In 2021 and 2022, the Hidden Racial Profiling Project (HRPP) at Western University’s Faculty of Law helped the Toronto Star identify more than 600 court decisions from the past decade that found Canadian police violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when dealing with the public.
Violations included excessive force, unreasonable searches and not being told of your right to a lawyer without delay. The decisions reveal pervasive and systemic failures by many police services with respect to our fundamental rights. Few police services told the Star whether they were aware of the cases. Most refused to say.
