The issue of carding was once again front and centre after Peel police Chief Jennifer Evans recently suggested stopping the controversial practice may be contributing to a rise in violent crime in Brampton and other areas of the GTA.

In an interview with The Brampton Guardian on Wednesday (July 18), Mayor Linda Jeffrey said she disagrees with the chief’s position on the practice of officers stopping and documenting individuals in the absence of investigating a particular crime. The information collected during such stops is stored for future reference.

“I don’t believe that there’s any evidence that carding or street checking (reduces crime) as the chief characterizes it,” said the mayor, while casting her full support behind recent legislation banning the practice.

“I am very concerned that any person in my city get stopped randomly. The police always have the opportunity to stop when they have reason to stop someone. But I am concerned when peoples’ rights and freedoms may be infringed upon if there is random stopping,” added Jeffrey.

Those comments are in stark contrast to a suggestion in a June 28 Peel police release, in which Evans blamed — at least in part — the end of carding for rising violence and gun crime on Brampton streets.

“Since the new street check legislation was introduced, it restricted how officers are able to interact with members of the public. This has empowered criminals, who think officers won’t stop them, they now are more confident that they will get away with carrying guns and knives. We have seen an increase in violent crime over the past year,” Evans said.

Some groups, like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, applauded the move, while at the same time arguing the legislation didn’t go far enough to protect individual civil rights.

“Ontario’s new regulation on carding, announced today, provides new and stronger protections against arbitrary police stops, while not adequately protecting youth, as well as racialized and other marginalized people, who are stopped and questioned by police,” wrote the organization on its website in March 2016.

A recent spike in gang and gun violence in Toronto and GTA areas like Brampton has reignited the debate, with some law enforcement officials like Evans insisting it is a useful tool for officers.

“This is about keeping criminals off the street. We are working extremely hard to ensure everyone’s safety. We have a solvency rate for crime that is above the provincial and national average, but we want to do better,” said the chief.