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The North Bay Nugget
30 November 2009

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Ethics in Policing

Cops face more scrutiny with n

Smaller police services could find themselves stretched for staff under a new provincial office that allows third-party complaints and may have them investigate misconduct in other police departments.

The Office of the Independent Police Review Director opened last month with 10 investigators for the province, giving the public another civilian agency to turn to if they have complaints about police misconduct.

While municipal police services in North Bay and West Nipissing are adjusting to this new layer of accountability, they're bracing for a workload that could cut into their regular duties.

"A small service like ours, dedicating full-time resources strictly to public complaints and investigations is a burden," said West Nipissing Chief Chuck Seguin who oversees 22 sworn officers and eight civilian staff.

"I fully understand we're given tremendous powers and authority, and I'm in no way saying we shouldn't be accountable to the community. I think accountability is critical to what we do. But at the same time, the weight and the resources into police accountability versus other professions, you wonder where the balance is."

Seguin took control of the service this year after Richard Lahaie resigned as chief in 2008 when an investigation opened up into allegations of misconduct. The nature of the complaint was never made public and it did not lead to charges against Lahaie.

Seguin agreed this new independent police review may help restore confidence in police in that community.

Greater Sudbury Police were called in to conduct that lengthy investigation.

The public can still complain directly to a police service or appeal to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. Unlike those options, the new office allows third-party complaints.

There's also the Special investigations Unit that's called when an incident involving police and civilians results in serious injury or death. Police are open to criminal charges and civil action, and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal could become involved, along with the Ontario Privacy Commissioner which recently stopped police in eastern Ontario from posting signs outside homes that had been searched for drugs.

"There are a lot of bodies out there that we're accountable to or through," said North Bay Police Chief Paul Cook.

"When you talk about oversight, I don't know of any other profession that has the same type of oversight that the police do."

Last year, North Bay Police dealt with four internal complaints that resulted in informal discipline under the Police Services Act, and 26 public complaints that led to 25 investigations and no findings of misconduct, according to its 2008 report on policing available online. The report said the complaints were resolved and all parties were satisfied.

Cook said it's too early to tell whether the new complaints process might increase those numbers, although its board has been warned more investigations could impact on its workload.

There is no provincial funding available to help police bring in additional staff if that happens, so the new responsibilities will have to come out of the existing budget or the police service could ask the board to increase its budget, Cook said.

"Where this might become a little more laborious for police services, including our own, is the Office of the Independent Police Review can assign or at least request assistance of a police service to take on an investigation involving another police service," Cook said.

Ontario Provincial Police has found that the amount of administration at its headquarters in Orillia had decreased now that complaints can be filtered through the police review office, said Sgt. Maj. Mary Lawes with the North East Region.

Police in West Nipissing, North Bay and each region of the OPP have a designated liaison person to work with the new complaints office, and each said many of the complaints are misunderstandings about the law or actions that police are allowed to take.

There are six agencies responsible for policing in the North Bay area including an RCMP detachment based in Sudbury that falls under federal legislation, and military police at CFB North Bay which has its own disciplinary process and code of conduct.

They're not subject to the new police complaints office, and neither are Anishinabek Police Service detachments which oversee First Nation communities and are not governed by Ontario's Police Services Act.

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The North Bay Nugget30 November 2009

Cops face more scrutiny with n

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The North Bay Nugget
30 November 2009