Pubdate: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2011 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 REBUILDING THE TRUST The Ottawa Police Service should be congratulated for following through on a recommendation by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal to produce a policy on racial profiling. According to the new policy, "A police officer shall not, in the absence of a reasonable and racially neutral explanation, exercise a statutory power such as the power to detain a motor vehicle under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act as a pretext to conduct a criminal investigation of a racialized individual." The officer must have good reason to think the individual may have committed a crime. It's hard not to agree with this, although one would hope it would apply to the non-"racialized" folks among us as well. The policy might seem straightforward, but a handful of incidents in Ottawa suggest a refresher was in order, as was the case recently for cellblock strip searches. Following the emergence last fall of shocking video of Stacy Bonds having her clothes cut off in police custody, the service implemented sweeping reforms, particularly to do with policies and training regarding the proper use of strip searches. Staff Sgt. John Medeiros told the Citizen that incidents of racial profiling are frequently inadvertent, that race might be unconsciously factored into an assessment of a potential suspect rather than a result of overt prejudice. This is likely true. Also, an experienced police officer no doubt develops a nose for criminal activity based not on any particular suspicious action but the police sense developed over many years on the street. But this is precisely what makes a clear policy and the training efforts around it so vital. Members of minority communities report feeling singled out by police, creating an atmosphere of distrust that is bad for the community and the police service alike. It may cause members of the community to see profiling where it is not. It may cause officers to second guess themselves when confronted with a legitimate suspect. Rebuilding that trust will take work on the part of all parties and to his credit Medeiros has already been in touch with a number of community leaders to discuss the new policy. Some would note that on occasion drugs or weapons are found when police pull over a vehicle based on an instinctual suspicion about the driver, or even outright racial profiling. But this is no justification for the practice. If the driver of a car is in possession of drugs but does nothing to justify an interaction with police, he or she gets to go free, plain and simple. This is a small price to pay for the rest of us to live in a free and equal society, where we need not fear arbitrary detention by police. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.