CRIM 2652 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Royson James, Toronto Police Service, Toronto Star
14 Dec 2016
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Qiami
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Media Analysis
The Unnecessary discredited practice of Carding
Mursal Qiami
(212838843)
York University
Criminal Justice Systems
Andrea Anderson
February 26, 2014
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Qiami
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People are pulled over for speeding, running a stop sign or broken tail lights daily, but the
extent to which it becomes an issue is when law enforcement starts pulling people over for no
reason. This is simply due to the idea of carding/racial profiling which is quite a widespread term in
the Canadian justice system today. Prior to making any arguments based on carding it is vital to
understand what it is. Racial profiling as discussed by Anderson is what occurs when “law
enforcement or security officials such as the police subject individuals solely based on race,
ethnicity, place of origin, or stereotypes that are associated with these factors rather than an
objective reasonable ground” (9). To what degree can race, ethnicity and national origin be used in
targeting suspects for stops, searches and arrests? Is it really taking place in our justice system and
if so what procedure should take place in order for it to stop. Racial profiling has in fact occurred in
many instances and is still continuing to occur. This paper will be using the Fighting over details in
‘carding’ issue erodes confidence article by the Toronto Star to address the problematic nature of
carding and how it negatively affects the police-community relations. This is explained in details
with the use of themes such as discretion and accountability, and crime control/ due process models.
Inequality is by far one of the most major themes in this article therefore it is described through
facts and statistics throughout this paper. Inequality being a very important theme is spread out and
broken down under each theme. Many points in the paper show that there is high inequality towards
the blacks rather than whites and this is shown through the better quality treatment one culture
receives over another. This article also supports the community and makes important suggestions
to have carding completely stop in Canadian system of justice.
Fighting over details in ‘carding’ issue erodes confidence, written by Royson James and
published by the Toronto Star on November 15, 2014 really tackled the issue of carding and made it
clear that such an action needs to stop immediately. This article focuses on the police meeting that
took place in order to provide clarity on how close Toronto police is to end the practice of carding
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Qiami
3
and make police/ community relations better. This article addresses that reports from the street have
made it quite evident that people of color are too often targeted from the police (Royson, 1).
Community advocacy and media investigations let by the Star makes it apparent that carding has
definitely damaged police/community relations in Toronto and in order for that relation to get better
racial profiling must end (Royson, 1). Reports show that “blacks are 6-10 more likely to get carded
than whites” (Royson, 1). “Young white males and those designated as “other” do attract police
attention, but nothing as pronounced as black and brown youth”(Rankin, 1). The author also states
the fact that when Bill Blair became chief 10 years ago he admitted that racial profiling does exist
and he would address it but he later became hesitant to tell officers that they have to inform carding
targets their rights (Royson, 2). Police reports made claims that carding has decreased 90 percent in
the police divisions but the community reports did not match this therefore it was not proved
whether or not carding has really decreased (Royson, 2). Michael Thompson a board member
stated the following, “This is a challenge to the system, but the system has to change, not next year
but now” (Royson, 2). This article concluded that both the community and the police have to focus
on the bigger picture, which is serving the public good (Royson, 2). Also the proposed changes
such, as the end to carding needs to take place in order for police/community relations to improve
(Royson, 2).
The institutional and operational criminal justice framework for this topic would be police
power, decision-making, policing, police strategies and operations, within the Canadian system.
Police power is one of the key issues in the study of policing, as it is hard to identify how much
power police officers should have or really have (Griffiths, 93). Policing can be traced all the way
back to when Canada was not the country it is today, but in todays time policing is defined as:
“activities of any individual or organization acting legally on behalf of the public or private
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Document Summary
People are pulled over for speeding, running a stop sign or broken tail lights daily, but the extent to which it becomes an issue is when law enforcement starts pulling people over for no reason. This is simply due to the idea of carding/racial profiling which is quite a widespread term in the canadian justice system today. Prior to making any arguments based on carding it is vital to understand what it is. Is it really taking place in our justice system and if so what procedure should take place in order for it to stop. Racial profiling has in fact occurred in many instances and is still continuing to occur. This paper will be using the fighting over details in. Carding" issue erodes confidence article by the toronto star to address the problematic nature of carding and how it negatively affects the police-community relations.
