Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics
Policing, Race, and the Re-Making of the Diverse City
2026-07-13
Police reform has been a cornerstone of activism in Toronto for decades. Activists, organizations, and community groups have applied pressure to politicians, government officials, and other decision-making bodies specifically for them to intervene in a pattern of racialized violence on the part of the Toronto Police force. At the same time, external interventions of any kind have been vehemently resisted by Toronto Police and its Board of Commissioners. This paper will address the question: How does Toronto’s municipal government respond to demands to address racialized police violence in a city that is defined by its diversity and racially harmonious sensibilities? Through a detailed genealogy of Toronto government records and centering the killing of Albert Johnson as an “event,” this paper reveals how Toronto government policies and practices addressing racism and racialized violence in policing become the mechanisms through which to continuously obscure and protect such violence against public accountability and to recirculate Toronto as the city without racism. The paper concludes by drawing parallels to and thus complicating the idea of civilian oversight bodies as a potential solution to police racism, as advocated by politicians, government officials, activists, organizations, and community groups across Toronto and beyond.