No-knock police raids rising in Hamilton and Halton, new data reveals

It's becoming more common for police in tactical gear to barge into homes unannounced in Hamilton and the regional municipality of Halton in Ontario, according to new data obtained by CBC News.

The data, received through freedom of information requests, shows how often Hamilton and Halton police have used no-knock raids from 2019 to a period in 2021. It also reveals the number of people hurt in these raids involving heavily armed police.

No-knock raids, also referred to as dynamic entries, are supposed to be rare. By law, officers usually must knock on the door of a residence, identify themselves as police, and wait for someone to answer before executing a search warrant.

Police services say no-knock raids are generally only used if there's a higher risk of danger or the potential destruction of evidence.

In Halton region, however, the number of no-knocks from 2019 to 2020 almost doubled. In Hamilton, there was a 25 per cent increase during that period. Incomplete data for 2021 also indicates such raids in both regions are still rising.

The data CBC News has gone through also shows Hamilton and Halton raids have injured two officers and six civilians since 2019.

There are no details about the single civilian and one officer injured in Halton.

In Hamilton, police said the five civilians and one officer injured in its raids weren't hurt badly enough to involve Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

No-knocks have come under scrutiny after reports of raids going off the rails and some turning deadly, such as in the case of Anthony Aust in Ottawa and Breonna Taylor in the U.S.

While this data request only focused on Hamilton and Halton, research by CBC's The Fifth Estate indicates these commando-style raids happen daily in Canada.

Researchers and activists reacting to the newly obtained statistics for Hamilton and Halton say they're concerned about the militarization of policing, and are calling for more oversight and transparency.

But police services say no-knocks make situations safer.

Halton police said in a statement the rise in local no-knock raids was because there were more situations that were deemed high risk or could lead to the destruction of evidence.

Hamilton police Supt. Marty Schulenberg told CBC Hamilton the rise in such raids locally is because of an "alarming increase" in the number of guns being found on city streets.