'Evasive' Hamilton police officers racially profiled Black man in 2022 traffic stop, judge says

Two Hamilton police constables racially profiled a young Black man then breached his Charter rights when they detained him and searched his car in 2022, an Ontario Superior Court justice ruled.

Police violated the 27-year-old man's rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Justice Michael Bordin said in a 30-page decision released March 4. Those breaches were "very serious" and infringed on his right not to be arbitrarily detained, his right to be informed of the reason for arrest or detention and his right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure. ​​​​​​

Police found drugs and a gun in the man's car and charged him with several related crimes, including possession of a firearm without a licence. But due to the constables' actions prior, "I conclude that the admission of the evidence would bring the administration of justice into disrepute," Bordin said, and excluded that evidence.

Without that evidence, he said, the Crown could not prove the offences beyond a reasonable doubt. Bordin acquitted the man of all charges.

"We take this matter seriously," the Hamilton Police Service said in a March 5 news release, adding it referred the decision to the police's professional standards branch for review. 

"We recognize the impact of these decisions on our community and remain committed to ensuring fair and impartial policing in Hamilton."

Since the incident, the service has implemented measures including "enhanced training" on Charter rights and unconscious bias, as well as a race and identity-based data strategy to "strengthen public trust and enhance community safety," the police said. 

As Bordin described, police said on July 5, 2022, officers pulled the man over because his vehicle's licence plates were obscured, contrary to the Highway Traffic Act. After an interaction, they demanded his keys and the man ran away. The police said that he abandoned the vehicle, meaning they were entitled to search it. 

The man countered that the traffic stop was a "pretext," and really, he was stopped because he is a young Black man.

The man said he was driving back to Toronto through Hamilton when he passed the officers. He pulled over and backed into a parking spot in front of an industrial building on Princess Street in Hamilton's Gibson neighbourhood because he had to pee, he said. Police parked in front of his car, blocking it in. 

During the traffic stop, the man said the police began investigating what they believed may be a stolen vehicle without any basis and without advising him of the reason for the stop, or his right to legal counsel. He said the demand for his keys was an unlawful seizure, he did not abandon the vehicle and the search was illegal too. 

Overall, Bordin said he found the man "credible." He had a different assessment of the police constables, finding one was "not credible," repeatedly refused to answer questions directly, was "evasive, argumentative and combative," and "gave implausible and at times incredulous answers." The other presented evidence that "was at times not credible, evasive, and internally inconsistent," he said. 

The man's version of events differed from the officers' at times, and the officers' evidence was contradictory at times, Bordin said. He presented what the three parties said in his decision, as well as his own assessment of what happened.

Bordin found that after boxing his car in, the constables asked the man if he worked at the business. "I find he was not told that he was being stopped because of obstructed plates," Bordin said.