Cha-nese Ila strongly believes she was arrested because she鈥檚 Black.
In September 2021, she was handcuffed by 海角社区官网police near Queen鈥檚 Park subway station, told she was being charged with assaulting a police officer and taken to the station for hours before she was released unconditionally. Over that, Ila, 34, filed a formal complaint; among her allegations were that she鈥檇 been racially profiled by police after participating in a protest against last summer鈥檚 encampment evictions; 鈥渢reated like this because I am a Black woman.鈥
Earlier this month, the 海角社区官网police professional standards unit told her there was insufficient evidence of racial profiling. Police said her arrest had been an 鈥渦nfortunate error鈥 and that she matched the description of another Black woman.
Then, days later, Ila watched as Toronto鈥檚 chief of police gave an unprecedented apology to her and all other racialized Torontonians.
鈥淎s Chief of Police, and on behalf of the Service, I am sorry and I apologize unreservedly,鈥 Ramer said at a news conference revealing statistics 鈥 prepared by the force itself 鈥 proving something Ila says she鈥檚 known for years: That 海角社区官网police use more force on racialized people, especially Black people, more often.
鈥淎s challenging as it is for me as chief and for members of our command and service to come to terms with what our data tells us,鈥 Ramer said, 鈥淚 know that it will be even more difficult for those from Toronto鈥檚 Black communities who have been telling us for many years of their experiences.鈥
Welcomed by some as a critical acknowledgment of systemic discrimination 鈥 Ramer has committed, too, to a for change 鈥 many Black Torontonians like Ila have pushed back against the apology, or flatly rejected it. The reason many cited: the findings should not have come as a surprise to anyone, let alone the police. The apology landed far too late.
鈥淚t just makes me think like, 鈥榃ow, they really think they can just kind of offer an apology and that鈥檚 good enough,鈥 鈥 Ila said, explaining why she鈥檚 skeptical the chief鈥檚 words will lead to real change and accountability.
More reaction 鈥 and criticism 鈥 is expected Wednesday as the 海角社区官网police board meets to discuss the race-based statistics report at police headquarters.
鈥淔rom my perspective, there鈥檚 nothing new in this news,鈥 said Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, a University of 海角社区官网criminologist who researches policing and race. 鈥淭hese are things that Black communities have been talking about and complaining about for quite literally decades.鈥
The Jamaican Canadian Association has been protesting police bias since the 1960s, noted president David Betty, describing how the JCA launched a 鈥渞elentless鈥 effort to change how Black communities were being policed in a series of deputations to the 海角社区官网police board nearly 50 years ago.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been at it for a long time,鈥 Betty said in an interview this week. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 seem like we鈥檝e made much progress when you look at the data that came out.鈥
Fatal police shootings of Black men set off urgent calls for change throughout the 鈥70s and 鈥80s. In 1978, Buddy Evans was fatally shot on a sidewalk near a King Street West nightclub by a 海角社区官网officer. The following summer, Albert Johnson, 35, was fatally shot inside his home.
Two back-to-back shootings of Black men by GTA police in 1988 鈥 Lester Donaldson, 44, and Michael Wade Lawson, 17 鈥 brought more outrage. The deaths prompted a provincial 鈥淩ace Relations and Policing鈥 task force and in 1990 led to the establishment of the Special Investigations Unit, the Ontario civilian police watchdog that investigates fatal police encounters.
But fatal shootings of Black men kept happening.
In 1992, 海角社区官网police shot Raymond Lawrence, a killing that came two days before the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers who beat Rodney King, and which together led to the thousands-strong Yonge Street riot.
For nearly two decades, there has also been data backing up individual accounts of the over-policing of Black people.
In 2002, the 海角社区官网Star published a series analyzing police arrest data obtained through a freedom of information request, numbers that showed Black people were disproportionately arrested or ticketed for offences like simple drug possession.
Police brass and the officers鈥 association pushed back. Then-海角社区官网police chief Julian Fantino denied that officers were engaged in racial profiling: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no racism,鈥 he said.
The 海角社区官网Police Association went further. The union sued the Star for $2.7 billion, its lawyer saying it鈥檚 鈥渁 very serious thing to accuse a police service of racism and racial profiling, and we hope it never occurs again.鈥 The lawsuit was dismissed.
鈥淭hey went out of their way to totally disparage the work that the Star had done,鈥 said Michael Friendly, a York University professor and expert in statistical analysis and methodology who reviewed the paper鈥檚 methods before the stories ran.
In an interview last week, Friendly applauded the 海角社区官网police for its report but said it was 鈥渨ay, way long overdue.鈥
In the early 2010s, there was still 鈥渇ierce resistance鈥 to reforms, Coun. Michael Thompson, the city鈥檚 only Black councillor, said last week. When he was vice-chair of the 海角社区官网police board, he and then-chair Alok Mukherjee pushed for change, to no avail, Thompson said.
Thompson applauded Ramer for the apology and does not doubt the chief鈥檚 鈥渟incerity and personal commitment to eliminating racism.鈥 But added: 鈥淚t remains to be seen whether this time, the service is ready to make meaningful changes.鈥
In 2015, 海角社区官网police once again faced an impassioned outcry after Andrew Loku, a Black mentally ill man, was shot dead by police while wielding a small hammer. His death prompted a protest by Black Lives Matter outside police headquarters and calls for greater transparency from the SIU about its decisions.
Lemona Johnson, the widow of Albert Johnson, in August 1979 at a rally following his death.
MICHAEL STUPARYK / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTOOntario Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch, the first Black judge at the province鈥檚 highest court, was tapped to review Ontario鈥檚 police oversight bodies. Among his dozens of recommendations: that police watchdogs begin collecting demographic data.
鈥淲ithout data and research, the conversation about police violence and racial profiling is dominated by allegations and anecdotes. People are more likely to pay attention to research,鈥 Tulloch .
And many did pay attention when, in 2018, the Ontario Human Rights Commission published the first of two major reports on 海角社区官网police and race. Black people are 鈥済rossly overrepresented鈥 in cases in which 海角社区官网police have used force, particularly fatal shootings, the commission found.
A followup report in 2020, prepared by a team of researchers led by University of 海角社区官网criminologist Scot Wortley, included an analysis of lower-level uses of force causing minor injuries and found Black people were more likely to be subjected to this force, too.
The statistics released by 海角社区官网police last week cover a broad spectrum of force, drawn from provincial use of force forms 鈥 documents that must be filled out by officers when their actions prompt medical attention, when they use a Taser or point or fire their gun.
The reason officers now take down race information on these forms is because they are required to.
In 2019, under Ontario鈥檚 Anti-Racism Act, all police forces in the province were mandated to start collecting the officer鈥檚 perceptions of a person鈥檚 race on use-of-force forms. 海角社区官网police then cross-referenced the data from those forms against their own internal records to provide greater detail about the nature and context of each incident.
鈥淭his was not something that the police, out of their goodness, decided to do. This is something that鈥檚 mandated,鈥 said Betty, from the Jamaican Canadian Association.
The 海角社区官网police board did go further than required in 2019 when it passed a policy on the collection of race-based data, acting on a recommendation from an anti-racism advisory panel struck in the wake of Loku鈥檚 death. Last week鈥檚 release of strip search data was a result of that policy, and 海角社区官网police have committed to the release of more data, including on arrests, to determine if there are disparities.
Notisha Massaquoi, who lead the anti-racism committee and helped develop the board鈥檚 race-based data collection policy, told the Star the work on race data collection was a way to 鈥渉onour the legacy of people who鈥檝e been advocating for this for over 30 years.鈥
But the apology she heard didn鈥檛 strike her as meaningful.
鈥淎n apology would also come with really clear direction and reparations for how you鈥檙e going to repair the situation,鈥 Massaquoi said.
In his comments, Ramer said his apology was only the beginning of change 鈥 鈥渨e will do all we can to fix this,鈥 he said 鈥 and committed to listening. Next week, 海角社区官网police are for public feedback to the race-based report.
Ramer also outlined a the force is committed to take to address the race disparities, including beefed-up training and mandatory reviews of body-worn camera footage after every use of force incident.
Betty said he did not want to get embroiled in the 鈥減olitics鈥 of the apology but instead focus on what happens next. For real change, there must be movement at much higher levels than 海角社区官网police, he said, calling on the police board and the province to be actively involved.
鈥淎pology is one thing. I think the action that follows, or proceeds, it is more important,鈥 Betty said.
With files from Jennifer Pagliaro
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