 949 use-of-force incidents and 7,114 strip searches conducted in 2020. The analysis was compiled by the force’s Equity, Inclusion and Human Rights Unit, data experts and a 12-member community panel.
TORONTO officers ‘taking a knee’ during protests of the killing of a Black man. Courtesy photo.
The study found that Black, Indigenous and racialized people are over-represented in both use-of-force incidents and strip searches.
It revealed that Blacks are 2.2 times more likely to have an interaction with police officers and are 1.6 times more likely to have force used on them during the interaction.
The study said strip search rates varied throughout the year and dropped significantly following changes to the Search of Persons policy in October 2020, resulting in a significant decline in strip searches.
“There were differences by race in strip search rates with Black, Indigenous and White people over-represented relative to their presence in arrests,” according to police.
“The results have confirmed what, for many decades, racialized communities – particularly the Black and Indigenous communities — have been telling us; that they are disproportionately over-policed,” according to the Chief.
“As an organization, we have not done enough to ensure that every person in our City receives fair and unbiased policing,” Ramer told a news conference. “On behalf of the Service, I am sorry and I apologize unreservedly. The release of this data will cause pain for many. “
Ramer said the force has identified 38 actions to address the use-of-force and strip search issues.
But not everyone accepted Ramer’s apology.
Beverly Bain, a professor at the University of Toronto and a member of the No Pride in Policing Coalition, said members of the Black community have been complaining and protesting police brutality and killings for decades on the streets of Toronto.
“This has nothing to with the Black community. In fact, the Black community never asked for an apology. Neither did I think that you were apologizing to the Black community. You were apologizing to your rank and file,” Bain told the Chief and his top brass.
Over the years there have been many protests, some even violent, on the shooting by Toronto Police officers of young unarmed Blacks.