Joe MartinoActivist Post
The Toronto Police Services Board has just released its draft policy on street checks as they push for implementation. The practice is highly controversial for a number of reasons as this would give the right for police to stop citizens and document personal details without arresting or charging them.
The policy comes just a month after a class-action complaint filed by the Black Action Defence Committee with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, alleging that Toronto Police are involved with racial profiling. While personally I doubt they would ever admit it, it seems quite obvious that the police don’t treat every citizen equally. In New York street checks have been a huge problem as a great deal of racial profiling has gone on; and since cops are given quotas for street checks, arrests and tickets each month, it leaves the door open for even more shady behavior by cops. Click here for more about the NYPD’s street check program and the kid who exposed their involvement with racial profiling.
“For citizens who have done nothing wrong … it’s a breach of privacy… on the other hand, some kind of documentation system allows officers to retrieve information that can assist in investigations.” Frank Addario, a lawyer retained by the Toronto Police Board.
What about the right to remain silent?
