'Random carding should end': Ontario Justice Tulloch

If the drift of Canada towards a police state has not yet affected you directly, you would do well to recall the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller, writing in Germany before his arrest in the 1930s: "The Nazis came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I was a Protestant, so I didn't speak up....by that time there was nobody left to speak up for anyone."

'Random carding should end': Ontario Justice Tulloch

Postby Thomas » Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:08 pm

The practice of random police carding should be abolished because it isn’t effective in detecting criminals and causes damage to black and Indigenous communities, according to Ontario Justice Michael Tulloch.

Earlier this week, Tulloch issued a report saying carding has little to no value as a law enforcement tool and should be significantly limited in the province.

Tulloch said officers should only be stopping people for questioning if they have a clearly defined reason for doing so.

“The negative impact of random carding, particularly on Indigenous, black and other racialized communities, combined with the limited evidence that it is an effective police tool, brings me to only one logical conclusion and that is that random carding should end,” Tulloch said at a news conference on Friday.

“Random carding had a very minimal role in detecting or deterring offenders, or reducing crime. In my view, it is far better to use our limited resources to focus on individuals who are reasonably suspected of committing an offence, rather than using valuable manpower to question thousands of people not reasonably suspected of anything.”

He said that if carding is to continue there needs to be revisions to the regulations so that officers can’t just stop people arbitrarily. Also, that police need to have reasonable grounds that must be reported.

Tulloch said suspicious activities can be determined very broadly, allowing for improper street checks based on the current regulations.

“For this reason I have recommended that when police officers are requesting identifying information because they are inquiring into a suspicious or a criminal activity, they must have objective and credible grounds to justify the inquires,” he said.

Tulloch also said some people have made the connection between the decrease in street checks and an increase in violent crime, but “the link in my view is unsubstantiated.”

The Ontario judge was appointed by the previous Liberal government to assess whether rules around street checks were being applied fairly.

The new Progressive Conservative government has said it plans to review those regulations and will be guided by Tulloch’s findings.

Street checks unfairly target some groups

The report does allow that police may have legitimate grounds to conduct street checks in certain circumstances, but notes those are very specific and the practice as a whole should be sharply curtailed.

“Studies have shown that street checks have disproportionately impacted members of Indigenous, black and other racialized communities,” Tulloch said.

Tulloch said the role of police is to maintain the trust of the communities that they serve. He adds that a community that trusts the police confides in the police and respects the police.

“Regardless of where we live, we all want to feel safe and we all want to have pride in our communities. We do not want to be stigmatized as criminals or victimized as criminals,” Tulloch said.

Difference between street checks and carding

Tulloch said misinformation and confusion over the years have led to many people believing that street checks are synonymous with random, sometimes racially based police stops known as carding.

He said carding is a specific subset of street checks that should be stopped, as it disproportionately impacts racialized communities and does not help police fight crime.

But he said non-random street checks have real value for investigators and should be allowed to continue as long as officers have clear grounds for why they’re being conducted.

Tulloch said clearing up widespread misunderstanding around street checks is the first, essential step, adding the difference boils down to police motivation.

“It is far better to use our limited resources to focus on individuals who are reasonably suspected of committing an offence rather than using valuable manpower to question thousands of people not reasonably suspected of anything,” Tulloch said.

Tulloch’s support for non-random street checks was echoed by the Police Association of Ontario, who also said valid police stops had become synonymous with carding.

“It is most unfortunate that, over time, the intended purpose and its effectiveness as a crime prevention and solvency practice has been lost,” Association president Bruce Chapman said in a statement.

“As a serving police officer for over 35 years, I can truly attest to the value that this tool provides to an investigation. That being said, the [Police Association of Ontario] has been clear that our members have never and will never support the practice of arbitrary detention or racially-biased stops.”

Some of his other recommendations:

- A need for a rights education program and that it should be taught in a curriculum

- Creation of a college of policing. He says a degree program would go a long way. “Training is arguably the most important part of the regulation,” Tulloch said.

- Annual reports should be made publicly available by the next calendar year

https://www.680news.com/2019/01/04/onta ... ng-report/
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Police need a clearly defined reason for stopping people for

Postby Thomas » Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:10 pm

Police need a clearly defined reason for stopping people for questioning, judge recommends after review

Justice Michael Tulloch said misinformation and confusion have taken root in Ontario over the years, with the key distinction being lost between police street checks and a specific subset known as carding.

TORONTO — Police and the public need to be able to clearly distinguish between valid street checks by officers and random stops that should be abandoned altogether, a judge tasked with reviewing the province's regulations on the issue said Friday.

Justice Michael Tulloch said misinformation and confusion have taken root over the years, with the key distinction being lost between street checks and a specific subset known as carding.

As part of a 310-page report issuing recommendations for the provincial government, Tulloch called for police forces to stop random street checks in which a person's information is demanded, adding they disproportionately harm people from racialized communities, waste police resources and do nothing to address crime.

But Tulloch argued that street checks can have real investigative value as long as they take place when officers have clearly defined grounds to stop a person, ask them questions and potentially retain identifying information.

"It is far better to use our limited resources to focus on individuals who are reasonably suspected of committing an offence rather than using valuable manpower to question thousands of people not reasonably suspected of anything," Tulloch said at a news conference.

"The negative impact of random carding, particularly on Indigenous, black and other racialized communities, combined with the limited evidence that it is an effective police tool, brings me to only one logical conclusion, and that is that random carding should end."

Anti-racism and civil rights advocates welcomed the report, saying Tulloch's findings confirmed what marginalized communities had been reporting for decades. But some questioned the premise that misinformation was to blame for the persistence of random street checks, particularly against racialized people.

"We're seeing a huge resistance from police departments actually. ... This is something that our communities — as people of colour, black and Indigenous folks — need, but we're struggling to actually get them to implement," said Ravyn Wngz, a member of the group Black Lives Matter.

"I feel like it's intellectually dishonest to say ... 'Oh, there's just been confusion.' I don't think that's the case."

Knia Singh, a lawyer and former Toronto mayoral candidate who has spoken out about his experiences with carding, urged the government to adopt Tulloch's recommendations.

"I think with public outcry and the comprehensiveness of this report, it will be difficult for them to turn a blind eye to it," he said.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association expressed similar sentiment, saying the province would be "hard pressed" to ignore such a clear and damning document.

"It's a stake in the heart of a dead, destructive policy — carding — and it's the definitive work on why it doesn't work, why it's ineffective and why it should not be pursued by any police force in Canada," executive director and general counsel Michael Bryant said.

The Progressive Conservative government said it plans to review the report as part of an overhaul of policing legislation and will be guided by Tulloch's findings.

Tulloch was asked to turn his attention to carding in 2017, months after the previous Liberal government made moves to eliminate what it described as systemic racism in law enforcement.

The rules say police must inform people that they don't have to provide identifying information during street checks, and that refusing to co-operate or walking away cannot then be used as reasons to compel information. The aim was to end arbitrary stops, especially those based on race.

Tulloch said officers are justified in stopping people if they have clearly defined grounds to believe something is amiss, citing an example of an officer observing someone trying to pry open a window of a home in the middle of the night.

Such circumstances would clearly merit further questions, Tulloch said, noting that the person could either be in the midst of committing a crime or trying to re-enter their home after getting locked out.

Officers should spell out their reasons for the stop to the person they are addressing, as well as in their report on the interaction, Tulloch said.

He drew the line, however, at random stops, saying they have a detrimental effect on the relationship between law enforcement officials and the communities they serve.

"The long-term impact of randomly carding people in these communities is the alienation of entire communities from the police and a resulting lack of trust in and co-operation with the police," he said.

Tulloch's support for non-random street checks was echoed by the Police Association of Ontario.

"It is most unfortunate that, over time, the intended purpose and its effectiveness as a crime prevention and solvency practice has been lost," association president Bruce Chapman said. "That being said, the PAO has been clear that our members have never and will never support the practice of arbitrary detention or racially biased stops."

The union representing provincial police officers and civilian staff said it welcomed guidance on the issue.

"While we have every confidence our uniform members have always strived to conduct themselves in a non-discriminatory manner, Mr. Justice Tulloch's recommendations present us with a guide to support them in the provision of better policing services," said Rob Jamieson, president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

Tulloch's other recommendations included stronger street-check training protocols for police, the destruction of retained data after five years, and stricter definitions of terms such as "identifying information" and "suspicious circumstances."

He also called for greater public education so that people are aware of their rights when it comes to interacting with police.

Ravyn Wngz, of Black Lives Matter, said officers who continue to conduct random street checks should face disciplinary measures rather than simply be sent for more training.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9110 ... er-review/

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/c ... ning-judge
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Judge’s call to ban carding now rests with Ontario governmen

Postby Thomas » Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:10 pm

The future of carding in Ontario is now in the provincial government’s hands, after Justice Michael Tulloch tabled his report calling for a full ban of the controversial policing practice.

At a downtown Toronto hotel on Friday, Justice Tulloch presented his newly released 310-page report on street checks and carding to members of the public, as well as to reporters and police brass from across Ontario. The report – the result of consultations with more than 2,200 people, including representatives from 34 police services across Ontario – aims to provide direction on the murky topic.

While he stresses that there are certainly scenarios where street checks are legitimate and appropriate, he argues that there is no place in policing for carding − which he defines as “randomly stopping individuals to gather their identifying information for the creation of a database for intelligence purposes.”

Current regulations, established in 2016, require police officers to inform people being stopped randomly that their participation is voluntary. Officers are also required to provide a receipt of the interaction.

Justice Tulloch’s independent review − which was commissioned by the previous Liberal government – calls for an outright ban on carding, which has been shown to disproportionately target people of colour, including black and Indigenous people.

“Many police services have already come to this conclusion, and have ceased the practice of random carding. For those services that have not, it is time,” he said on Friday.

Whether his recommendations – which also include standardized data collection of police interactions, and more local hiring – will be implemented by the provincial Conservative government remains to be seen.

In an e-mail statement on Friday, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Sylvia Jones said she thanks Justice Tulloch for his “thorough and thoughtful" review.”

“We continue to review and assess the recommendations made by Justice Tulloch. His report will inform our work as we fix the Liberal’s broken police legislation,” she said. “Our new police legislation will reflect a simple principle: racism and discrimination have no place in policing. You can count on us to ensure that our legislation enables police to protect the law-abiding people of Ontario.”

On his first day in office last June, Premier Doug Ford shelved legislation that had been passed by the Liberals last spring to overhaul policing rules in Ontario for the first time in a generation. Mr. Ford argued that the changes in the Safer Ontario Act would’ve hurt police officers.

Asked Friday about concerns that this report, too, could be shelved, Christine Mainville, part of the team of counsels to Justice Tulloch, said they trust this report will “be looked at seriously.”

“With respect to a specific action plan going forward, Justice Tulloch’s mandate was to produce the report, and it’s now in the government’s hands,” Ms. Mainville said. “We have every confidence that they’re going to move forward in good faith but ultimately it’s up to them to decide how to proceed with the recommendations.”

Although some critics have drawn a line between the crackdown on carding and an increase in violence, Justice Tulloch said such a link is unsubstantiated.

The report specifically highlights a need for more education and training to ensure police officers know the regulations and what is expected of them when they stop people on the street.

With clearly defined rules and standards for data collection, Justice Tulloch said police will feel confident engaging with the public − and community members will “know and appreciate under what circumstances and exactly when and how requests for identifying information will be taken.”

Ontario Provincial Police Association President Rob Jamieson was at Justice Tulloch’s presentation Friday, and said later that he was encouraged to see a distinction made between carding and street checks more broadly. He said standardization would be a key part of implementation, but could not speak to the government’s plans.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/ ... overnment/
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An Ontario judge says carding doesn't work. But will politic

Postby Thomas » Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:12 pm

An Ontario judge says carding doesn't work. But will politicians listen?

After an 11 month review, Tulloch found carding has little to no value as a policing tool

An Ontario judge who earlier this week called for the elimination of random street checks said the practice generates only "low quality intelligence" and alienates certain communities from the police.

Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch elaborated on the findings of his 310-page review on the police practice known as "carding" Friday morning.

In his remarks, Tulloch said there is no evidence that random street checks lead to fewer crimes, and that the roll back of carding practices has, in some cases, resulted in lower crime rates.

"The tools already at the police's disposal are more than sufficient" to tackle crime and violence than carding, he said.

"Stops must be based on more than a hunch or 'spidey sense,'" Tulloch said.

Published on Monday, Tulloch's review combined 11 months of province-wide consultations with thousands of people including community groups, members of the public, as well as 34 police forces.

"There is little to no evidence that a random, unfocused collection of identifying information has benefits that outweigh the social cost of the practice," Tulloch wrote in the report.

Carding, he concluded, has little to no value as a law enforcement tool and should be significantly limited given the "social cost" of the practice.

How the province and municipalities plan to respond to the recommendations remains to be seen.

"We are currently reviewing the Report of the Independent Street Checks Review and we look forward to working with the government as it decides how to respond to the report's recommendations," a Toronto police spokesperson said on Twitter.

'Considerable' effort with 'little to no' results

Tulloch's review followed new rules around street checks, instituted in 2016, requiring police to inform people during a street check that they aren't required to provide any identifying information. That move followed years of scrutiny amid data showing officers were disproportionately stopping black and other racialized people.

Police across Ontario have long argued street checks have investigative value — something Tulloch challenged in his report.

"A widespread program of random street checks involves considerable time and effort for a police service, with little to no verifiable results on the level of crime or even arrests," he wrote. "Some police services reported that there are other ways to gather data or use data that they already have more effectively."

But exactly when street checks should be allowed isn't quite as clear.

Among the recommendations in the report, Tulloch advised the government take a harder line on street checks, tightening definitions of terms such as "identifying information" and "suspicious circumstances," and broadening protections during vehicle stops. Street checks, he said, can have value in cases where there are clear suspicious circumstances, or when police are looking for a missing person or crime victim.

Tulloch also recommends the creation of a new police college to standardize practices among officers, and he said he wants to see police services automatically destroy any data collected by a random check after five years.

Tulloch, who was hired by Ontario's previous Liberal government to assess the effectiveness of new regulations meant to limit the impact of street checks on racialized groups, said those circumstances are very specific and the practice as a whole should be sharply curtailed.

Friday's event is billed as an opportunity for the public and members of the media to ask questions about the findings.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.4964768
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OPP Association Responds to Report from the Independent Stre

Postby Thomas » Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:14 pm

OPP Association Responds to Report from the Independent Street Check Review

BARRIE, ON, Jan. 4, 2019 /CNW/ - OPP Association President Rob Jamieson joined stakeholders from policing and community groups this morning in Toronto as Mr. Justice Michael Tulloch publicly released his report from the Independent Street Checks Review.

Mr. Justice Tulloch's comprehensive review provides meaningful insights into the social cost of street checks, outlines the circumstances when police have lawful grounds to stop people to request identifying information and acknowledges that there is value to police services in conducting lawful street checks.

In response, OPPA President Jamieson was clear that while racism and arbitrary street checks have no place in policing, he and his members fully believe that lawful, properly conducted street checks are vitally important to the safety of officers and the communities they police, while further supporting victims of crime.

"The OPP Association recognizes and acknowledges that police services are to be provided throughout Ontario in a manner that not only ensures the safety and security of all persons and property but that also safeguards the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Human Rights Code," said Jamieson. "The OPP Association echoes the previous comments of Minster of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Sylvia Jones, that "racism and discrimination have no place in policing."

"Our uniformed members are mindful that in order for us to accomplish the goal of safer communities there is need for co-operation between police and the communities we serve. In this context, we recognize the importance of being aware of and sensitive to the pluralistic, multiracial and multicultural character of Ontario," Jamieson said.

"While we have every confidence our uniform members have always strived to conduct themselves in a non-discriminatory manner, Mr. Justice Tulloch's recommendations present us with a guide to support them in the provision of better policing services, including lawful street checks, that will in turn strengthen the trust and confidence that the people of Ontario have in the Ontario Provincial Police," said Jamieson.

The OPP Association looks forward to its uniformed members being provided with the necessary training and tools to implement Justice Tulloch's recommendations in order to continue to move forward with our community partners to a safer Ontario.

About the Ontario Provincial Police Association

Headquartered in Barrie, the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) acts as the bargaining agent for its nearly 10,000 uniform and civilian members. Of equal importance, the OPPA serves as the voice of its members in advocating for improved health and safety standards and better supports for members suffering from operational stress injuries.

SOURCE Ontario Provincial Police Association

For further information: Media inquiries: Rob Jamieson, President, Ontario Provincial Police Association, 705-984-6772, rjamieson@oppa.ca

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/o ... 44024.html
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