The applicant was outside an LCBO store in Toronto when he was stopped by a police officer, questioned, handcuffed and searched. He felt he was singled out and subjected to unnecessary aggressive treatment because of his race.
The officer claimed that the applicant matched the initial description of a suspect in a robbery (a “tall Black man wearing a hoodie”) that had taken place a few minutes earlier at a convenience store several kilometres away. The applicant was later released when a further description of the robbery suspect was issued.
The applicant argued that the initial description of the suspect was so general that the officer could only have been relying on its reference to a “Black male” when he stopped the applicant. The Centre argued that race was the predominant reason the applicant was stopped and this constituted racial profiling.
The Tribunal decided that the officer had reasonable grounds for stopping the applicant and did not arbitrarily choose to stop him because he was Black.
The Application was dismissed.
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