Waterloo regional police conducted 4,413 searches last year, ranging from frisk searches to full-body strip searches one in 10 of which yielded drugs, cash, weapons and other items.
Of the 4,413 searches conducted in 2022, 289 were frisks, 3,416 were conducted during intake, 210 were Level 1 strip searches and 496 were level 2 strip searches.
The latest numbers are from an annual audit of searches of persons in custody conducted by the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
Dr. Amanda Williams presented the data during last Wednesday's police service board meeting, part of which includes race-based data collection strategy to help WRPS uncover and address systemic racism at the organizational level.
Williams explained that by observing patterns in the race-based data, it will help WRPS determine the scope of the problem, any contributing contextual factors within the organization, along with how policies and procedures play a role.
Analyzing the data also provides a better understanding of training needs and what approaches WRPS can take so its delivery of service might better track across different communities, she said.
Of the 323,730 police "occurrences" in 2022, five per cent, or 14,746, resulted in an arrest, and one per cent resulted in searches.
Police found 96 items, most frequently during the more than 700 strip searches conducted, and women were over represented in strip searches down to their underwear.
All searches must be reasonable and justified given the circumstances, with the level of intrusiveness increasing with the justification. Justification typically includes the person's criminal history and information received by officers.
Different types of searches are conducted to ensure individuals are not in possession of evidence, tools to escape custody, or any object that could cause injury to themselves or others, including officers.
Police conduct four types of searches.
A frisk search involves patting down of a person, emptying and searching pockets, as well as the removal or rearrangement of clothing short of exposing a person’s undergarments or part of the body normally covered by undergarments. It may include checking their personal possessions.
For safety reasons, all persons under arrest are frisk searched prior to being placed in a service vehicle.
Intake searches are more comprehensive than a frisk search and done in a more controlled environment, sometimes with the use of a wand and the opportunity for the person to indicate what items the wand may have detected. At minimum, all persons under arrest undergo an intake search once they arrive at a service facility and prior to being placed in a cell.
A Level 1 strip search requires a person to remove their own clothing, one piece at a time, down to the undergarments, while officers inspect the article of clothing in a methodical manner. The person can replace each article of clothing immediately after inspection, unless doing so would compromise the safety or integrity of the search.
A Level 2 strip search requires a person to remove their own clothing, one piece of clothing at a time, including the undergarments, while officers inspect the article of clothing in a methodical manner. The person is allowed to replace each article of clothing immediately after inspection, unless doing so would compromise the safety or integrity of the search.
Most searches of persons took place at Central Division in Kitchener, which houses the regional prisoner management facility.
Data collected by police during each search is included in the report, including race, gender and age. That data is examined as a way of monitoring and addressing systemic bias.
Williams explained the service calculates disproportion as the representative group among a population, and disparity as the proportion of individuals within certain groups compared to an appropriate reference group within a policing context.
For example, the proportion of women for Level 2 strip search is compared to the proportion of men for the same search to determine disparity if there is any, the disparity threshold being greater than one per cent.
Disparity does not always indicate discrimination, Williams said, and is grouped among four areas, including officer bias, institutional and cultural practices, the person's choices and actions, and social and demographic factors.
Young persons accounted for 3.7 per cent of searches in 2022.
Searches of females were conducted 829 times, representing 18.7 per cent of all searches in 2022.
Both levels of strip searches of females accounted for 17 per cent of that total, and of that total 10 per cent were asked to remove their undergarments.
Males were searched 3,577 times, 16 per cent of which were strip searched, and 12 per cent were asked to remove undergarments.
A disparity emerged at strip search Level 1, where seven per cent of females were asked to strip down to their undergarments versus four per cent of males.
There was also a "slight under-representation" of white people in searches at the intake level and over representation of that group in the relatively small number of strip searches, "because white individuals were more likely to experience more comprehensive searches," Williams explained.
Although 2022 is the first year WRPS has included a full accounting of race-related information in its report on search of persons, the report has been completed annually since a 2020 internal audit developed a series of recommendations from the Office of the Indpendent Police Review Director.
