Members of the Toronto Police Services Board voted unanimously late Thursday night to approve what they consider a tough new policy to regulate the controversial practice of carding.
The new rules limit when officers can stop and document people on the street, and officers must inform people they are not under arrest and they are free to leave.
Police must also provide a "receipt" explaining to a person why they were stopped and what information was collected.
The board was reviewing the practice in response to concerns and allegations of racial profiling.
Under the new policy, officers are being told to not consider race, gender or age when deciding to stop someone.
The policy will prevent officers from carding unless they are involved in an investigation or trying to prevent a specific offence. In the past, they were allowed to collect personal information and add it to an internal database, but the policy prohibits that.
The changes will be reviewed by the board in October.
In February, the Black Action Defense Committee files a class-action complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario alleging racial profiling by Toronto police.
The police services board and Chief Bill Blair were named in the complaint.
With files from CP24 reporter Jackie Crandles.
@ChrisKitching is on Twitter. For up-to-the-minute breaking news, follow @CP24 on Twitter.
