Toronto police chief apologizes to Black community as race-based data released

Toronto's interim police chief has apologized to the city's Black residents as the force releases previously unseen race-based data on use of force and strip searches.

Toronto’s interim police chief has apologized to the city’s Black residents as the force releases previously unseen race-based data on use of force and strip searches.

James Ramer says the force needs to do better.

The statistics released today related to incidents that took place in 2020.

They show Black people faced a disproportionate amount of police enforcement and use of force in 2020 and were more likely to have an officer point a gun at them, whether perceived as armed or unarmed, than white people in the same situation.

Middle Eastern people were also overrepresented when it came to enforcement and use of force, while other groups _ such as Latino and East and Southeast Asian residents _ experienced less enforcement in comparison to their representation in the population but saw more use of force when they did interact with police.

White people faced proportionately less enforcement and less use of force.

The statistics also show that racial differences in use of force remained even after taking into account what police were initially called to investigate and what the main offence turned out to be.