Police to begin race data collection in late June

Ottawa police announced today that officers will record the race of drivers at all traffic stops over a two-year period starting June 27.

The Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project is meant to determine if police are engaged in racial profiling.

Drivers will not be asked to identify their race. Rather, officers will record their own perception of a driver’s race using an existing in-car computer system. 

The project stems from a settlement agreement between the Ottawa Police Services Board and the Ontario Human Rights Commission after a 2005 traffic stop of 18-year-old Chad Aiken, who claimed that police pulled him over because he is black.