Ottawa Police Deny 'Carding'

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ottawa Police Deny 'Carding' Ottawa police deny 'carding' BY MOHAMMED ADAM, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJULY 15, 2012 Criminology and criminal justice professor Darryl T. Davies says he fears Ottawa police are collecting information on innocent people. Photograph by: James Park, The Ottawa Citizen Are the police in Ottawa collecting personal information on innocent people without their knowledge and using it against them? That question is at the heart of a dispute between a Carleton University criminologist and the Ottawa police that has spawned a complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, a provincial watchdog that investigates police behaviour. Darryl Davies, a Carleton criminal justice professor, claims that the Ottawa police routinely collect personal information on people they encounter, including those who’ve never been arrested, charged or involved in any crime, and store it for future use or reference. He says information on people who’ve not broken the law should not be kept by the police, and he wants the practice — generally known as carding — curbed, or subjected to stringent oversight. The controversial practice is used by police forces in Toronto and New York, where some have criticized it as being discriminatory, because most of those carded are minorities. But it has never been an issue here; and while the city’s police flatly deny that they employ the tactic, a recent incident involving one of Davies’s students has left the professor with the strong belief that carding is practised in Ottawa. In April of this year, Andrew Tysowski, a fourth-year Carleton University student, was stopped by an Ottawa police officer for running a red light at St. Joseph and Orléans Boulevard. Asked if he’d ever been in trouble with the police, Tysowski “confidently said ‘No.’ ” But after a computer check in his car, he alleges, the officer came back and called him a liar, because the check turned up a report of a 2006 incident during which the police officer said Tysowski was “an asshole with OC Transpo.” Tysowski says he had long since forgotten about the incident with OC Transpo, in which he says two security officers stopped him at Place D’Orleans station and demanded his ID. Tysowski says an argument ensued when he asked for an explanation, but the officers eventually told him they were after a robbery suspect and that he fit the description. Tysowski says he handed them his driver’s licence and college ID card, and, satisfied, they let him go. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of it, a case of mistaken identity. Until the April encounter with police, that is. “The cop’s words were, ‘Don’t be an asshole to us next time’, ” Tysowski alleges. “He said, ‘Anyone else it would be a warning, but because of your record from 2006, I am giving you a ticket.’ “My main concern was how what happened with OC Transpo would end up in a police computer somewhere. I was baffled and intimidated by the whole thing.” Tysowski sought advice from criminal justice professor Davies, who subsequently complained to Police Services Board Chair Eli El-Chantiry, who referred the matter to Chief Charles Bordeleau. The police chief then advised the professor and his student to file a complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, an arms-length civilian agency of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General that oversees the investigation of public complaints against Ontario police forces. Tysowski says he has nothing against the officer, that all he wants is to find out how the 2006 incident ended up in the records of the police, and to get those records expunged. “This could show up on my record everywhere, and I want it removed,” he says. “But I can’t go to OC Transpo and say, ‘This is my side of it.’ There is no way for me to enter a police station and have a discussion about it. It is written in stone, and there is no way to contest it.” The Ottawa police deny that they engage in carding. They acknowledge, however, that they collect vast amounts of information as part of their crime-fighting and intelligence-gathering mandate. And it is all within the law, they say. For its part, OC Transpo acknowledges that since 2007 its constables have been filing “incident reports” to the police, but claim the information does not end up in anyone getting a record. OC Transpo also claims to have no record of the Tysowski incident from 2006. The police however, would not comment on the incident involving Tysowski, saying it would be wrong to talk about something that could be subject of a complaint, and possibly an official investigation. A Citizen request for an interview with El-Chantiry was referred to Ottawa police Supt. Ty Cameron, head of the Criminal Investigations Directorate. Cameron says collecting information is an integral part of police work, and that there is nothing sinister about it. He says the police use a system called “street checks” to record everything from someone calling in with a tip to someone lodging a complaint. And when the police stop someone engaged in suspicious behaviour — even on a traffic stop — the information is recorded. “(A) street check is when an officer is called to a scene, responds to something or self-engages: The behaviour of the person, the people they are with or what is happening, we will put (that) in a street check,” Cameron says. “We are in a computer era, and when we are dispatched to a call, when we stop a car, the information is recorded. This is not some nefarious thing we are doing here. All it is an investigative tool so our detectives have a starting place.” Cameron says if a suspect is investigated and found not to have done anything wrong, the person is cleared, and there are no “ramifications.” For instance, such information doesn’t show up in a police records check, but it remains in the database as part of valuable police intelligence. Cameron says it is important to collect and keep such information because it helps not only to solve crime today, but to crack cold cases by connecting pieces of fresh information to something that has been lying dormant for years. “We keep people in our databases, but when does the information become not important? We have cold cases, and we don’t know what evidence will come up 20 years from now,” he says. “The information assists us in solving thousands and thousands of crimes because it puts the linkages to who is where, who is associated to what and whom.” Davies, though, says linking crime-fighting to keeping private information on innocent people is a disingenuous way of avoiding accountability. He says no one would deny the police the right to collect information on criminals, terrorists or gang members. But once people have been cleared of any wrongdoing — or if they were not involved in any wrongdoing in the first place — police should not hold onto that information on them. He wonders how many people walking the streets don’t know that the police have information about them, and he wants the city to answer for it. The Ottawa police may call their practice something else, the professor says, but it is no different from carding. “Collecting information on people who are known to police, have lengthy criminal records, are potential suspects in terrorist activities is accepted and understood. And under the Highway Act, people who are charged with an offence understand that the information is recorded and this is authorized by provincial law,” he says. “But why (are) Ottawa police collecting information on people who have no records, are not terrorists, or part of some cold case? It is a travesty that the Ottawa Police Service and OC Transpo are arbitrarily collecting personal information on contacts with Ottawa citizens who have neither been charged nor convicted of any offence under the Criminal Code or Highway Traffic Act.” And though the police insist there’s nothing unusual about their collection of information, that it is a common-place and valuable tool, Davies believes that everyone should be concerned — not least, he says, “such information can be adversely used against a private citizen without his or her knowledge, since the information is shared with other agencies.” © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen .
Recommended publications
  • 2009-2010 Athlete Carding
    2009-2010 ATHLETE CARDING Senior Provincial Carding - Thirty Cards: The top 30 FINA scoring swimmers based on Olympic events from selected Long Course competitions. Funding level is based on the following FINA Point thresholds. Performance Threshold 900+ FINA Points = $6000 880 FINA Points = $5000 850 FINA Points = $4000 800 FINA Points = $3000 Junior Provincial Carding – Ten Cards: The top 5 FINA scoring females 16 & under and the top 5 FINA scoring males 17 & under each receive $1000, (10 X $1000 = $10,000); excluding swimmers who qualify for the Senior Carding (30 spots). Selected Long Course Competitions in 2009 - Ontario Carding. • Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships (January - Guam) • Australian Youth Olympic Festival (January - Australia) • 2009 Charlotte UltraSwim - (May - North Carolina) • Grand Prix Mel Zajac International • Grand Prix Quebec Cup • Swim Ontario Long Course Senior Championships (June - Etobicoke) • Swim Ontario Junior Provincials (July - Etobicoke) • World University Games (July - Serbia) • SNC Summer Nationals (July - Montreal) • Canadian Age Group Championships (July - Montreal) • 13th FINA World Championships (July/August – Italy) • Long Course Dual Meet (August - Great Britain) TBC • North American Challenge Cup (August - Mexico) 1 Criteria and Guidelines Payment: • Carding money is payable to the individual athlete. • Ontario Residents: Receive 50% after the SNC Canada Cup in November 2009, and 50% after the SNC Spring Nationals in April 2010. • Out of Province Swimmers: Funding will be prorated on the amount of time (monthly basis) the athlete resides and trains in Ontario during the competitive season (September 2009 to August 20010). Payment will be made after SNC Spring Nationals in April 2010. It is the responsibility of the athlete (or their family) to notify Swim Ontario with proof of athlete residence and training conditions.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021-06-15 Joint TPP Complaint Final
    Vancouver Police Board 2120 Cambie Street Vancouver, BC V56 4N6 Via Email June 15, 2021 Dear Police Board Members, RE: Service & Policy Complaint Regarding the VPD Trespass Prevention Program On January 28, 2021, a group of seven Indigenous, women’s, Downtown Eastside and legal organizations voiced their opposition to the Trespass Prevention Program.1 Despite the concerns raised, the Trespass Prevention program has not been cancelled. We understand that businesses and stratas are still able to qualify for the program, which authorizes all police officers of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to act as authorized representatives and take enforcement action based on VPD officers’ reasonable belief that the person is acting in contravention to the BC Trespass Act.2 Further to the statement issued in January 2021, we are now filing a Service and Policy Complaint in accordance with s. 168 of British Columbia’s Police Act. 1 https://www.pivotlegal.org/end_trespass_prevention_program 2 Vancouver Police Department, “Trespass Prevention Program” intake form (Appendix A) In light of the reviews initiated by the Director of Police Services into how the VPD board handled a previous service and policy complaint,3 we expect the board to consider the relevant and available findings of the review(s) in its response to this complaint. Complaint Specifically, we are writing to complain about the inappropriate creation of the Trespass Prevention Program (TPP), as reported by the VPD in a report dated October 19, 2020.4 Based on VPD Report 2010C02, the VPD describes a TPP as an initiative that was recently launched, “which gives police written consent from the property owner to move along unwanted parties from private property.”5 We submit that the lack of transparency about how the TPP has been initiated and managed highlights fundamental problems related to the general direction and management of the VPD as well as the inadequacy and inappropriateness of VPD internal procedures and policies.
    [Show full text]
  • Policing and Surveilling the Black Community in Toronto, Canada, 1992-2016
    From the Yonge Street Riot to the Carding Controversy: Policing and Surveilling the Black Community in Toronto, Canada, 1992-2016 By Maria Kyres A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Program in Cultural Studies in Conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada September, 2017 Copyright © Maria Kyres Abstract In the last decade, the conversation surrounding racial profiling and carding in the city of Toronto garnered much public and scholarly attention. Many journalists, academics and activists have examined the Community Contacts Policy, also known as carding, as well as mass incarceration and the police shootings and killings of unarmed, young Black men. The Yonge Street Uprising and the carding controversy in Toronto serve as two case studies to explore the ways that Black men have been disproportionately profiled, policed and surveilled in this country, particularly in the province of Ontario. Despite the fact that the Yonge Street Uprising and the carding controversy occurred decades apart, a common thread throughout both cases was the narrative of Black male criminality. In addition, it became apparent that many of the practices employed in contemporary society, such as racial profiling, carding and mass incarceration were derived from slavery, with the goal of limiting the freedom and mobility of Black people. Therefore, an examination of Canada’s historical treatment of Black people is necessary in order to demonstrate how practices rooted in slavery, such as, fugitive slave advertisements and historical representations of Black criminality helped inform current police practices. Through an analysis of historical, legal, criminological, and critical race scholarship, this work seeks to examine how and why Black people, specifically Black men, were and continue to be disproportionately more likely to be policed, surveilled and incarcerated.
    [Show full text]
  • Street Checks: What the Literature Doesn’T Tell Us Laura Huey University of Western Ontario, [email protected]
    Western University Scholarship@Western Sociology Publications Sociology Department Winter 2019 Street Checks: What the Literature Doesn’t Tell Us Laura Huey University of Western Ontario, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/sociologypub Part of the Sociology Commons Citation of this paper: Huey, Laura, "Street Checks: What the Literature Doesn’t Tell Us" (2019). Sociology Publications. 47. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/sociologypub/47 Street Checks: What the Literature Doesn’t Tell Us Prof. Laura Huey, University of Western Ontario Introduction In response to a request I received on the state of research concerning street checks1, I attempted to conduct a systematic review (SR) of the published research literature. This SR was intended to address the following questions: 1. Are street checks effective in deterring crimes? 2. Are street checks effective in solving past crimes? 3. What is the present state of the Canadian research literature on street checks? As there were too few studies to address each question2 – and several of the studies are highly limited due to methodological issues – instead of conducting a meta-analysis or a fully developed systematic review, I have opted to provide a brief narrative analysis in response to each of the questions posed. Method of Inquiry To address the research questions posed above, I have conducted a systematic review (SR) of the research literature on street checks. A SR is a technique for “finding, sifting, sorting and synthesizing the findings of primary evaluations relevant to particular interventions” (Johnson et al. 2015: 460). In advance of beginning the finding phase of research, the researcher constructs a set of questions to be answered, as well as a set of well-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria 1 A proactive policing initiative also known as ‘carding,’ ‘stop and frisk’, ‘SQF (stop, question and frisk’ and ‘stop and search.’ 2 For Question 1, I identified 9 (n=9) relevant articles.
    [Show full text]
  • “This Issue Has Been with Us for Ages”
    “THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN WITH US FOR AGES” A COMMUNITY-BASED ASSESSMENT OF POLICE CONTACT CARDING IN 31 DIVISION FINAL REPORT NOVEMBER 2014 "THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN WITH US FOR AGES -- I REMEMBER PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT CHANGING THIS WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER. NOTHING HAS CHANGED." – SURVEY RESPONDENT, 31 DIVISION LOGICALOUTCOMES C/O CENTRE FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION 720 BATHURST STREET TORONTO, ON CANADA - M5S 2R4 [email protected] 1-674-478-5634 2 CAPP TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 64 RECOMMENDATIONS 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 67 FINAL REPORT APPENDICES 9 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES APPENDIX A: The Police Are Going To Get A Backlash 10 NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY APPENDIX B: CAPP Community Advisory Committee Terms of Reference 14 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS THIS STUDY ABOUT? APPENDIX C: Ethics Certificate From The Community 1.1 Study objectives Research Ethics Office 1.2 What Do We Know About Contact Carding? Numbers, Patterns and Controversies APPENDIX D: CAPP Survey Questionnaire 21 METHODOLOGY: WHAT METHODS DID WE USE TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS? 2.1 CAPP’s Research Approach 2.2 Survey Research Design and Questionnaire 2.3 Survey Sampling Approach 31 FINDINGS: WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THE SURVEY? 3.1 Respondents’ Characteristics 3.2 Experiences of Respondents Who Have Been Carded 3.3 Experiences of Respondents Who Have Been Recently Carded (after June 2014) 3.4 Perspectives on Police Carding Practices in 31 Division 3.5 Perceptions of Racial Profiling 3.6 Perceptions of Police in 31 Division: Trust, Power and Respect 3.7 Satisfaction with Policing in 31 Division 3.8 Awareness of the New Community Contacts Policy 3.9 Concerns about Police-Community Relationships 51 FURTHER ELABORATIONS: AN IN-DEPTH DISCUSSION OF THE SURVEY 4.1.
    [Show full text]
  • Street Checks and Carding: an Exploration of a Sergeant's Capacity to Achieve Policy Conformance from Frontline Police Offic
    STREET CHECKS AND CARDING: AN EXPLORATION OF A SERGEANT’S CAPACITY TO ACHIEVE POLICY CONFORMANCE FROM FRONTLINE POLICE OFFICERS by Paul Barry Rinkoff M.A., University of Guelph 2011 H.B.Sc., University of Toronto 2006 A dissertation presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. Policy Studies in the Program of Policy Studies Ryerson University Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 11, 2018 ©(Paul Barry Rinkoff) 2018 Author’s Declaration AUTHOR'S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A DISSERTATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this dissertation. This is a true copy of the dissertation, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this dissertation to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this dissertation by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my dissertation may be made electronically available to the public. ii Street Checks And Carding: An Exploration Of A Sergeant’s Capacity To Achieve Policy Conformance From Frontline Police Officers Doctorate of Philosophy 2018 Paul Barry Rinkoff Policy Studies Ryerson University Abstract This study aims to fill a void in the extant policy implementation literature that has overlooked the contribution of sergeants to the successful adoption of policy decisions at the frontlines. By focusing on the Regulated Interactions Policy of the Toronto Police Service and adopting a sociological institutionalism perspective, 17 sergeants representing each of the 17 divisions of the Toronto Police Service were interviewed.
    [Show full text]
  • Street Checks and Canadian Youth: a Critical Legal Analysis
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Saskatchewan's Research Archive STREET CHECKS AND CANADIAN YOUTH: A CRITICAL LEGAL ANALYSIS A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Laws In the College of Law University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By CHRISTINA ABBOTT © Copyright Christina Marion Abbott, September 2017. All rights reserved. Permission to Use In presenting this thesis/dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis/dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis/dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis/dissertation. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this thesis/dissertation in whole or part should be
    [Show full text]
  • Hamilton on Hello My Name Is Janna Watkins I Am an Independent
    From: To: Stevenson, Kirsten Subject: Fwd: Policing and Systemic Racism in Hamilton Date: Thursday, June 11, 2020 11:17:24 AM Attachments: Supporting Document.pdf Hamilton ON Hello My name is Janna Watkins I am an independent Hairstylist, Yoga Teacher and former small business owner in Hamilton. I am sending this letter to show my support for and endorsement of the demands made last week by black and racialized activists regarding the policing of black and racialized communities in Hamilton. I've attached a document outlining their demands and some links to articles and studies supporting why you should seriously consider doing your part to have them met. It is important to listen to the voices and experiences of those you claim to serve. This can be a big step for that and can be an opportunity for Hamilton to set a positive example in this time of a global pandemic, and growing inquiries and understanding of Canada's racist roots. Thank you for your time, your labour and consideration Janna Watkins To those invested in taking tangible action to eliminate white supremacy in the institutions they work in and benefit from, Earlier this month, black and racialized organizers across the city made a list of specific demands addressing local institutions in the municipality of Hamilton, Ontario, the colonially occupied lands of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Mississaugas, Haudensaunee and Anishnaabeg. Here are those demands: City Hall: 1. We call on the City of Hamilton to defund Hamilton Police Services (HPS) (1-3, 11, 12). 2. We call on the City of Hamilton to invest the tax dollars that would have otherwise gone to the policing sector to be delegated towards initiatives fighting food insecurity, racism and affordable housing & social services (4, 9-10, 15, 19, 36, 43, 44).
    [Show full text]
  • There Should Be More Gatherings Where Police Officers and Residents
    ARCHIVED - Archiving Content ARCHIVÉE - Contenu archivé Archived Content Contenu archivé Information identified as archived is provided for L’information dont il est indiqué qu’elle est archivée reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It est fournie à des fins de référence, de recherche is not subject to the Government of Canada Web ou de tenue de documents. Elle n’est pas Standards and has not been altered or updated assujettie aux normes Web du gouvernement du since it was archived. Please contact us to request Canada et elle n’a pas été modifiée ou mise à jour a format other than those available. depuis son archivage. Pour obtenir cette information dans un autre format, veuillez communiquer avec nous. This document is archival in nature and is intended Le présent document a une valeur archivistique et for those who wish to consult archival documents fait partie des documents d’archives rendus made available from the collection of Public Safety disponibles par Sécurité publique Canada à ceux Canada. qui souhaitent consulter ces documents issus de sa collection. Some of these documents are available in only one official language. Translation, to be provided Certains de ces documents ne sont disponibles by Public Safety Canada, is available upon que dans une langue officielle. Sécurité publique request. Canada fournira une traduction sur demande. “THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN WITH US FOR AGES” A COMMUNITY-BASED ASSESSMENT OF POLICE CONTACT CARDING IN 31 DIVISION FINAL REPORT NOVEMBER 2014 "THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN WITH US FOR AGES -- I REMEMBER PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT CHANGING THIS WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER.
    [Show full text]
  • A G E N D a Peel Police Services Board Region of Peel Council Chambers, 5Th Floor 10 Peel Centre Drive, Brampton, Ontario Friday, September 25, 2015 at 9:30 A.M
    A G E N D A PEEL POLICE SERVICES BOARD REGION OF PEEL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 5TH FLOOR 10 PEEL CENTRE DRIVE, BRAMPTON, ONTARIO FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 AT 9:30 A.M. ROLL CALL DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICT/PECUNIARY INTEREST MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING 40. Minutes of the Board Meeting held Friday, June 12, 2015. Moved by: Seconded by: That the Minutes of the Board Meeting held Friday, June 12, 2015 be adopted as read. PRESENTATIONS DEPUTATIONS 41. Youth In Policing Initiative (Y.I.P.I.) – Ms. Jaskirat Aujla and Ms. Karina Samlal, former YIPI students, will be speaking to the Board on the Youth In Policing Initiative and through a self-produced video, share their experiences while in the program. Moved by: Seconded by: That the deputation be received. 42. F.A.C.E.S. Report – Fighting An Uphill Battle – Ms. Shelley White, President and C.E.O, United Way, Peel Region, and Ms. Sharon Douglas, Director, Community Engagement, United Way, Peel Region, will be speaking to the Board on the report “Fighting an Uphill Battle: Report on the Consultations into the Well-Being of Black Youth in Peel Region”. Moved by: Seconded by: That the deputation be received. 2 43. Peel Coalition Against Racialized Discrimination (P-CARD) – Ms. Ranjit Khatkur, Founder/Director, Towards Social Justice, and Mr. Howard Morton, will be speaking to the Board on the issues as identified in their submission. Moved by: Seconded by: That the deputation be received. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 39. Full Review of Street Checking – At the request of Mayor B. Crombie, Board Member, the issue of ‘Street Checks’ as conducted by the Peel Regional Police was put on the agenda as New Business.
    [Show full text]
  • Well-Being Checks, a New Manifestation of Discriminatory Policing?
    APPEAL VOLUME 25 n 3 ARTICLE A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME: WELL-BEING CHECKS, A NEW MANIFESTATION OF DISCRIMINATORY POLICING? Leila Gaind * CITED: (2020) 25 Appeal 3 ABSTRACT Citizens and advocacy groups across Canada have called for an end to street checks, a practice that involves the police stopping and questioning people on the street, absent grounds for arrest or detention, to collect identifying information. Across jurisdictions, the data reveals that street checks disproportionately target Black, Indigenous, and other racialized and marginalized persons. Police departments have historically justified these racial disparities by framing street checks as a proactive policing tool, but in recent years, the rhetoric around street checks has shifted. Now, street checks are a way for officers to check in on the “well-being” of marginalized community members. In Vancouver, the VPD has framed this practice as promoting a social good, but this article contends that well-being checks are another manifestation of arbitrary street checks. This article first examines how street checks and the discourse surrounding them have evolved in Toronto, leading to the current moment, where departments face mounting pressure to justify racial disparities in their data. Next, this article shifts its focus to the Downtown East Side (DTES) of Vancouver, where police are facing a similar public reckoning, and have responded with one specific, novel justification: street checks are justifiable as a proactive policing tool that protects the interests of society’s most vulnerable. This article concludes by arguing that well-being checks may function as a new manifestation of discriminatory policing, one that responds to a specific history and context but duplicates the experience of an arbitrary street check.
    [Show full text]
  • Something Is Rotten in the State of Ottawa
    Something is rotten in the state of Ottawa It has been said that the reason nothing changes in the criminal justice system is due to what have been called the four horsemen of political inaction: inertia, ignorance apathy and cost. When it comes to the Ottawa Police Services Board and their lackadaisical attitude to the issue of carding it appears all four of these elements apply. How else can you can explain the fact that the Ottawa Police Services Board has done next to nothing to address the problems that have been identified in this city when it comes to the carding of citizens. The role of a police services board should not be to rubber stamp decisions made by the chief of police. The issue of street checks or carding was first brought to the attention of the Ottawa Police Services Board back in 2012 when university student Andrew Tysowski was stopped by an Ottawa police officer and given a ticket because six years previously he had the temerity to exercise his charter rights under Canadian law. In 2006 Mr. Tysowski had been asked by officers to get off an OC Transpo bus and answer some of their questions. Someone thought he resembled a robbery suspect and had called police. After answering their questions and producing valid identification Mr. Tysowski inquired as to why the officers asked him to get off the bus? When one of the officers reacted negatively to his request Mr. Tysowski indicated he had studied police foundations at Algonquin College and that he was legally entitled to receive an answer to his question.
    [Show full text]