Who’s Tracking Deaths in Police Custody? - TfD Weekly 4th November 2026
How Tracking (In)Justice catalogues police-involved deaths across Canada, notes from our Jeff Doctor webinar, and our volunteer meeting on November 11.
Welcome to TfD Weekly
TfD Weekly is the newsletter of Technologists for Democracy (TfD), a Toronto-based civic tech organisation working at the intersection of technology, privacy, and democratic accountability. Each week we recap what's happening at Civic Tech Toronto, share updates on our campaigns, and keep an eye on legislation that affects Canadians' digital rights.
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Civic Tech Toronto Recap
Topic: Insights from the Tracking (In)Justice Project
Speaker: Farhan Samir, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Computer Science at the University of Toronto
Last year, 61 people died in interactions with the police or in incarceration facilities across the country. Historically, there was no systematic way to track even the basics of these deaths: who was killed, where, whether any officials were held responsible, and whether anyone reported on it.
Farhan walked us through the Tracking (In)Justice project, built by researchers across Carleton, McGill, Queen's, U of T and UBC. It catalogues these deaths from 2000 onwards, drawing on government releases, news reporting and case-by-case fact checking.
Civic Tech Toronto meets every Tuesday. Subscribe for future events
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Digital Sovereignty Webinar Notes
Missed our webinar with Jeff Doctor, or want a refresher? The notes from the session are still up.
Read the notes from the session
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Monthly Volunteer Meeting
Our next volunteer meeting is next Wednesday, November 11. We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of every month on Jitsi Meet. Whether you want to get involved, pitch your own campaign idea, or just keep up with what we're doing, all are welcome.
Don't forget to add points to the agenda through the event page.
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Technologists for Democracy is a community of Canadians who work with technology towards better democracy for all. Learn more at techfordemocracy.ca