Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood is welcoming the province's overhaul of the Ontario Police Services Act, saying it contains many changes police chiefs have been recommending for years.
The province introduced the Safer Ontario Act, 2017, a 417-page proposed bill touted as a comprehensive public safety legislative package that, if passed, would represent the largest policing transformation in a generation.
"If you look at the work of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, we have been advocating for change for almost a decade now. In the last five years, we have worked very closely with the Ministry to ensure that some of our changes are included in the new Safer Ontario Act. So we support the changes and we're pleased with the changes," said Greenwood, the first Vice President of the OACP.
One change that is particularly gratifying for the Chief is the proposed new ability to suspend officers without pay under specific circumstances.
"We currently are the only province that suspends officers with pay and do not have the option to suspend an officer without pay. So now we will have that option," said Greenwood.
"From a Police Chief's perspective, we're always concerned about the integrity of our service. We're always aware and mindful of the community and those that contribute to the funding that we receive from our municipalities."
Greenwood thinks the overhaul to the Police Services Act was overdue and delivers a balance of recomendations that ensure the police service delivery model is professional, modern and meets the expectations of the community.
Ontario's Police Services Act was written in 1990.
Greenwood welcomed the areas that feature increased oversight.
The province acted on numerous recommendations from independent reports, most recently from Justice Tulloch's Independent Police Oversight Review, that called for strengthened police oversight and accountability.
There will be a new Inspector General of Policing, expanded powers and broadened mandate for the newly named Ontario Special Investigations Unit and the Ontario Policing Discipline Tribunual, which will take prosecutions out of police hands.
"They will adjudicate police discipline matters," said Greenwood.
Those matters were formerly the responsibilty of the Chief and Police Service.
"Under the new act it will be an independent ageny that will be responsible for that."
The proposed new Act highlights a trend already happening in many police services - the civilianization of some police roles.
"Within the act that's being proposed, the police board will have the opportunity to look at functions within the private sector, such as trained crime scene analysis, our forensic identification unit, breathalyzer testing, explosive devices, polygraph, even our motor vehicle collsion reconstructionists," said Greenwood.
"I think there has been a change and there will continue to be a change in the policing model. I look at as ensuring we have the right people doing these functions. That they come accredited. That they have the training and they can do this specialized work."
"I think these new areas address the concerns that that has been raised by the community and I look at it as this is real change and that it's modernizing policing,"Greenwood said.
The province is introducing the Safer Ontario Act, 2017, a comprehensive public safety legislative package that, if passed, would represent the largest policing transformation in a generation.
If passed, the proposed bill would repeal and replace Ontario's Police Services Act, 1990, amend the Coroners Act, 1990, and create, for the first time, a Missing Persons Act, 2017, and a Forensic Laboratories Act, 2017. In addition, two new acts would be created to enhance police oversight in Ontario, including the Policing Oversight Act, 2017, and the Ontario Policing Discipline Tribunal Act, 2017.
