Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing, released a Spotlight Report titled “Policing of Protests and Major Events: Public Order Maintenance in Ontario”
Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing, Ryan Teschner, released a Spotlight Report titled “Policing of Protests and Major Events: Public Order Maintenance in Ontario”.
After extensive review of the report, we support the Inspector General’s findings that the state of public order policing in Ontario is “strong.” Public Order Units (POU) have proven that they are responsive to emerging and evolving conditions and are effective at deploying in both planned and unplanned circumstances. The report outlined that while there were no situations where the current POU resources – either from the ‘home” police service or of a cooperating police service – were unable to respond within a reasonable amount of time, they did discover that there are signs the system is becoming stretched too thin due to the resource demands and complexity of situations, and that this trend is increasing.
The report highlights a staggering statistic showing that POU deployments in Ontario have increased by 183.72 per cent between 2018 and 2022, and we know that number is worsening daily. This dramatic increase is contributing to the issue of officer fatigue and is negatively impacting our efforts for general and POU member recruitment.
Our members recognize the need to plan for how local, national, and global events impact our communities. We are responsible for maintaining a constant state of public order and readiness in a lawful, professional and effective manner, especially when unpredictable mass gatherings occur in our communities. We also need to honour the balance between people’s rights and freedoms, and the safety and security of the communities we serve.
The Inspector General makes recommendations to ensure continued effectiveness and strength of POUs in Ontario. Below is a high-level summary of the recommendations:
- Formal Establishment of an Ontario Public Order Hub: Formally establish an Ontario Public Order Hub model to ensure long-term sustainability, effectiveness and clear governance. It is recommended that this be done through amendments to the relevant regulations under the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA).
- Notifications: Develop appropriate notification protocols to the Inspector General (IG), in recognition of the IG’s statutory duty under section 20 of the CSPA to ensure adequate and effective policing across Ontario.
- Assessment Tool: Develop a single risk assessment tool to standardize the factors and risks to be considered for the POU decision-making and deployment in Ontario. Integration: That the Ministry of the Solicitor General explore ways to coordinate and integrate fire and paramedic services into POU deployment where appropriate.
- Legal Framework Review: That the Ministry of the Solicitor General engage provincial, territorial, and federal governments to review the legal framework governing protests and demonstrations in Canada.
- Public Order Maintenance Polices: Review and update the public order maintenance policies to align with the new requirements under CSPA. Police service boards should have current policies and procedures for all areas to ensure the maintenance of public peace.
- Valid Agreements: Police Service Boards should ensure they have valid service agreements in place for POU support if their service does not have their own unit.
- Regular Review: The Chiefs of Police should regularly review and update their public order maintenance procedures, ensuring they are consistent with the CSPA and clearly document circumstance under which a POU should be deployed with mandatory debriefing procedures incorporated.
- Public Order Manual: That the Chiefs of Police services continue to maintain a public order manual and make it available to all members of the POU.
- Collaborative Training: That Police Services should continue engaging in ongoing, collaborative training – coordinated through the Ontario Public Order Hub – to strengthen officers’ ability to apply relevant laws during protests and support more informed, respectful and effective public order policing. Further education should be provided to improve relations, foster cultural understanding and historic injustices experienced by Indigenous communities and historic and/or geo-political subtext driving the demonstrations and protests.
- Police Liaison Team (PLTs): That PLT’s be embedded into public order training to support managing public order events, ensuring safer events for the public and officers on the ground.
We will continue working closely with the Inspector General of Policing of Ontario and will update the membership on any further development after the report release.