Peel police a top offender for unlawful strip searches, new OIPRD report finds

A comprehensive report released today from Ontario’s police watchdog is slamming the province’s police forces for continuing to violate the Charter rights of residents with illegal strip searches, despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling nearly 20 years ago that laid out when and how such searches are permissibly conducted.

Peel Regional Police are among the worst offenders.

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Toronto police conduct the vast majority of strip searches in Ontario, but Peel police come in second when it comes to improper searches, and might perform the most unlawful strip-searches per capita.

That’s according to Ontario’s police watchdog, which found a disturbing ignorance among police officers about the guidelines set in a landmark Supreme Court ruling 20 years ago.

The OIPRD found Peel police conducted at least 14 illegal strip searches of people arrested since 2002, but because of incomplete data it's unclear if the force has performed even more unlawful searches.

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Published on March 21, 2019 in The Pointer - Brampton