Racial Profiling by Police in Canada

2887 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: introduction to racial profiling essay

Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
The key to understanding racialized profiling is to understand what systemic discrimination and profiling mean. Systemic discrimination sometimes called systemic racism is defined as, “Patterns and practices… which, although they may not be intended to disadvantage any group, can have the effect of disadvantaging or permitting discrimination against… racial minorities” (Comack, 2012, p30). Profiling in policing is defined as,
“The inverse of law enforcement. In law enforcement, a crime is discovered and the police then look for a suspect who might possibly have committed it. Profiling means that a suspect is discovered and the police then look for a crime for the person to have possibly committed” (Tator & Henry, 2003, p3).
The act of racial profiling is found in many different insti...

... middle of paper ...

...sx>
Comack, E. (2012). Racialized policing: Aboriginal people's encounters with the police. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing.
Holbert, S., & Rose, L. (2006). It is difficult to establish whether racial profiling is occurring, In D. E. Nelson, Racial Profiling. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press.
Hulbert, M. A. (2011). Pursuing justice: An introduction to justice studies. Black Point, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing.
Satzewich, V., & Shaffir, W. (2009). Racism versus professionalism: Claims and counter-claims about racial profiling. Project Muse, 51(2), p199-226. doi: 10.3138/cjccj.51.2.199
Tanovich, D. M. (2006). The colour of justice: Policing race in Canada. Toronto, Ontario: Irwin Law.
Tator, H., & Henry, F. (2006). Racial profiling in Canada: Challenging the myth of 'a few bad apples'. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press Incorporated.

Show More
Related

  • Everything Isn T Racial Profiling By Linda Chavez Summary

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the United States of America today, racial profiling is a deeply troubling national problem. Many people, usually minorities, experience it every day, as they suffer the humiliation of being stopped by police while driving, flying, or even walking for no other reason than their color, religion, or ethnicity. Racial profiling is a law enforcement practice steeped in racial stereotypes and different assumptions about the inclination of African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American or Arab people to commit particular types of crimes. The idea that people stay silent because they live in fear of being judged based on their race, allows racial profiling to live on.

    Read More

  • Circle Sentencing as Alternative Dispute Resolutions

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    LaPrairie, C. (1995). Community justice or just communities? Aboriginal communities in search of justice. Canadian Journal of Criminology. 37 (4), 521-535.

    Read More

  • The New York Police Department’s Stop and Frisk Policy: A Time Series Analysis

    2769 Words  | 6 Pages

    Wilkins, V. M., & Williams, B. N. (2008). Black or blue: Racial profiling and representative

    Read More

  • The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...between them and the “Others,” though after 9/11 this “innocences” of living in an harmonious world was no longer due to the actions of the ‘terrorists’ (Street, 2003). The inquiry report on racial profiling from OHRC was serving a purpose to demonstrate anti-hegemony which delineates as the refusal to give permission to all that is wrong, encourage the knowledge of different cultures, and oppose to a single powerful group from ruling the system (Stand, 2014). Informing Canadian’s on racial profiling is a great start to raising consciousness, however knowledge is not everything. Knowledge without answers is only awareness and in order to change racial profiling individuals need direction. Perhaps OHRC could present a new report with answers to end racial profiling or at least where to begin, because with proper guidance racial profiling can be modified and destroyed.

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling in Today's Society

    1740 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racial profiling is the tactic of stopping someone because of the color of his or her skin and a fleeting suspicion that the person is engaging in criminal behavior (Meeks, p. 4-5). This practice can be conducted with routine traffic stops, or can be completely random based on the car that is driven, the number of people in the car and the race of the driver and passengers. The practice of racial profiling may seem more prevalent in today’s society, but in reality has been a part of American culture since the days of slavery. According to Tracey Maclin, a professor at the Boston University School of Law, racial profiling is an old concept. The historical roots “can be traced to a time in early American society when court officials permitted constables and ordinary citizens the right to ‘take up’ all black persons seen ‘gadding abroad’ without their master’s permission” (Meeks, p. 5). Although slavery is long since gone, the frequency in which racial profiling takes place remains the same. However, because of our advanced electronic media, this issue has been brought to the American public’s attention.

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling in Canada

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the article “Point: Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement is Unjust”, Adele Cassola determines that racial profiling is an extensive problem in policing across Canada. She identifies that racial profiling is based on stereotypes of race, ethnicity, and cultural background with African-Canadians, Arab-Canadians, and Aboriginal Canadians being targeted most frequently. Racial profiling is not unique to law enforcement and immigration, Cassola asserts, “it is a wide spread problem within other institutions and establishments as well” (2009). She discovered a survey that showed Toronto's African-Canadian secondary school students were stopped four times more frequently and searched six times more frequently than their non-black classmates. In an article from the Toronto Star newspaper in 2002, Cassola notes that African-Canadians were subject...

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling: Is it Intentional? Can We Correct it?

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    Racial profiling is a wide spread term in the American justice system today, but what does it really mean? Is racial profiling just a term cooked up by criminals looking for a way to get out of trouble and have a scapegoat for their crimes? Is it really occurring in our justice system, and if so is it done intentionally? Most importantly, if racial profiling exists what steps do we take to correct it? The answer to these questions are almost impossible to find, racial profiling is one of many things within our justice system that can be disputed from any angle and has no clear cut answers. All that can be done is to study it from different views and sources and come up with one’s own conclusion on the issue.

    Read More

  • Prejudice, Racism and the Law in Canada

    2338 Words  | 5 Pages

    Before we talk about the laws that Canada has put into motion to help combat racism we must first define what racism is. The term Racism is hard to define. Racism is more then just an attitude; it is a policy or practice of persecution or domination by one group over another. Due to this explanation the word racism is not found in statutes or court decisions to the same extent as the word discrimination. Discrimination in the ordinary sense of the word means to treat a person or group differently because of prejudice. However in the legal sense this definition had been expanded to include human rights. Today the word discrimination can include concepts such as adverse effect, or unintentional discrimination, and harassment.  Both discrimination and racism come from prejudice. In short prejudice means to pre-judge. In other wo...

    Read More

  • Canadian Criminal Justice System

    2106 Words  | 5 Pages

    Griffiths, C. T. (2007). Canadian Criminal Justice: A Primer (3rd Edition ed.). Toronto: Thomson Nelson.

    Read More

  • An Argument Against Racial Profiling by Police

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tomaskovic-devey, Donald, and Patricia Warren. "Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling." Contexts Vol. 8, No. 2. Spring 2009: 34. SIRS Issues Researcher.

    Read More

  • racial profiling

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    Racial profiling is not a new activity but is now more widely seen on the streets and in social media which in turn has caused a negative impact on law enforcement and social unrest among minorities. In fact, "Carter indicates that the debate involving racial and ethnic profiling following the terroristic attacks opened the doors for the federal government to conduct more extensive routine enforcement and investigations which will probably get out of hand" [1].

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling by Police is Not Justified

    4077 Words  | 9 Pages

    Even the United States struggles with issues of racial discrimination despite being a society highly based on immigrants and multicultural diversity. On one hand, people frown on treatment based on race, whether that is on an individual or group level. On the other, people are tired and annoyed by the seemingly constant call of discrimination. All of these feelings culminate into the debate pertaining to the use of racial profiling. Likewise, there are some individuals that hold a certain level of acceptance in regard to racial profiling. However, what is lost in the process because of that acceptance? There are many components that need to be thought about in reference to the use of racial profiling. In addition, it can be viewed from varying perspectives, such as through the use of statistics, by looking at social norms and taking into account moral/ethical values. Although racial profiling has been denounced, its use has continued to come up repeatedly. Furthermore, it is very apparent that certain circumstances cause the use concept of racial profiling to resurface.

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling Thesis Statement

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racial profiling in America, as evidenced by recent events, has reached a critical breaking point. No longer can an African American, male or female, walk into a store, school, or any public place without fear of being stereotyped as a person of suspicion. Society constantly portrays the African American

    Read More

  • Impact and Consequences of Racial Profiling

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racial Profiling is an issue which has affected the entire black communities globally. Great danger and mistrust have been a result of racial profiling of the black community. Racial profiling not only affects the black community but other communities alike. Either taking a part in profiling others or being profiled everyone is affected in some way or another. Law enforcement is now not being trusted as much as the black communities fear instead of trusting our men and women in blue. Racial profiling has its consequence on youngsters and adolescence and their logic of self-worth and self-assurance (Ontario Human Rights Commission, n.d.). As a consequence, a substantial distrust has advanced both between minority

    Read More

  • Police Racism In Canada

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue I wish to study is the impact of heightened racist attacks in Ontario with regard to Police power. The broader theme which it relates to is racism. This issue has been a huge concern in Ontario the last year or so and continues to be an ongoing problem within specific areas of Canada. There has been recent shootings by police on black, latino, and indigenous people who are at the wrong place at the wrong time. These issues will only get worse if not addressed by the government and their ability to teach police how to use their power properly. Police officers need to understand the implications of drawing a gun on someone without a weapon who raises no harm to society or needs to stop searching and seizing people of colour because they believe they are culpable of crime. Below are six citations that are relevant to my topic and will be discussed further in detail.

    Read More

More about Racial Profiling by Police in Canada

Open Document