Toronto police today released race-based statistics on the use of force and searches by officers.
Acting Police Chief James Ramer is scheduled to discuss the findings at a news conference this morning.
The statistics refer to incidents that took place in 2020, the first year the provincial government began collecting race-based data related to the use of force by police services.
This move stemmed from legislation passed in 2017 that required various public sectors in Ontario to begin collecting data on race.
In the fall of 2019, the Toronto Police Services Board approved a policy on race-based data that would begin with the use of force and later extend to other police processes such as arrests, searches, interrogations and imposition of charges.
The council then said the data would not be used to identify specific officers or manage their performance, but to “identify trends that contribute to professional development and organizational change”.