Police Sue Newspaper Over Racial Profiling Allegations

In response to a series of newspaper articles alleging racial profiling, the Toronto Police Association, plans to sue the Toronto Star for about $2 billion.

Tim Danson, a lawyer representing the Toronto Police Association, says the association is suing over articles that ran in the Toronto Star between Oct. 19 and 29, for which the association wants "an apology and retraction." "The aforesaid articles contain numerous falsehoods, malicious innuendoes, and untruthful allegations, all of which amount to a very serious libel," Danson said in a letter delivered to the Star.

The newspaper's managing editor Mary Deanne Shears says the newspaper will not apologize because the stories are accurate.

The police association claims the Star reports have done severe damage to the force's reputation, as well as to the department's morale.

The newspaper series analyzed police data from 1996 to early this year and suggested the pattern they found could be consistent with racial profiling.

The allegations have not been proven in court.