Sweeping changes for policing

Po live Services Act over haul would allow police chiefs to suspend officers accused of wrong doing without pay

Mayor Daryl Bennett said he’s happy to finally see sweeping changes introduced to Ontario’s policing laws, on Thursday – changes such as strengthened oversight and redefined police duties.

The new rules will also make it possible to suspend officers without pay; Ontario police chiefs currently can’t hold the pay of suspended officers, even those who are convicted of an offence.

It’s all part of the first update to the Police Services Act in more than 25 years, the Canadian Press reported on Thursday.

Bennett said inane mail that the change is long overdue.

“The Police Services Act is archaic,” he wrote, a phrase that he has used before.

“The way we deliver policing needs to be modernized and made more flexible to meet the community’ s needs of today. I was pleased to heart he provincial government mention the decreasing crime rates and the increasing cost of policing as we need to improve the financial sustainability of this vital service for taxpayers moving forward ,” he continued.

“I look forward to seeing the details when the Safer Ontario Act is released.”

Bennett will resume sitting on the Peterborough Police Services Board on Nov .30. He hasn’ t been on the board in five years; he was suspended while the Ontario Civilian Police Commission( OC PC) investigated 11 allegations of misconduct against him following a bitter feud over the police budget in 2011.

That year, the police wanted more money to run the force than the mayor thought the city should give.

Later there were 11 allegations of misconduct issued against Bennett; he was accused of having shared confidential police board documents with city council, for instance, and of having made disrespectful comments about the police chief.

He was also accused of having disparaged the Police Act by calling it archaic.

After a lengthy hearing in 2014, the OCPC found Bennett guilty of 10 of 11 allegations. But the findings were later dropped when the mayor said he would take the matter to court.

Under the new legislation, the OCPC wouldn’t be investigating police board members anymore: it would be renamed the Ontario Policing Discipline Tribunal, and it would be dedicated solely to adjudicating police disciplinary matters.

Instead, the Ontario ombudsman would be able to investigate complaints against the police oversight bodies, Canadian Press reported.

In a press conference streamed online from Queen’s Park on Thursday, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Marie-France Lalonde outlined other details of the legislation.

She said the act will clearly define for the first time police responsibilities that can only be performed by a police officer in Ontario.

Lalonde said highly trained officers may not be the best people to monitor construction sites, for example.

Canadian Press reported on Thursday that Ontario’s police associations warned the changes would open the door to privatization and thereby hurt public safety, but Lalonde disputed it.

“We are not looking at privatizing police services, I really want to make that very clear,” she said. “When you call 911 and need a police officer, a police officer will respond.”

Peterborough Police Chief Murray Rodd wasn’t available for comment on Thursday, but stated in an email that he needs time to fully review the 400page act and understand its local implications.

“We would be happy to comment further once we have had a chance to review all of the changes,” he wrote.

In an interview Thursday, police board chairman Bob Hall noted that the act calls for the creation of a new Inspector General to oversee, investigate and audit police forces.

Hall said that will make six police oversight bodies in total (there are others, including the Special Investigations Unit, for example).

On Thursday he didn’t see any references, in the synopsis of the act, about the “openness” of these oversight bodies – and that’s a concern for him.

But he also said the new act will be followed to the letter, by the local police board.

“The Peterborough board will work with the province and with stakeholders on any regulations that are passed.”