The chair of the Toronto Police Services Board has had a change in heart when it comes to the controversial practice of police “carding.”
Alok Mukherjee says that the practice of carding puts “the city at risk of becoming a surveillance society.”
The controversial practice of carding has been debated for years, with critics saying that studies show young black men are disproportionately stopped by officers.
“Let us stop gathering information about innocent people,” Mukherjee told CTV Toronto on Friday.
Mukherjee’s views on carding changed after speaking with a group of students and a stranger on the streetcar this week.
“The two experiences caused me to do some serious heart searching because you know, it is an emotional moment when you think, what is the right thing to say or do?,” Mukherjee said Friday outside police headquarters.
Although critics of the carding practice are in support of Mukherjee’s comments, there are still plans to move forward to with a lawsuit that will be filed in the Ontario Supreme Court.
The lawsuit will argue that carding violates the rights the charter of rights and freedoms.
Writer Desmond Cole has been stopped by police more than 50 times and is now an advocate against police carding.
“Sometimes carding comes up on criminal background checks. You’re trying to get a job or a placement at school, you’re trying to do the opposite of getting in trouble with the law and these non-criminal interactions are showing up on your criminal record check and ruining your future,” Cole says about carding.
The practice of carding has been suspended since January pending reform.
With files from CTV’s Heather Wright.
