White, Non-White Criminals Treated Differently In Canada

Vittorio Hernandez, AHN News

- Canadian police treat criminals differently, depending on their skin color, according to an analysis of criminal histories of 3 million people.

According to a Toronto Star analysis, based on data from the Canadian Police Information Center database, non-whites had a 53 percent chance of not being convicted. An Ontario judge interviewed by the Star explained that most non-whites spent more time under pre-trial custody and that laxity on them is a reward.

The study also said blacks accused of crimes were more likely to plead not guilty.

University of Windsor law professor David Tanovich indicated the higher rates of dropping of charges against non-whites could be because the courts felt some of the cases were results of racial profiling, rather than real results of criminal investigation.

The study also concluded that 32.5 percent of non-white suspects were asked to provide DNA samples, even if they comprised only 16.7 percent of those who had criminal records.

Differences in how offenders were treated were reflected in the criminal files of non-whites, which were more likely to have a notation on their record.

Although the report said crimes decreased in Canada, the country’s $13 billion annual bill for policing, courts and penitentiary maintenance are expected to increase. Experts attribute this to mandatory minimum sentences, which sent prison costs jumping to $49 billion a year from only $1.8 billion the previous year.