Stop ‘street checks’
Simply listing cases that police managed to close using information obtained through “street checks” isn’t enough to justify this dubious practice, also known as carding.
Yet that’s precisely what Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans appears to have done in breaking with her civilian oversight board and refusing to suspend street checks.
Members of Peel Police Services Board voted 4-3 on Friday to put the program on hold. They acted in the wake of a Star investigation showing that black people, many of whom have committed no apparent crime, are far more likely to be stopped by Peel police than whites. That pattern is consistent with racial profiling. The board also moved in response to members of affected communities expressing concern about being unfairly targeted.
Evans responded to the board’s recommendation by declaring that “street checks will continue in Peel.” It was within her power to do so. As reported by the Star’s San Grewal, under the Police Act the civilian board cannot dictate operational functions of the force.
Evans said street checks are a useful law enforcement tool and maintained that Peel’s policy is in keeping with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protections against unfair detention. She was unable to explain why black people were being stopped at such a higher rate than white people.
The chief provided six examples of successfully closed cases to illustrate the effectiveness of street checks at catching lawbreakers. Most prominent was the solving of 9-year-old Cecilia Zhang’s 2003 abduction and homicide.
Evans, no doubt, is sincere in her belief that this constitutes sufficient proof to continue a controversial practice that so many people have condemned as arbitrary and unjust. But she’s wrong.
To determine the true value of street checks it’s important to know how many times information from this source proved essential to resolving a case. In other words, how often do street checks — alone — spell the difference between catching a lawbreaker and leaving a crime unsolved?
Once that’s known, it’s necessary to compare this benefit to the undeniable harm done by street checks, or carding. To date, no police force in Ontario has managed to offer any reliable evidence that street checks provide a net gain to society.
On the contrary, departing Ontario ombudsman André Marin issued a scathing report this past week warning that “the detrimental effects of street checks on individuals and the community are simply too great to justify this practice.”
Harmful effects include “alienation of individuals or groups,” loss of dignity, heightened fear of police and increased reluctance to co-operate with a force that’s seen as intimidating and unfair.
Evans has said in the past that public trust is essential if police are to be successful. But street checks have obviously undermined such trust in Peel, and elsewhere. Without reliable proof of their benefit, these checks shouldn’t just be suspended — they should be banned outright.
Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans is wrong in refusing to suspend the dubious practice known as carding