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3 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,June 20,2019 theifp.ca Local police have their own take on a controver- sial information-gather- ing tactic. Mostly known as card- ing in Canada, and official- ly the Collection of Identi- fying Information in Cer- tain Circumstances, it's the practice of being stopped by police and re- quested to supply identify- ing information generally with no charges laid. The practice has been labeled as racist with a 2010 report revealing sta- tistical evidence young black men were far more likely to be targeted. A similar practice in the USA is known as stop-and- frisk. In 2017, Ontario passed a new provincial rule that banned carding outside of specific situations. Under the new rules police are still able to collect identi- fying information if they were looking into suspi- cious activities, which critics argue means police can still card at any time as long as they can say they are investigating a partic- ular crime. Rob Burton, chair of the Halton Police Board, made an emphatic statement about the practice during the June meeting. "For the public's bene- fit, bottom line is we don't do carding," said Burton. Discussion of the prac- tice and how it's conducted in the region came forward as a result of a mandatory report that shows the number of times officer's engaged in the new way carding is done. The re- port showed only one in- stance of carding occurred in 2018 by Halton police that fell under the act. Deputy Chief of District Operation Nishan Du- raiappah said the police had an information gath- ering system in place that does not fall into the acts reporting requirements that they feel works effec- tively and predates the new rules. "We had always had the spirit in mind to mitigate risk for liability for the or- ganization well in advance in lieu of that, we created systems that were already efficient for sure," said Du- raiappah. Officers in the region make use of reporting fo- cused on occurrence re- ports and suspicious peo- ple and vehicle which are subject to oversight of su- pervisors. Derek Davis, a superin- tendent with the Halton Regional Police Service said in 2015 the took a dif- ferent approach to infor- mation gathering. "We anticipated this so we actually changed the structure of how Halton police collects information that would be the equiva- lent of what would be re- ferred to as a street check type proactive informa- tion gathering. We switched from the model that was problematic, which is unverified inter- action with a member of the public. We switched to a validated report-based system where it goes through supervisor re- view or it feeds in. We cre- ated a mechanism for our officers to gather the infor- mation, have oversight in place on it and still be able to bring it into the system for investigative purpos- es," said Davis. Police Chief Stephen Tanner said it doesn't mean the Halton police aren't collecting intelli- gence. "The street gangs are not just in Toronto they're not just in Jane and Finch. We need to have creative ways to find the people in- volved in those. Theres a lot more work a lot more targeted work through the Criminal intelligence ser- vice of Ontario and Cana- da and a group now called CIROC which we can speak more to in camera at some point, which is oper- ational intelligence around street gangs and organized criminals so we have to have a way to get to those people," said Tanner. NEWS 'BOTTOM LINE IS WE DON'T DO CARDING' Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah of the Halton Regional Police said they had a policy in place that meant new regulations around carding had very little effect. Roland Cilliers / Torstar INFORMATION GATHERING TACTIC IS CONTROVERSIAL ROLAND CILLIERS rcilliers@metroland.com Georgetown's trusted choice for hearing care 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) 905.877.8828 Armstrong Ave Delrex Blvd Finally, test drive hearing aids that let you decide at your own speed. At Halton Audiometric Centre, we believe the only way to know which hearing aid is right for you is to experience the benefits in your day-to-day life. Take home and test drive state of the art hearing aids today with NO COMMITMENT OR DEPOSIT REQUIRED. Call us today for your free consultation 140 GUELPH ST. 905-877-8882 A family run business since 1972! GIFT CARDS HANGING BASKETS 10" & 12" Baskets Huge Selection of Huge Variety FINISHED ACCENT PLANTERS INSTANT COLOUR for or $2.79 eachHERBS $1.79 4 Pk. Flowering & Vegetable Plants FOR THE GARDEN • Hibiscus • Gardenia • Mandevilla • Bougainvillea & many more EXOTIC FLOWERS $26 TOPSOIL 25Lbag$1.9910 GEORGETOWN GARDEN CENTRE Full vibrant flowers from cuttings, not seeds! or $2.79 each Geraniums 10 $25FOR Large assortment of 4" Plant Stuffers 10 for $26 or $2.79 each OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK Huge Selection of 10" & 12" Baskets $42forfrom3