April 1, 2005
Philip Mascoll and Jim Rankin
Toronto Star
Racism and racial profiling in the Toronto Police Service will be "rooted out," acting Chief Mike Boyd has vowed.
And he will not wait for a permanent chief to be appointed before moving on issues raised by his four most senior black officers in a 16-month-old report, which was revealed in the Toronto Star yesterday.
"I don't want anyone to underestimate my determination to deal with this issue," Boyd said in a phone interview yesterday. "Where it is found, it will be rooted out."
Boyd, who is on a contract until May and is seeking the chief's job permanently, emphasized he was not with the service in October 2003, when then chief Julian Fantino asked for a report on the experience of black officers serving on a force that had been accused of racial profiling.
The report was prepared by the service's four most senior black officers Supt. Keith Forde, Supt. (then Staff Insp.) Peter Sloly, Staff Insp. Karl Davis and Insp. David McLeod.
They convened a focus group of 38 rank-and-file officers who were visible minorities. The Star obtained copies of presentation notes from the senior officers' report on that session, as well as slide summaries of a more general presentation delivered to a police-only conference in November 2003.
All 38 officers agreed that racial profiling exists, the documents show. All reported having witnessed or experienced incidents of police racial misconduct while on the job, but some expressed a reluctance to report such incidents out of fear of being ostracized.
The consensus was that any organization, recruiting from the public at large, is liable to hire a few people with racist views. But the black officers felt the problem was serious and nothing would change until matters were dealt with internally.
Boyd said in the interview that the presentation and the problems it revealed were brought to his attention by the senior officers a few weeks ago. He said he discussed a response yesterday with his senior management group.
"We collectively agreed that this cannot wait for the new chief to be appointed and we must move forward immediately," he said.
"Racial profiling is unacceptable. It will not be tolerated and we will aggressively go after that," he said. "It will not be tolerated in this service. Where it is found, it will be rooted out."
Boyd outlined actions he intends to take immediately, with the unanimous support of his senior management group and the black senior officers
Arrange a meeting with officers who are visible minorities. "I am going to learn the facts and hear the experiences - personally if I can. This is important. I believe I am going to hear examples of treatment within the police service."
Act immediately on what he learns. "This is not going to be solved overnight," he said, "but it cannot wait for the appointment of a permanent chief."
Boyd said that since becoming interim chief on March 1, he has been meeting with small groups from the community at large - among them members of the black community.
He noted that the perception of racial profiling is created every time police officers stop motorists without explaining the reason.
"We are going to do something about that," he said. "That will go a long way to reduce the problem. It will not eradicate the problem, but it will reduce the perception."
Chris Bullen, president of the Association of Black Law Enforcers and a sergeant in charge of recruiting for York Region police, said yesterday the Toronto service's internal report marks a turning point, adding he expects more black officers to speak out on the issue.
"After reading the article, it really hit home," Bullen said. "This is the reality for black police officers right across the province, but particularly Toronto and the GTA, where the largest number of black officers work.
"It's more than a shame, actually. It's disgusting."
Bullen said his group, which has more than 1,000 members across the country, will be working behind the scenes, at all levels of government, trying to bring about change.
He said he would like to see the Toronto Police Service show the kind of leadership demonstrated by the Ontario Provincial Police and promote qualified senior black officers to the upper echelons of senior command.
Bullen also pointed to the work that has been done in Kingston, where the police chief embarked on a pilot project that involved documenting the race of citizens stopped by officers, with the intention of analyzing the data for possible patterns of racial bias. Early results of that study are due to be shared publicly as early as this spring.
The focus group report resurfaced last month following an incident at the gas pumps at Scarborough's 42 Division police station.
According to sources, Insp. David McLeod, one of the force's most senior black officers and a co-presenter on the focus group findings, was in plainclothes and about to fill up his unmarked police vehicle when a junior officer also using the gas pump requested to see identification. McLeod, who is based in 14 Division in Parkdale, asked him if a white officer would be asked for identification, sources said.
Complaints and counter-complaints were filed, and yesterday afternoon McLeod and the constable met with acting Deputy Chief Bill Blair.
Blair said in a phone interview afterward that the issue between McLeod and the constable had been resolved after a "very productive meeting."
Asked to comment on the Star article, Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter repeated yesterday that the Liberal government has "zero tolerance for racial profiling. We've made sure that everybody knows that."
He added that "it's going to take some time" for racial profiling to become a thing of the past. But he said new recruits at the Ontario Police College now receive extensive training on the issue.
Mayor David Miller told reporters the issues raised by the officers "reminds us of how important it is to acknowledge a problem so it can be addressed. And for senior black police officers together to have said this is a serious problem, I think reinforces that it is.
"The good news is that the police services board is moving forward. There'll be a new chief shortly and we'll be able to work on this issue," he said.
Toronto Police Services Board chair Pam McConnell said the board was unaware of the focus group and the presentations on its findings until the Star story yesterday. But she said the board will hear from the four black officers and have a frank discussion with them.
"This board is very much committed to addressing the issue of racial profiling," she said. "And I am hoping this will happen in a very timely way."
Calls to Toronto Police Association president Dave Wilson were not returned yesterday.
With files from Robert Benzie and Paul Moloney