Canada Border Services Agency and Toronto Police Service

University of Ottawa criminology professor David Moffette: The broad criterion of ‘officer suspicion’ is fertile ground for the practice of racial profiling, according to Toronto Star. This is not a matter of a few exceptional circumstances of certain individual officers, but instead a systemic problem in policy, said the study led by University of Ottawa criminology professor David Moffette. During an eight-month period between last November and June this year, the Toronto Police Service made 3,278 calls to Canada Border Services Agency , 83.4 per cent of the calls were for status checks, said the study, titled Often Asking, Always Telling, to be released Wednesday. Given the frequency of the deeply embedded practice of racial profiling and its link to the numerous calls made . . . we must conclude that the TPS are not by any means an accessible service to black and racialized groups with precarious or no status in Toronto. The study said the practice by the TPS contradicts the directive; it asks the city to urge TPS to develop a comprehensive Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and stop checking a resident immigration status during interactions or disclosing that information to their federal immigration counterparts.TPS spokesperson Mark Pugash said the force has adopted the don’t ask policy, but the law has obliged officers to inform border enforcement if they become aware of an immigrant warrant against an individual in the course of their interaction. In June 2014, Toronto Council passed recommendations to give the city estimated 200,000 non-status residents access to city services without fear of being turned over to border enforcement officials. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.