The communications branch of Toronto Police has quietly stopped including race in some written descriptions of people investigators are looking for.
NEWSTALK 1010 has learned that several months ago, the force made changes to the way it issues public advisories concerning suspects believed to be involved in crimes, as well as people who have gone missing, or who might otherwise be in danger.
These releases almost always include written descriptions of what those people look like.
Now, when investigators have a clear photo to include with the advisory, they leave deciding that person's race up to the viewer.
In cases where there is no photo to rely on, the written description will include the person's race, if that information is available.
"We've decided to put more focus on the picture that we use when looking for somebody," says Toronto Police spokesperson Meaghan Gray.
"This is an ongoing review that we do here in Corporate Communications to ensure that the most appropriate language and the most accurate language is used in our news releases."
Gray describes the change as one that "is more concerning practise, than policy."
She denies that a move to pay more attention to the way the force treats descriptions of skin colour is directly related to recent and repeated accusations of systemic racism Toronto Police has faced from human rights advocates and groups like Black Lives Matter.
"We're not singling out any one particular group," Gray says, "this is something we have done consistently across all our news releases, for any race and for any type of need to find somebody."
Former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis says when it comes to narrowing down a pool of possible suspects, or locating someone who might be vulnerable, a description of a person's skin, along with their sex, is one of the most important factors.
He says it is possible that Toronto Police might be making it more difficult for investigators to track down the people they're looking for.
"If a person is white, or a person is black, that's just reality," Lewis says, "if you're describing suspects, then why would you not use all the descriptors available?"
He wonders whether pressure to become "more politically correct" has had an affect on the decision to drop race from some public advisories.
Gray refutes the suggestion that the changes might make it more difficult for investigators to keep the community safe.
She says the language used in police descriptions has changed significantly over the last few decades, explaining that Toronto Police has taken steps to insure that the language it uses does not "other" or discriminate against any group, be it on racial lines, or otherwise.