Can we still have Faith in the Police?

Not my image.

In the past I've been a staunch supporter of the police. I believed they impartially upheld the law and did no wrong. But since the events of the G20 meeting here in Toronto I've started to have my doubts. To me, it seems as if police have abused their powers in either assaulting people or unjustly detaining them.

And, of course, there are the stories from the U.S.. In Ferguson, Missouri unarmed black teen, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by white police officer, Darren Wilson; and, in Staten Island, unarmed black man, Eric Garner, was choked to death by another white officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who was attempting to arrest him. Neither officer was even indicted for their actions. A true miscarriage of justice as far as I and many, many others are concerned.

Racism is alive and well in the United States.

And it is here too.

As I was making deliveries this past Monday I was listening to Ontario Today on CBC Radio 1. Their topic of discussion was racial profiling by Toronto Police. It's incredible how racist some of them are. Young, black males are constantly being stopped and harassed while minding their own business and not causing any trouble at all. This is a clear violation of their Charter of Rights and Freedoms*.

Caller after caller told their stories of being unjustly stopped and questioned while doing things like getting food from a restaurant drive-through, walking home from playing basketball after school or just driving around with friends.

Even the show's guest Osgoode law student and activist, Knia Singh, found, through a freedom of information request, that the police had a file on him of his "incidents" with them. He has never been arrested or even charged yet the police had a 57-page file on him.

It was filled with comments and descriptions that were either fabricated or just plain wrong. They were about such as things as having an immigration warrant against him (Singh was born in Canada) and, in two documents, it said he was born in Jamaica (he says he's never had a conversation with the police about his birthplace). It's absolutely ludicrous.

The stories related in this one hour program showed an incredible bias against blacks by the police. The Toronto Star did a Freedom of Information request where they got 6 years of police analysis. It showed that race, age and gender were big factors in who gets stopped by them. Black males between the ages of 15-24 were stopped 2.5 times more than their white counterparts.

It leaves me questioning the process officers go through when getting hired. Are they making sure they hire people who are of sound moral character? Who are not discriminatory against minorities or people of different sexual orientation or anything else? Are they hiring both men and women who are from a variety of ethnic backgrounds? It seems, more and more to me, that the police force is turning into a good ol' boys club of rednecks from back in the day.

It's sad. I certainly hope things change. And soon.

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CONSTITUTION ACT, 1982 (80)

PART I

CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms

Legal Rights

Life, liberty and security of person

7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

Search or seizure

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

Detention or imprisonment

9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

Arrest or detention

10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention
(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor;
(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and
(c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.