Ontario Human Rights office slams Toronto Police’s Anti-Black Racism in final report

BY PAUL JUNOR

It has been six years now since the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) launched its inquiry into the disproportionately impact of violence from the Toronto Police Service (TPS) against Black communities.

Since then, the OHRC released two preliminary reports in 2018 and 2020. On Thursday, December 14^th, 2023, it released its final report titled, “From Impact to Action,” which would have been released two years earlier as it was interrupted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The inquiry was initiated by former Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane in 2017 after many: activists, community members and concerned individuals expressed concerns about the negative impact of disproportionate violence on members of Toronto’s Black communities.

There are over 100 recommendations to the TPS and the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) in the final report. The report results from the examination of data from over two million street checks by the TPS as well as TPSB’s: policies, procedures, training and accountability measures. In addition, data was collected from TPS’s: Stop, Question and Search Practices from 2008 to 2013.

Patricia DeGuire, Chief Commissioner of the OHRC states, “There is no stick. At the heart of this inquiry, is the confidence that to achieve positive change, the Toronto Police Service and the Toronto Police Service Board should commit to implementing these recommendations through systemic and concrete action that are monitored independently and legally binding. TPS have not officially conducted street checks since 2013, but it still happens according to data that the OHRC reviewed.”

Commissioner DeGuire acknowledges that many reports and inquiries have occurred in the past. She notes, “A written statement alone is not enough. The decades of reports and calls for action from Black communities show that if the Toronto Police and the board are committed to change, they must legally bind themselves to that change.”

Sam Tecle, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Toronto Metropolitan University, and community advocate with the Jane Finch Action Against Poverty looks forward to a legally binding arrangement. “Anything that takes the onus of reform, or radically changing Toronto police, outside of the hands of police and its board.” He elaborates that this report is reflective of the concerns that have been raised by many in the Black communities, and it will bring a focus on racism within policing by the TPS.

The TPS and the TPSB released a joint statement on December 18^th, 2023, in which it indicated that it would examine the recommendations in collaboration with the OHRC as well as with its anti-racism advisory panel and stakeholders.

The joint statement acknowledges that both the TPS and TPSB have undertaken actions such as: creation of an equity strategy, collection of race-based data, and extensive reporting of policing-civilian interactions. Myron Demikow, Chief of the TPS states, “Change is required at all levels, and in all parts of our police service (and must be): co-developed, co-designed, co-delivered, and evaluated in meaningful and continued partnership with the members of Toronto’s Black communities.”

John Sewell, Toronto Police Accountability Commission, believes that the onus is on the TPS. He states, “Challenge will be to get police to adopt serious policies with teeth.”

Jon Reid, President of the Police Association released a statement on December 18^th, 2023, indicating that he is pleased with the fact that the TPS will be in consultation with the OHRC. He states, “Specifically, we have said that our members are often blamed for the failures of others, and it is refreshing to see the OHRC focus on shortcomings of the organizations required to provide them with the: governance, training, and support needed to keep our city safe.”