TORONTO– Mike Schreiner made the following statement in response to a review that found people of colour faced disproportionate levels of violence from Toronto police in 2020:
“This review is disturbing but yet not surprising.
It further shows why we need to urgently reallocate funding from policing to health and why we must be open to meaningful reforms.
It is completely unacceptable and disgusting that Black Toronto residents were 230 per cent more likely to have a police officer point a firearm at them when they appeared to be unarmed than white people.
This report is a stark reminder how perverse systemic racism is within society and police forces.
I hope that this scathing review leads to urgent and real action to address systemic racism and are calling for the following measures at the provincial level:
- Increased oversight including reform of the Special Investigation Unit to ensure transparency and justice for racialised individuals who are victims of violence and discrimination at the hands of law enforcement
- Reallocation of funding from the criminal justice system to healthcare and housing
- Continuation and increase of race-based data collection, so as to better inform more equitable policy
- Permanently ending carding, including eradicating all illegally obtained personal information collected through carding
- Increased accountability for anti-racism efforts in police boards across Ontario”