Research Proposal: Racial Profiling in Canada

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal: Racial Profiling in Canada
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction: Thesis Statement
Racial profiling by police is a racial discrimination that has been in practice for a long
time even though it is not talked about much in Canada. The police system of a modern
country is vested with the responsibility of patrolling and policing the immorality and crimes
committed in a society without being biased towards a race, colour of the skin, nationality or
even gender of the people of the community. However, the police authority in Canada is
often alleged for profiling offenders based on their race and colour of the skin, thereby giving
effect to racial discrimination. Weber and Bowling (2014) has mentioned that 'black' people
are targeted more by the police, giving rise to an increase number of injury or death caused
by the Toronto police officers, as per the report of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Such growing number of injury and death of black people in the hands of the police has led
the Human Rights Commission of Canada start enquiries pertaining to racial profiling and
discrimination by Canadian police (“Under suspicion: Concerns about racial profiling by
police”, 2020).
Research Question
Why do police especially profile individuals of colour more than the others? Is it a
necessary evil or simply discriminating racial communities? What is the legal framework and
legal authorities doing about it? Is it even considered as an issue in the Canadian society?
Aims and objectives
The aim for conducting this research is to find out the cause of racial profiling by the
police, thereby suggesting measures or recommendations to prevent it.
The objective of the research is:
 To find out the factors that aids racial profiling by the police in Canada

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 To analyze the current regulatory framework that are meant to prevent racial
profiling and racial discrimination by the police
 To recommend measures to prevent racial profiling.
Research Rationale
A consolidated research on the issue of racial profiling by Canadian police is
necessary for understanding the reasons behind it, which would help to prevent it and
subsequently remove it completely from the society.
Literature Review
As per the reports of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, racial profiling is the
stereotyping people of a particular race, skin colour, ethnicity, religion, ancestry or place of
birth, all accommodation of these factors in terms of their nature, characteristics or activity
("Under suspicion: Concerns about racial profiling by police", 2020). A bias or suspicion
could be sensed towards a particular race as a habitual or probable offender, rather than
making a reasonable suspicion based on evidence. The police authority often justifies such
action as a need for greater scrutiny and public protection to maintain law and order in the
society. Law Enforcement Officials often assumes that African Canadians are more likely to
commit crime due their own past records or criminal history of a person associated to them;
however, the major reason behind such suspicion is the prevalence of poverty and illiteracy
within certain racial communities.
Meng (2017) explores police search practices in Toronto with the help of the recorded
information by the Toronto Police Service, when it was found that the number of stops and
arrests of black youths have significantly increased from 2003 to 2012, while the percentage
has decreased for white youths. The Toronto police service reports show that the number of
arrests of black youths are even more in the areas where white people decide. At city level,

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the percentage of arrest of white youths have witnessed a drop of 25.6 % in the last 10 years,
while the ratio of stopping and arrest had been 5.13 to 3.21 for white and black youths, which
means the police stopped at least 5 white youth before arresting one, while stopping only 3
black youth for making an arrest. Meng (2017) however mentions that the issue of racial
profiling by police is far worse in the United States than that is in Canada as seen from the
statistical data.
The research paper of Hayle, Wortley and Tanner (2016) stated that the debate of
racial youths being stopped, searched and arrested by police for holding a marginalized status
or due to their illegal behaviour divides scholars, for everyone has their own opinion and
researches. The research performed a logistic regression analysis of their collective
information weather found that white high school students were less likely to be stopped and
searched by police, thereby suggesting that the black cute are victims of racial policing and
discrimination. However, the study holds are the view that both white and black street youths
are likely to be stopped and searched by the police equally, on several occasions.
Meng, Howa and Anucha (2015), in their research study linked racial profiling with
the theory of urban disadvantage. It is also discussed that drugs related stop and search
conducted by the police tend to target black youths more, especially in the neighbourhoods
where white people decide, thereby suggesting that profiling of black youth by police majorly
depends upon the race and the place. It is also discussed that the characteristics of a
neighbourhood significantly contribute to the general understanding of the police personnel,
giving them suspicion of crime or some kind of violation of law and order pertaining to the
neighbourhood of a racial community. Black youth belonging from a high crime rate area
shall be more scrutinised then another black youth belonging from a neighbourhood with no
or lesser crime rate.

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Wortley and Owusu-Bempah (2011) in their paper established that racial
discrimination towards black people are becoming a normal state of affair. Moreover, the
Asians and White people believe that it is a necessary ‘crime-fighting tool’ for screening
offenders, thereby keeping crime rate lower in their neighborhood. The black respondent of
the study admitted to being stopped and screened by the police at least two to three time
every month or so, even by the same officers at times.
Chan (2011) in her article ‘Racial Profiling and Police Subculture’ mentioned that
although racial profiling and discrimination by the police officers is real, yet it is difficult to
prove it as it is hard to draw a line between ‘improper’ and ‘proper’ use of race as a
distinguishing factor in terms of screening offenders. The discretionary power vested upon
the law enforcement officers are often misused as they fail to exercise their ethics, morality
and integrity even knowing that what they are doing is discrimination and a violation of
human rights.
Many researchers lay down different recommendations to fight racial profiling by
police. The Ontario Human Rights Commission suggested certain preventive measures for
addressing racial profiling, like: a) anti-bias training should be given to police personnel and
other law enforcement officers; b) enactment of strict policies and guidelines for penalizing
racial profiling cases; c) effective redressal forums should be made for hearing such cases; d)
involvement with the affected stakeholders thereby forming a community where the victims
can share their stories and make the society more aware about this issue ("Under suspicion:
Concerns about racial profiling by police", 2020).
Expected Outcome
On completion of this research work, it is expected that the paper shall establish the
fact that racial profiling by police majorly discriminates black people, thereby subjecting

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them to be more frequently stopped and scrutinized by the police as compared to white
people. The researcher expects to find out the factual reasons behind racial profiling by the
police, whether due to poverty or the criminal background of the particular racial community.
The researcher stripes to lay down certain recommendations for improving the situation
where black people are victimized and discriminated due to their race, colour of the skin,
ethnicity or place of birth.

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Works Cited
Chan, J. (2011). Racial profiling and police subculture. Canadian Journal of Criminology
and Criminal Justice, 53(1), 75-78.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Hayle, S., Wortley, S., & Tanner, J. (2016). Race, street life, and policing: Implications for
racial profiling. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 58(3), 322-
353.
Meng, Y. (2017). Profiling minorities: police stop and search practices in Toronto,
Canada. Human Geographies, 11(1).
Meng, Y., Giwa, S., & Anucha, U. (2015). Is there racial discrimination in police stop-and-
searches of Black youth? A Toronto case study. Canadian Journal of Family and
Youth/Le Journal Canadien de Famille et de la Jeunesse, 7(1), 115-148.
Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2017). Under suspicion: Research and consultation
report on racial profiling in Ontario.
Under suspicion: Concerns about racial profiling by police. (2020). Retrieved 31 March
2020, from http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/under-suspicion-concerns-about-racial-
profiling-police
Weber, L., & Bowling, B. (Eds.). (2014). Stop and Search: Police Power in Global Context.
Routledge.
Wortley, S., & Owusu-Bempah, A. (2011). The usual suspects: Police stop and search
practices in Canada. Policing and society, 21(4), 395-407.

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