There is insufficient evidence to back up the police claim that “carding” is a necessary tool, and the detrimental effects of the policing practice “are simply too great to justify,” Ontario’s government watchdog says in a submission to the province released Thursday.

If Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government truly wants to reform the controversial tool, also known as street checks, it must first obtain “independent, objective, evidence-based data” to show how it achieves concrete, crime-solving results, says former Ontario ombudsman André Marin.

“(The province) should not simply accept the subjective and anecdotal protestations of its policing partners,” Marin writes in his submission to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, in which he does not call for an outright ban but does insist on strict limitations on the practice — including a prohibition on carding anyone younger than 18.

The Ontario government is currently reviewing carding with the aim of establishing province-wide regulations on when and why police stop and document members of the public. A series of Star investigations has shown that in Toronto, the controversial policing tool disproportionately targets black and brown men, and new data obtained from Peel Regional Police this week show black people in Brampton and Mississauga are three times more likely to be stopped by police than white people.

Marin added his voice to criticism of the review, calling it “flawed” from the outset for describing street checks as “a necessary and valuable tool” in its online discussion document, without having crime data to back up the statement.

“I remain unconvinced, based on the available information, that there is a public interest purpose sufficient to override the infringement of the right to be free from the arbitrary detention that street checks represent,” writes Marin, who calls the current practice of carding “wrong and illegal.”

Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi has repeatedly said random and discriminatory stops must end, and that street checks without a clear policing purpose should be prohibited.

But critics have questioned why the province did not seek to obtain more information demonstrating the efficacy of the practice to begin with; the ministry did not ask Ontario police forces for data illustrating how street checks have helped solve crime or made communities safer.

Marin, whose term as Ontario’s ombudsman ended earlier this month, makes 25 recommendations for safeguards to minimize the infringement on individual civil rights and salvage confidence in Ontario’s police.

Highlights of Marin's recommendations

No carding of minors: Because minors are especially vulnerable in interactions with police, they are entitled to extra protections, Marin says. Police should certainly still be able to detain and arrest young people, but the province’s street checks regulation “should expressly exempt individuals under the age of 18 years from this additional method of information gathering.”

More research into effectiveness: Before even drafting the regulation on the practice, the province needs to confirm that street checks are actually effective, through “independent, objective statistical analysis and evidence-based studies,” Marin writes. The ministry should then issue a public report containing the information.

Province-wide training for officers: Among the problems identified by Marin is the inconsistency of how street checks are conducted across the province. He recommends training at Ontario’s Police College — where all recruits are trained — emphasizing individual rightsand freedoms and the voluntary nature of the practice. “Noofficer should be permitted to conductstreet checkswithout being fully trained.”

Everyone carded must be told they have the right to walk away: Every police officer must be required to tell individuals they are carding, “in clear language,” that they are not obligated to stop or answer questions. The officers must also provide anyone they stop with a record of the interaction that includes “the date, times, names of those present, the badge numbers of involved officers, the information recorded and an explanation of how it may be used, as well as the conditions for its retention.” There should also be a standard form used across the province.

Independent oversight: Marin advocates for the creation of an independent provincial body — similar to Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit — specifically to oversee street checks. Among the responsibilities of the oversight board would be reviewing prescribed statistical information that the province would require annually from every police service, including the number of street checks conducted, the circumstances that prompted the stops and the charges that resulted.

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