The Toronto police force released data this week that includes information on strip searches, a controversial practice that often causes people to feel sexually assaulted by authorities.

The data show that in 2020 — even though Black people make up around 10 per cent of Toronto’s population — one in every three people who were strip-searched were Black, and nearly a third of all Indigenous people who were arrested were strip searched. The numbers are much lower for non-racialized and non-Indigenous people.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Monika Lemke of York University delves into the findings, pointing out that strip searches rarely if ever yield any information or evidence for police and simply serve to traumatize those who are subjected to them.

She writes: “Given that police rarely discover dangerous items, is it really worth subjecting countless people to searches that are degrading, infringe constitutional rights and traumatizing to the Black and Indigenous people who are disproportionately searched?”

Also today:

All the best.

Lee-Anne Goodman

Politics, Business + Economics Editor
Chief James Ramer of the Toronto Police Service speaks during a news conference releasing race-based data at police headquarters in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

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