Guelph’s chief of police says he welcomes a proposed overhaul of the Police Services Act, which will allow for greater oversight of police services, as well as allowing Ontario’s chiefs of police the power to suspend police officers without pay.
On Thursday, the Ontario government announced it would introduce a bill named the Safer Ontario Act, 2017, in an effort to modernize the current Police Services Act, which was introduced in 1990.
The proposed changes include enhancing police accountability to the public, strengthening the police oversight system and updating the police disciplinary process — which will include options for officers who are accused of serious criminal wrongdoing to be suspended without pay.
For Chief Jeffrey DeRuyter of the Guelph Police Service, the changes are about enhancing the public’s trust in police services.
“At the end of the day, we exist because our communities allow us,” said DeRuyter.
He is pleased the proposed legislation has been created with consultation by the ministry and in response to recommendations made earlier this year by the Honourable Justice Michael Tulloch in the Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review.
“We look forward to enhancing our ability to provide adequate and effective policing,” said DeRuyter.
One proposed change — the option for chiefs of police to suspend an officer accused of serious criminal wrongdoing without pay — is something the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has been requesting for some time.
Currently, Ontario is the only province in Canada in which officers facing charges for serious criminal wrongdoing are suspended with pay — sometimes for years on end.
“I am pleased that provision is there and the government has listened to the concerns and recognized the negative impact of the current legislation,” said DeRuyter.
He said he has heard negative comments from the public in cases where an officer is eventually convicted of a serious offence after the case has played out for years — while the suspended officer receives their full pay cheque.
“We take an oath in proving our services and it speaks against that,” DeRuyter said.
Officers who do not comply with investigations by police oversight bodies will also face stiff penalties, which had not previously been established.
The Guelph Police Association is the union representing the City's front line police officers and civilian support staff.
Matt Jotham, president of Guelph Police Association, said he has concerns about the new powers chiefs of police have to suspend officers without pay.
"What happened with the presumption of innocence,” said Jotham.
The province's police associations were consulted by the ministry, said Jotham, and he said some compromises were made.
Jotham plans to meet with Guelph MPP Liz Sandals in the next few weeks to discuss questions and concerns from his membership about the proposed bill.
He said he agrees the Act needed to be modernized as policing has shifted to dealing with more mental health and addiction-related calls.
“Our officers are faced with a lot adversity on a daily basis,” noted Jotham.
The proposed legislation also seeks to expand and clarify the mandates of the three police oversight bodies — including the SIU, which will be renamed the Ontario Special Investigations Unit.
The current Office of the Independent Police Review Director will be renamed the Ontario Policing Complains Agency (OPCA), and will eventually become the sole investigating body for all public complaints made against police officers.
The government seeks to put a cap on how many former police officers will work on an OPCA investigative team, ensuring that police services 'are not investigating themselves'.
In addition, a new Inspector General of Police position will be introduced to oversee and monitor police services and their associated boards.
DeRuyter said he welcomes the expanded oversight of police services, and that the Inspector General of Police position adds an additional layer of oversight, which he said should help increase the public’s trust in the system.
“We certainly welcome the oversight that goes with it and recognize it is an important part of maintaining the trust and confidence in our communities,” said DeRuyter.
Both Jotham and DeRuyter noted many of the finer details within the legislation have yet to be worked out.
“A lot of work is going to have to be done and sleeves are going to have to be rolled up, but I think the government and the various processes that have gone on have been about collaboration and discussion and engagement," said DeRuyter.
