In the aftermath of the Star probe, civil libertarians, community leaders and criminologists somehow collectively conclude that the day-to-day operation of the Toronto police is based on racial profiling.
It was the Toronto police board that made the keeping of statistics linking race and crime illegal in 1989. Mayor June Rowlands, who went on to ban a band known as Barenaked Ladies from Nathan Phillip's Square, was chair of the police board.
The politically correct Rowlands banned the rock band from the square because she thought their name was offensive. Under her police board chairmanship, the gathering of statistics linking race and crime was banned because of the possibility that such information could be manipulated to reinforce stereotypes and label certain ethnic communities as criminal.
In the same era, lawmakers elsewhere in the world were going off in a different database direction. In Britain and in the United States, authorities kept statistics linking race and crime on the basis that it could actually help in identifying real racial bias.
So with no source of data in any existing place, how did Canada's largest daily draw its shocking conclusions?
The Star's data base indicates empirical evidence suggesting police have targeted black drivers in Toronto. Traffic offence data kept on file by police was obtained by the Star via freedom of information requests.
That's the empirical evidence collated by way of 'out-of-sight' traffic offences.
According to the "investigative team", "black people, charged with simple drug possession, are taken to police stations more often than whites facing the same charge. Once at the station, accused blacks are held overnight, for a bail hearing, at twice the rate of whites.
"The Toronto crime data also shows a disproportionate number of black motorists are ticketed for violations that only surface following a traffic stop."
Based on all of the above, the police are using banned 'racial profiling' in deciding whom to pull over, charges the study.
For analysis, the results of the Star investigation were passed over to an unidentified 'independent consultant'.
The newspaper analysis did not look at the percentage of criminal charges laid against members of different ethnic groups.
The math in its printed graphs differ from the numbers used in the text of its story,
There are estimated 7,000 police officers on the job throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
That they stop drivers according to the colour of their skin is going to be a hard sell on a largely pro-police John Q. Public.
The findings of the Star's investigation are already being bandied about by the usual suspects of the anti-cop lobby.
Former head of the Toronto Police Services Board Susan Eng: "Remember, the person being measured (wouldn't be) the person of colour. We're measuring discrimination and racism. We're not dealing with behaviour by certain racial groups."
Alan Borovoy, counsel to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, is calling for the creation of a provincial body with power to independently audit police files, at any time, to ensure officers aren't engaged in racial profiling or showing bias in arresting minorities.
The suggestion for the creation of independent bodies to govern police, is a recurring theme when dissidents against the status quo come knocking.
In 1992, a group of known anti-police/anti-establishment activists formed an organization called Coalition Against Police Violence (CAPV). They went looking for incidents of police violence by interviewing 454 anonymous homeless individuals, of whom they say 45 claimed police assault. Though none of these incidents was in any way verified, the group then marched to the Police Services Board where they demanded sweeping changes in police training, supervision and regulation.
"Would unsubstantiated information gathered by individuals, lacking objective credibility or professional credentials, be considered for a hearing in any other forum," Our Toronto scribe A. Janus Raudkivi asked at the time.
With Susan Eng as chair and board members Laura Rowe and Father Lombardi making up the board majority, CAPV's Street Health Report not only received full hearing, but former Police Chief Bill McCormack was instructed to report back on the group's recommendations.
Back in 1992, an activist by the name of Cathy Crowe, director of Street Health, was a CAPV spokesperson. In the present day, Crowe is a spokesperson for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), which was responsible for the summer riot at Queens Park in 2000.
"Should CAPV's tactics be applied to any other race, religion, nationality or profession the screams of discrimination would never stop," wrote Raudkivi. "Instead of acting like stenographers to police critics, the media could take a more critical look at where these groups are coming from and what their evidence is.
"Under the political leadership of Susan Eng, the Police Services Board gives an open forum to anyone with negative criticism of police, substantiated or not, while gagging senior officers, regardless of their professional opinions."
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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