Police Board to meet Thursday October 25, 2018

TORONTO:  The next scheduled meeting of the Toronto Police Services Board will take place on Thursday October 25, 2018 at 1:00 PM in the Auditorium, 40 College Street. Copies of the agenda are available on the Board’s website at www.tpsb.ca, from the Board office and limited copies will be available at the meeting.

The Board meeting may be viewed via LiveStream on YouTube using the following link:
https://youtu.be/-yqdXClVtv0

Those members of the public who would like to make a deputation to the Board regarding an item on the agenda should refer to the Notice for Making a Deputation at this link.

Items of interest include:

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IMPLICATIONS IN RELATION TO THE LEGALIZATION OF CANNABIS

The Board will consider a report from the Chief with respect to the occupational health and safety implications in relation to the legalization of cannabis.  This report is in response to a motion approved by the Board at its August 2018 meeting.  As the report notes, the Service has made procedural amendments to include language about recreational and medicinal cannabis, and developed an Interim Procedure that includes a 28-day prohibition of recreational cannabis consumption prior to reporting for duty. The report also states that the Service is committed to continuing research and education on this subject, as well as continued dialogue with the Toronto Police Association and the Senior Officers’ Organization, as the Interim Procedure is finalized.

QUARTERLY REPORT ON ACCESS TO HISTORICAL DATA AND REPORT FROM REGULATED INTERACTIONS REVIEW PANEL

The Board will consider a report from the Chief containing the second quarterly report for 2018 regarding access to Historical Contact Data.  The Board will also consider a report from the Regulated Interactions Review Panel (RIRP) outlining its findings related to the Chief’s report.   The Chief’s report has been provided pursuant to the Board’s policy entitled “Regulated Interaction with the Community and the Collection of Identifying Information” which includes a requirement for the Chief to provide to the Board, on a quarterly basis, a public report on requests, approvals, and purpose(s) for access to Historical Contact Data as well as whether or not access fulfilled the purpose(s) for which it was granted.  The report notes that there has been a reduction in the number of members assigned to facilitate operational requests.

The Board policy also established a panel to review and make recommendations to the Board regarding access.  In its report, the Review Panel notes the steady decline of operational access and, in the absence of any information that supports the conclusion that access to the data was essential, it reasserts its position that a review should be conducted to determine whether or not it is necessary to retain operational access to the data. In addition, the Review Panel encourages the Chief to continue to review, on an ongoing basis, the number of individuals assigned to facilitate operational access, with the view of further reducing that number.

QUARTERLY REPORT ON CONDUCTED ENERGY WEAPON USE

The Board will consider a report from the Chief which provides the Board with a quarterly report on front-line use of conducted energy weapons (C.E.W.s). At its meeting of February 22, 2018, the Board approved the expansion of C.E.W.s to front-line constables (Police Constables or P.C.s) and directed the Chief to provide the Board with quarterly reports as well as an annual report of C.E.W. use. This first quarterly report shows that the use of C.E.W.s by P.C.s has surpassed that of Sergeants; the report states that this was an expected outcome of expansion as P.C.s respond to more calls for service than Sergeants and are faced with more situations involving arrests and apprehensions. The report notes that P.C.s used demonstrated force presence, in which an officer simply displays a C.E.W. without deploying it, in 76.9% of incidents where they felt that the use of a C.E.W. was the most viable force option and concludes that this illustrates that they are making sound decisions and using only as much force as is necessary to resolve unpredictable and often perilous situations. The report also includes information in a variety of areas, including: the types of C.E.W. use and in particular, on people in crisis; C.E.W. effectiveness; over-reliance on or misuse of C.E.W.s including any consequences of such over-reliance or misuse; procedures and training; reporting; and, unintentional discharges.

Contact: Sandy Murray
416-808-8090