Charles Bordeleau, Ottawa police chief, says carding stats don't include race

Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau says his force does not collect statistics on "race" for residents involved in street checks, also called carding.

Bordeleau has publicly supported the Ontario government's motion to standardize the process of carding, which came about after stories from Toronto alleged police were checking residents based on race or ethnicity.

Carding happens when police ask a resident to provide proof of identification due to suspicion of criminal activity.

In an interview with Robyn Bresnahan, host of CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning, Bordeleau said Ottawa police conducted about 6,000 street checks in 2014.

That is among 350,000 calls for service plus other undocumented interactions between police and Ottawa residents.

Bordeleau, who is currently attending the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Mississauga, Ont., said most street checks happen around drug houses after officers spend time monitoring the comings and goings.

He said Ottawa police does not track whether a check is random, nor does the force keep statistics on the race of a person who is carded.

The force currently tracks the race of anyone who is subject to a traffic stop in Ottawa. That is part of a two-year project wrapping up in the next month.

Bordeleau said street checks are conducted when there is serious suspicion regarding a person's activity.

He then said it's important for the current Ontario government review to determine what is contained in a street check, how they're done, how detailed they should be, plus the supervision around these checks.

All of that will be contained in the standardized policy, Bordeleau said, which is expected in the fall.