Minorities ask Ottawa police to keep race statistics
Last Updated: Friday, December 15, 2006 | 5:32 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2006/12/15/race.html
Police should record the ethnicity of suspects they come into contact with in order to help eliminate racism, say advocates for ethnic minority communities.
Ten years ago, keeping race statistics was blamed for racial profiling and largely abolished.
But many people spoke out in favour of such statistics at a forum on Friday intended to improve relations between Ottawa police and the city's Somali, Jamaican, Haitian and Trinidadian communities.
Scott Wortley, a criminology professor at the University of Toronto, said such statistics are necessary to find out whether members of ethnic minorities are being disproportionately targeted or treated unfairly within the criminal justice system.
Wortley, one of about 40 people who attended the forum, said members of ethnic minority groups sometimes complain that they are pulled over more often or receive stiffer sentences than the general population ― something that authorities typically deny.
"Without such monitoring, we don't really know what's going on," he added.
警察处理少数民族疑犯时，是不是应该保留一份特殊统计记录呢？
这种记录，以前被反种族主义运动所批评，说这是歧视，这种档案完全可被用作显示少数民族是多么多么喜欢犯罪之用。所以加拿大警察并不记录这么一份特殊统计记录。
但是现在的情况发生了变化，一些少数民族明确提出，警察在处理少数民族疑犯时，存在不存在种族歧视呢？
因为没有任何记录，外界无从知晓警察在处理少数民族疑犯时，是不是存在歧视。因此，保留这种档案是必要的。
Race information commonly kept in other countries
Wortley said race statistics are widely used by police in Europe and the U.S., but not in Canada. That's because minority groups complained in the past that such statistics were used to show certain ethnic groups had a greater tendency to commit crimes, he said.
But Margaret Parsons, a spokeswoman for the African Canadian Legal Clinic, suggested that today, it is the authorities who don't want to make the statistics available because the numbers might serve as proof that they are treating some groups unfairly.
"Whether it's the government, whether it's school boards, whether it's law enforcement institutions, I think they're hiding behind that shield of not collecting data in order that we don't see effective change."
When asked whether Ottawa police planned to start keeping race-based statistics, spokesman David Pepper said the force would be open to any strategy that might help eliminate racism.
The forum was part of a two-year community-police race relations project funded by Heritage Canada.
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Kingston police to keep race statistics
Last Updated: Friday, July 18, 2003 | 2:27 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/07/18/kingston_police030718.html
安省kingston的警方已经在今年试行少数民族疑犯记录。但只是试行，一年要进行重新评估。
Police in Kingston, Ontario, will soon become the first force in Canada to keep statistics on the race of almost every person they stop.
The city's Police Services Board has unanimously approved the controversial plan. It comes into effect in October.
The move follows recent accusations that the force has been targeting racial minorities.
"Someone's already put out the opinion that we are racially prejudiced," said Gerry Doherty, president of the Kingston Police Association.
"I've got no problem showing our cards. So if they think we are (racial profiling), now it's our point to prove that we are or we aren't."
Under the new procedures, officers will record the race of people they question, as well as the reasons for stopping them, said police spokesperson Ray Lonsdale.
警察将要记录他们接触过的少数民族疑犯，以及为什么要查询这些少数民族居民。
Although the entire police board endorsed the plan, one member expressed reservations about how the statistics might be used against the police.
"If it did get reported wrongly, it's going to have an impact, morale-wise, on the front-line officers," said Terry Tate, a retired lawyer.
The board will re-evaluate the plan after one year.
Last Updated: Friday, December 15, 2006 | 5:32 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2006/12/15/race.html
Police should record the ethnicity of suspects they come into contact with in order to help eliminate racism, say advocates for ethnic minority communities.
Ten years ago, keeping race statistics was blamed for racial profiling and largely abolished.
But many people spoke out in favour of such statistics at a forum on Friday intended to improve relations between Ottawa police and the city's Somali, Jamaican, Haitian and Trinidadian communities.
Scott Wortley, a criminology professor at the University of Toronto, said such statistics are necessary to find out whether members of ethnic minorities are being disproportionately targeted or treated unfairly within the criminal justice system.
Wortley, one of about 40 people who attended the forum, said members of ethnic minority groups sometimes complain that they are pulled over more often or receive stiffer sentences than the general population ― something that authorities typically deny.
"Without such monitoring, we don't really know what's going on," he added.
警察处理少数民族疑犯时，是不是应该保留一份特殊统计记录呢？
这种记录，以前被反种族主义运动所批评，说这是歧视，这种档案完全可被用作显示少数民族是多么多么喜欢犯罪之用。所以加拿大警察并不记录这么一份特殊统计记录。
但是现在的情况发生了变化，一些少数民族明确提出，警察在处理少数民族疑犯时，存在不存在种族歧视呢？
因为没有任何记录，外界无从知晓警察在处理少数民族疑犯时，是不是存在歧视。因此，保留这种档案是必要的。
Race information commonly kept in other countries
Wortley said race statistics are widely used by police in Europe and the U.S., but not in Canada. That's because minority groups complained in the past that such statistics were used to show certain ethnic groups had a greater tendency to commit crimes, he said.
But Margaret Parsons, a spokeswoman for the African Canadian Legal Clinic, suggested that today, it is the authorities who don't want to make the statistics available because the numbers might serve as proof that they are treating some groups unfairly.
"Whether it's the government, whether it's school boards, whether it's law enforcement institutions, I think they're hiding behind that shield of not collecting data in order that we don't see effective change."
When asked whether Ottawa police planned to start keeping race-based statistics, spokesman David Pepper said the force would be open to any strategy that might help eliminate racism.
The forum was part of a two-year community-police race relations project funded by Heritage Canada.
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Kingston police to keep race statistics
Last Updated: Friday, July 18, 2003 | 2:27 PM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/07/18/kingston_police030718.html
安省kingston的警方已经在今年试行少数民族疑犯记录。但只是试行，一年要进行重新评估。
Police in Kingston, Ontario, will soon become the first force in Canada to keep statistics on the race of almost every person they stop.
The city's Police Services Board has unanimously approved the controversial plan. It comes into effect in October.
The move follows recent accusations that the force has been targeting racial minorities.
"Someone's already put out the opinion that we are racially prejudiced," said Gerry Doherty, president of the Kingston Police Association.
"I've got no problem showing our cards. So if they think we are (racial profiling), now it's our point to prove that we are or we aren't."
Under the new procedures, officers will record the race of people they question, as well as the reasons for stopping them, said police spokesperson Ray Lonsdale.
警察将要记录他们接触过的少数民族疑犯，以及为什么要查询这些少数民族居民。
Although the entire police board endorsed the plan, one member expressed reservations about how the statistics might be used against the police.
"If it did get reported wrongly, it's going to have an impact, morale-wise, on the front-line officers," said Terry Tate, a retired lawyer.
The board will re-evaluate the plan after one year.
