Inflammatory Rhetoric? Baseless Accusations? A Response to Gabor's Critique of Racial Profiling Research in Canada

Abstract

Racial profiling has become one of the most controversial issues facing the Canadian criminal justice system. In a recent article, Thomas Gabor dismisses much of the evidence of racial profiling in Canada as "baseless" and "inflammatory." We address Gabor's critique by highlighting findings from a Toronto survey which suggest that black youth are much more likely to report being stopped and searched by the police than youth from other racial backgrounds. Logistic regression analysis reveals that the impact of race remains strongly significant after controlling for social class, self-reported criminal activity, gang membership, drug and alcohol use, and public leisure activities. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact that racial profiling has on minority communities and a brief review of the potential benefits - and consequences - of mandating the police to collect their own stop and search data.