Recommendation 1

Boards should update public order maintenance policies to create more effective governance

Boards should review and update their public order maintenance policies in light of new requirements in the CSPA and its regulations. More specifically, boards must maintain up to date policies for every matter that a chief is required to establish procedures for maintaining the public peace under section 8 of Ontario Regulation 392/23: Adequate and Effective Policing (General) of the CSPA. 

As part of the strategic planning requirements, boards whose service maintains a POU, and the OPP Commissioner, must ensure adequate resource planning of public order services. Greater analysis of deployment trends, assistance requests, public order intelligence, current capacity training and equipment requirements will assist to understand operational needs for police service board budget and resource decisions.

To support the discharge of the board’s responsibility to ensure adequate and effective policing is provided within its jurisdiction of responsibility, those public order maintenance policies should include ongoing communication with, and reporting by, the chief in relation to significant public order events. Among other things, this may include annual reporting on the use of a POU by the service, or in support of another service, as well as trends in the delivery of public order maintenance policing, so the board can continue to monitor the delivery of adequate and effective policing and apply this information to board decision-making (e.g., operating and capital budget decisions). 

To maintain the accuracy and relevance of its policies, boards should have a process to continually review their public order maintenance policies to ensure they can account for evolving community needs and continued compliance with the CSPA and its regulations.