Lawyer says Black teens racially profiled

Police tribunal advocate denies that race a factor in Neptune Four case

Two Toronto police officers who stopped four Black teens in a Neptune Dr. housing complex were motivated by a desire to collect identifying information from them — particularly be-cause of their ages and race, the teens' lawyer argued at a police tribunal Thursday. In pointed questioning, Jeff Carolin — who is representing three of the young men known as the Neptune Four — cross-examined Toronto police Const. Scharnil Pais during the hearing Pais and examining his partner, the Novem- Const. unlawfully arresting the boys, in an incident that culminated in Lourenco drawing his firearm Lourenco and throwing faces two a punch. charges of using unreasonable force when he punched one of the boys and pointed his gun at three of them. Both officers have pleadDuring Pais’s third day on the stand, Carolin questioned why the four boys, who were en route to an after-school program, were stopped by the offi- cers, both of whom were part of the Toronto Anti-Violence In-tervention Strategy (TAVIS). The controversial unit has since been shuttered, in part because its officers became no-torious for their high rate o "carding" Lawyers for Pais and Louren-co voiced concerns as Carolin's questions veered towards th officers' motivations and th race of the young men. Joann Mulcahy, who represents P noted there was no mention o racial profiling in the notice o hearing, the police documen that outlines the allegations against the officers.

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and court. Follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis