Chief of Police and Command Members

Background and Guiding Principles

Recruiting and appointing the Chief of Police and Command members, are some of the main responsibilities entrusted with Police Service Boards by the Community Safety and Policing Act (Act), along with directing the Chief and monitoring their performance. This Policy identifies the duties and responsibilities of the Chief of Police of the Toronto Police Service (Service), and those of the members of the Chief’s Command Team, and the manner in which they are to be recruited and appointed.

As the Service’s leaders, the Toronto Police Service Board (Board) expects the Chief and Command members to serve as role models for Service Members, demonstrating the values and principles of the Service. In addition, the Chief and, as their delegates, the Command Team are the primary source of information for the Board on the Service’s actions and effectiveness. As a result, the recruitment and appointment process for the Chief and Command Members must be fair, transparent, equitable and consistent. It should place an emphasis on their ability to represent the Service’s values, on their ability to communicate effectively with Service Members, Board Members and the public, as well as on their professional excellence.

Purpose of Policy

The purpose of this Policy is:

• To ensure the effective management of the Service by its leadership;
• To ensure the recruitment and appointment process for the Chief of Police and the Command Team is fair and transparent; and
• To ensure a good working relationship between the Board and the Chief of Police and their Command Team.

Policy of the Board

Chief of Police

It is, therefore, the policy of the Board that:

1. The Chief of Police will:
   1. Assume the responsibility for providing overall leadership to the Service by embodying the Service’s core values and clearly communicating the Board’s priorities and the Service’s Vision to Service Members; 
   2. Manage the Service Members to ensure that they carry out their duties in accordance with the Act and the regulations and in a manner that reflects the needs of the community;
   3. Administer the Service and oversee its operation in accordance with the Board’s policies and strategic plan;
   4. Comply with any investigations conducted by the Complaints Director or the Special Investigations Unit Director and any inspections conducted by the Inspector General;
   5. Comply with the lawful directions of the board, and provide the Board with all information necessary for the Board to carry out its oversight and governance duties, as established by the Act, Board policy, or Board direction, and be forthcoming in all their communications with the Board;
   6. Establish written procedures regarding the administration of the Toronto Police Service and the provision of policing;
   7. Report to the Board as set out in the Act, and as required in the Board’s Policies and directions;
   8. Work with the Board on the development of an effective management team for the current and ongoing needs of the organization by identifying and nurturing talent, and developing a succession plan to address future organizational needs; 
   9. Encourage within the Service openness to new ideas and innovative thinking, and a spirit of cooperation, collaboration, support and teamwork among all members of the Service, uniform and civilian, and with community partners; 
   10. Encourage within the Service a spirit of transparency and accountability to the public;
   11. Manage issues arising in the course of enforcing the law and preventing crime; 
   12. Develop priorities and objectives in consultation with the Board and the community;
   13. Balance policing priorities with fiscal priorities to meet the essential policing needs of the community; 
   14. Ensure that recruitment and outreach programs are in place to meet the ongoing staffing needs of the Service; such programs should ensure that the Service attracts, develops and retains qualified Service members that reflect the ethnocultural nature of the City of Toronto at all levels of the organization; and
   15. Maintain ongoing public consultation efforts with the public to obtain feedback on the Service’s programs and identify emerging issues of concern to the community.

Command Members

It is the policy of the Board that:

2. Command Members consist of Deputy Chiefs of Police, the Chief Administrative Officer and the Chief Information Officer, or any other Command Member as established by the Chief and approved by the Board from time to time;
3. It is the role of Command Members to:
   1. Be responsible for the efficient, effective and economical operation of their respective area of command and perform such other duties as may be assigned to them by the Chief of Police; 
   2. Regularly inform the Chief of Police of significant issues that may compromise the integrity of the police service or that may affect the operations of the Service; 
   3. Assist the Chief of Police in the development of the Service’s goals and objectives based on the mission statement and service delivery priorities. In addition, Command members ensure that Unit Commanders under their command develop strategies to achieve the Service’s goals and objectives along with measurements for the success of those strategies; 
   4. Ensure that day-to-day management decisions are consistent with the Service’s mission statement, goals, objectives, strategies, Core Values, as well as Board policies, and ensure that the Service’s vision is clearly communicated throughout their command area with an emphasis on maintaining public trust and the principles of community policing; 
   5. Ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion is maintained as a priority in the recruitment, development and appointment of Service members; 
   6. Ensure that their Unit Commanders evaluate, on an ongoing basis, the functions performed by police officers in their area to ensure adequate and effective delivery of police services, through effective redeployment of officers to various duties; and monitoring of the deployment of all their personnel, on a regular basis; and  
   7. Evaluate the Unit Commanders under their Command on a regular basis and define responsibilities and create accountability guidelines at all levels of the Service.

Appointment Process

It is the policy of the Board that:

4. The selection process to recruit and appoint the Chief of Police and Command Members, for both internal and external candidates, is the sole responsibility of the Board, and must be consistent with the following general process, consisting of four steps: application, interview, verification and appointment.
   1. Step 1: Application: In order to apply and be eligible for appointment, candidates must meet all of the eligibility requirements for the position, including those identified in documents or notices advertising the position. Failure to conform to the Service’s core values may result in the candidate being removed from the process at any stage.
   2. Step 2: Interview: Candidates who have met the eligibility requirements will attend an interview with an interview panel comprising at least three Board Members, to include the Chair.
   3. Step 3: Verification: Recommendation for appointment will be subject to verification of all information provided by the candidate, including a comprehensive background check of all candidates under consideration.
   4. Step 4: Appointment: The decision to appoint a candidate to a position will be made by the Board and recorded in its Minutes.
5. The recruitment process will be consistent with the Board’s Race and Ethnocultural Equity and Human Rights Policies to ensure that the selection of candidates is free from bias or prejudice on the grounds of race, sex, place of origin, sexual orientation, age, disability and socio-economic status, and to ensure that the candidates selected will uphold the values expressed in these Policies.

Absences

6. The Chief of Police will, when not available to provide supervision and direction, appoint a Deputy Chief of Police to assume the duties of the Chief of Police. 
7. When a Command Member is not available to provide supervision and direction, the Chief of Police will appoint another Service Member, to Act in their place and assume the duties of the absent Command Member.