Books and Journals The Law Society of Upper Canada Special Lectures 2017 Irwin Books Questions of Racism in Police Investigations and Implications for Our Justice System

Questions of Racism in Police Investigations and Implications for Our Justice System

Document Cited Authorities (33) Cited in Related

QuestionsofRacismin
PoliceInvestigationsand
ImplicationsforOurJusticeSystem
Roger Shallow*
“Race,” writes the great historian Nell Irvin Painter, “is an idea, not a fact.
IndeedRacedoesnotneedbiologyRaceonlyrequiressomegoodguyswith
big guns looking for a reason
A. INTRODUCTION
On a beautiful September eveni ng in my two Black friends and
I were walking home from campus We all grew up in Toronto and
wereinour secondyearofst udiesatthe UniversityofWindsorAswe
nearedour destinationwe observeda policecrui serdrivepast usWe
instinctivelylookedateachothera ndmyfriendsbegancountingdown
thenumberofsecondst hatwouldpassbeforetheinev itablehappened
Iwasjustabouttotellthem theywerewrongwhentheywere quickly
provenrightThepolicecruis erexecutedaUturnandappearedalong
sideofu sin lesst hana minuteTwouni formedocers alightedfrom
thecru iseranddema ndedtoknowwho wewerewhereweliveda nd
whereweweregoing
 OftheCrownLawOceCri minalMin istryoftheAorneyG eneralforOntario
Idonotspeakonbehal fofmyemployerAnyviewsandopinionsexpres sed
throughoutthi spieceshouldnotbetakena smyemployersposition
 TaNehisiCoates WhatWeMean WhenWe SayRaceIs aSocia lConstr uctThe
AtlanticMay
RS 
Ifoundmyselfspeak ingwiththe olderocerwhiletheyoungerof
cerstoodbymytwofriends andwatchedIsurmi sethatIbecame the
focusof the olderocersaentionbecauseI hada skedwhywe were
stoppedand expressedsome knowledgeofmy rightsAs ac riminology
studentIknewwehadsomeT heocerlookedatmelikeI wasapor
traitof ignorance and then recited apred ictablemantraSo yourea
wiseguyWelltherehavebeenbreakandentersin theareaandyout
thepro leIwaspr eyfamilia rwith thatma ntraa ndhadbec omecon
ditionedtounderstanditasanobviousandconvenientreasontoooften
usedtomaskanoensivetruthThepowerimbalancewaspalpableand
undeniablea ndt heci rcumstances were precarious Accordingto the
ocersallwehadtodowasjustplaythegameshowsomeidentica
tionandmyfr iendsandIcouldgoalongItwasnotabigdealPer
hapsfromtheirperspect iveitwasnotButwhataboutourperspective
I havebeen a skedto w rite aboutracia lization of police investiga
tionsandrelatedimplicationsforourjusticesystemT heintersectionof
raceand cri minal lawa nden forcementcontinues to receive consider
ableaentioninlegal academicandpublicpolicy discussions There
sulting national conversations surrou nding race are critical issues for
legalanalysisparticularlyinlightofthewelldocumentedhistoryofra
cisminCanadaThepern iciousnessofracismanditsvariousmutations
createanumber ofimplications forthecr iminal justicesystema ndare
frequentlyli nkedto complaintsofracialproling andoverpolicing of
certain communitiesCondenceinthepolicehelpskeepcommunities
safea ndpromotes publictr ustArbitrar yand discr iminatory policing
does notIt is importa nt to encouragevoluntary i nteractions between
policeandpotentialwitnessesorbystanderswhocomeforwardtoshare
informationIt isequally importantto ensure thatsuch encountersare
 IusedtothinkthatCrownswereanextensionofthepoliceandpartoftheproblem
Tha tmi sper cep tion wasc orr ect edt hro ugha ser ieso fluc kyc irc ums tan cesa ndI went
ontoenjoyafu llling careerasCr owncounse laftergraduat ingfromth eUniversity
ofWi ndsor law school in  Unf ortunately many young people of colou r who
experienceracia lbiasintheadmi nistrationofjust icedontgetsuchopportunit ies
 OntarioHumanR ightsCommissionUnderSu spicionResearcha ndConsultation
ReportonRacialPro linginOntar ioTorontoOntarioHumanRightsCom mis
sionDavidMTanovichUsingt heChartertoStopRacialProlingThe
DevelopmentofAnEqualit yBasedConceptionofArbitrar yDetention
Osgoode Hall Law JournalatTanovichUsingtheCharterRobynMay
nardPolicingBlackLivesStateViolencei nCanadafromSlaverytot hePresent
WinnipegFernwoodch

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