Key Highlights

  1. In Ontario, POU deployments have increased 183.72 per cent between 2018 and 2022.

  • There is a notable increase in public order deployments over the five-year period between 2018 to 2022 according to the data sample reviewed, as well as a continued increase in 2023 deployments, as revealed during the onsite interviews conducted during the inspection. Recent world events have had an unprecedented impact on the deployment of POUs[1]. 

     

  • With the recent increased demands, police services that have their own POUs are actively looking to increase complements to balance potential officer fatigue and strain on current resources. 

     

  1. There were no situations where current POU resources – either from the ‘home’ police service or a cooperating police service – were unable to respond within a reasonable amount of time.

  • The CSPA now expands the criteria for what is a “reasonable time” to deploy POUs. Boards and services – both those with their own POUs and those who rely on other services for POU resources – should analyze these new requirements to determine what a ‘reasonable time’ for POU deployment should be locally, in different sets of public safety risk circumstances, in accordance with the new CSPA factors. Ultimately, going forward, it is the IG who will determine if the reasonable time standards are met.

     

  1. In Ontario, public order maintenance is delivered through 11 dedicated POUs, which are currently provided across the province by ten municipal services and the OPP. 

  • At the time of this inspection, one additional municipal police service was actively working towards creating their own POU to become the twelfth in the province. This leaves 32 municipal police services in Ontario that rely on another police service to deliver this function through an agreement with another police service. Of those police services, 28 rely on the OPP for POU services when required, with the remaining three having an agreement with another municipal service. Beyond these agreements, the CSPA allows Chiefs the ability to request temporary assistance in providing adequate and effective policing from another police service on an ad hoc basis, in the absence of such an agreement as required for events that may impact their resources (e.g., in April 2024, officials in Niagara Falls, Ontario were expecting up to one million visitors to witness a total solar eclipse directly over Niagara Falls).[2] 

     

  • This mechanism to access another police service’s POU capacity on a temporary and ad hoc basis is particularly noteworthy for both the 28 police services that relied on the framework agreement with the OPP under the PSA, and those that sought the OPP’s assistance outside of that agreement. For the years this report covers, 2023 and 2024, the OPP absorbed approximately 70% of the costs associated with its deployment of public order units to assist other police services. The IoP was advised that the OPP is developing a new approach to assessing and evaluating the potential impacts of any new agreements on its ability to meet its own and others’ demands.

     

  • The 11 POUs in Ontario all met the minimum complement requirements as per the PSA. Most services exceeded the minimum and had resources reflective of the size and needs of their communities. It was clear that many of the police services were in the process of selecting additional members to add to their public order strength to allow for increased demand, better down time, succession planning, and compliance with the new CSPA. 

     

  • With the addition of the twelfth police service, every municipality that showed a need for deployments within the five-year window analyzed will have an operational POU. 

     

  • As the demand for public order policing increases and is more complex in nature, there is benefit in exploring other potential service delivery, funding and deployment models over the short, medium and long-term to ensure Ontario’s public order policing system remains responsive to public safety needs across a large and disperse geography.

     

  1. The inspection discovered a few challenges with respect to POUs throughout Ontario. 

  • All Ontario police services staff their POUs by deploying police officers from their regular duties to this work as circumstances require. This model leads to increased strain on those officers who fulfill multiple functions, and results in other core policing functions – and the public that depend on them – suffering from gaps in service.

     

  • With increased POU deployments, officer fatigue is an ongoing challenge for some police services and in particular POU members. This has also led to some challenges with general recruitment of prospective new POU members. 

     

  • The IoP found examples of outdated and/or minor inconsistencies between the Chief’s procedure and the local board’s policy, including three instances where either a policy or procedure was not maintained in compliance with the Regulation. This reinforces the importance that boards and Chiefs regularly review their quality assurance process relating to compliance with the legislation.

     

  • Five police services did not have a debriefing process as suggested in the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s PSM guideline. While this guidance was advisory in nature under the PSA, the requirement has now been prescribed in regulation under the CSPA.

     

  • There were three police services that did not address the circumstances in which a POU should be deployed in their procedure as required by regulation. This requirement continues under the CSPA.

     

  1. Police services are actively transitioning to new legislative requirements under the CSPA. 

     

  • While this inspection was conducted under the PSA between May 2023 and January 2024, the inspection notes consideration of, and progress underway by police services concerning the new requirements under the CSPA. Whether delivering public order services to another jurisdiction, or receiving public order services from another police service, police service boards should pay particular attention to ensure compliance with the new requirements for policing agreements under section 14 of the CSPA.

 

[1] Under the former Police Services Act, POUs must be able to be deployed in a reasonable time. The now in-force Community Safety and Policing Act expands on this by requiring POUs to be able to be deployed in a reasonable time having regard to specific criteria that helps define the reasonableness requirement.

[2] Niagara Falls Solar Eclipse, “April 8th Solar Eclipse in Niagara Falls” https://niagarafalls.ca/pdf/eclipse/cnf-solar-eclipse-important-informa….