A new set of policies surrounding the controversial practice of carding have been approved by the Toronto Police Services Board, despite critics voicing concerns about police keeping historic carding data unlawfully obtained under the previous system.
Under the new rules, Toronto police would not be allowed to randomly stop citizens who are not suspected of a crime or based solely on their race – much like the provincial guidelines set to be imposed in the coming year.
READ MORE: Ontario to ban ‘carding’ or random police street checks in 2017
But police would continue to have access to historic carding data for the purpose of investigations, something critics say should not be allowed since some of it was obtained unlawfully.
“I have to explain why I gave access and will also be measuring who has asked for access so that the public has an understanding of what we’re doing with the information and why the information is being obtained.”
Saunders said he and select designates would have access to the data in certain situations, which he argued could be useful in cold case investigations, missing persons cases and child abduction situations.
READ MORE: Provincial ban on carding criticized by community activists and police
“There’s so many reasons where if we have access to that information it could potentially save lives,” he said.
“And so these aren’t things that we’re doing because we’re trying to win anything, it’s about community safety, overall community safety, and if there’s information that can save somebody’s life I think that’s something important to think about.”
Toronto-based journalist and outspoken carding critic Desmond Cole said police should not have access to this information because it sets a dangerous precedent.
READ MORE: Black Lives Matter group not impressed with ‘carding’ ban in Ontario
“What do the chief and his designates want to look at millions of peoples’ information for? They collected that information from us when they should never have done so,” he said.
“I say that if you set that precedent now than anytime the police violate our privacy they will argue that they can keep what they stole because it can be useful later.”
The city’s police force changed its carding regulations after the provincial government released its own regulations earlier this year to ban police from arbitrarily stopping people to collect personal information and to keep written records of interactions.
The new provincial regulations come in to effect Jan. 1, 2017, which also include the measure that officers must inform members of the public that they have the right to not speak with police.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a statement that he had “advocated for the deletion of the historical data” initially but the board “received compelling advice related to the legal and practical rationale against deletion.”
“I am satisfied that the resulting policy appropriately restricts access to this data and increases accountability and transparency around its use,” he said
READ MORE: Coalition says Ontario’s carding regulation won’t prevent controversial practice
Cole disagreed, saying the retention of the data allows it to be accessed unlawfully in the future.
“If you leave that database in the police’s hands you are opening up the possibility that somebody is going to look at it. And if carding is wrong, which they don’t want to admit, then there’s no reason to have access to any of that information — it needs to be destroyed,” he said.
“The police and carding data should be done. There’s no further reason for them to go back into those databases and once the courts have dealt with the few people who are fighting carding in the courts than all of that information needs to be destroyed.”
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