Police Leaders Committed to Fighting "Pernicious Influence" of Racial
Profiling

Commitment to Protecting Front-line Officers, Children From Internet Predators, and Seeking Justice for First Nations Police Officers Among Resolutions Passed by Ontario Police Leaders

TORONTO, June 21 /CNW/ - Police leaders from across Ontario have affirmed their strong resolve to combating racial bias in policing at the conclusion of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police's 59^th Annual Conference and Global Showcase.

A resolution passed by OACP members at the OACP's Annual General Meeting acknowledges that while the overwhelming majority of Ontario police service members conduct themselves professionally and perform their duties without exhibiting any form of bias, racial profiling may occurs when members of a police service inappropriately consider race or ethnicity in deciding how and with whom to intervene in a policing capacity.

The resolution commits police leaders to continuing their strong resolve to implementing positive measures to prevent bias in policing and to promote harmonious relationships with all the diverse communities they serve.

"This resolution affirms our belief that police must be continuously combat the pernicious influence of bias in policing," said OACP President Chief Robert Herman (Thunder Bay Police Service). "As police leaders, we need to 'lead from the front' when it comes to combating racial profiling."

Ontario's police leaders also issued calls for Government of Ontario and Government of Canada to provider pension equity for First Nations police constables and called for the Ontario Government to bring together policing stakeholders in a formal working group to address post-traumatic stress disorder impacting front-line officers.

The OACP conference attracted more than 250 delegates and companions as well as more than 100 exhibitors from June 13-16 in Kingston, Ontario.

Members of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police serve their communities as
the senior police leaders in municipal, regional, provincial, national, and
First Nations police services across Ontario

Resolutions Passed by Ontario's Police Leaders

Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police Annual General Meeting
June 16, 2010

Support for the Reinstatement of a Seconded Officer to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to deal with Domestic Violence issues

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls on the Government of Ontario to reinstate funding for a seconded police officer to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. This officer would assist in coordinating the collective policing efforts with government to develop and deliver strategic programs and front-line responses to incidents of domestic violence with a view to eliminating the needless domestic violence related deaths in Ontario.

Paid Duty Salary Disclosure

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls on the Government of Ontario to amend the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996, to exclude T4 earnings (box 14) that are specific to "Paid Duty" earnings for police, as they are fully recoverable from the customer, having no negative budgetary impact on the municipal rate payer, nor are such earnings derived from the tax levy in the first instance.

Vehicle Licence Exemption

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police again calls on the Government of Ontario to provide the same exemption for annual license fees for municipal police vehicles.

Racial Profiling

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police accepts that racial bias exists in Ontario society and in its institutions, and that members of police services can be susceptible to its pernicious influence.

The OACP affirms that police organizations and their individual members, especially given the unique authority bestowed on police by society, have a heightened responsibility to ensure their decisions are free of all bias, racial or otherwise.

The OACP encourages police services throughout Ontario to continue implementing on-going positive measures to prevent bias in policing and to promote harmonious relationships with all the diverse communities they serve.

The measures referred to above include: policy, human resources and training processes, systems of supervision and accountability as well as proactive community engagement.

Ontario Police Officer Access to Ontario Ministry of Transportation Drivers License Photographs

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls on the Government of Ontario to immediately prioritize and assign sufficient direct and indirect fiscal, technical, support and hosting resources, enabling timely delivery of these short and long term strategies to enhance access to Ontario Ministry of Transportation drivers license photos electronically by and for Ontario police officers,

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls on the Government of Ontario to strike a formal working group of the key stakeholders, including the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards, Police Association of Ontario, Ontario Provincial Police Association, Toronto Police Association, Ontario Senior Officers Association, and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police to:

1. explore the issues around any such proposed amendments to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and Operational Policy 15-03-02, and
2. work with government officials and the medical community to develop an appropriate diagnostic tool with respect to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, specifically for police officers and police personnel, and
3. develop an awareness campaign with respect to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and its effects in policing.

Crime Prevention

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls upon the Government of Ontario to establish and implement a general Crime Prevention Fund to provide continual support to police services within Ontario to maintain and deliver crime prevention initiatives and programs.

Pension Equity

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls upon the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada to provide adequate funding to the FNPP to ensure that pension benefits for First Nation Constables are equivalent to those received by other police officers in the Province of Ontario.

Increasing Standards of Effectiveness for Wireless Enhanced 911 Service for All Canadians

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police inform the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) of this issue and requests that all necessary and appropriate action be taken to ensure that Canadian citizens have the same level of E911 service reliability and accuracy as do the citizens of other countries,

The OACP, through the CACP, strongly advocate for a nationwide enhanced 911 standard that is fully capable of locating devices that are "roaming" on the network of a service provider other than their own.

The OACP, through the CACP, advocate strongly for a nationwide enhanced 911 standard that is capable of continually relocating a 911 call from a wireless device even in the event that the device travels from one cell site to another.

The OACP advocate strongly for a nationwide enhanced 911 standard that leverages best in class technology to locate wireless enhanced 911 callers as precisely as is practicably possible given current technology.

Each police service is asked to track those events where the 911 centre is either not provided with any location or the precise location of a 911 call from a wireless device and report said statistics for use by this organization in the furtherance of its advocacy on this issue.

Each member of OACP is asked to inform their local Member(s) of Parliament and Member(s) of Provincial Parliament of this organization's commitment to advocate for a nationwide wireless enhanced 911 systems as outlined in this resolution.

Internet Child Exploitation

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police calls on the Government of Ontario to provide adequate funding to support the Provincial Strategy for the Protection of Children Against Internet Exploitation.

For further information:

Joe Couto
Director of Government Relations
and Communications, OACP
T. [phone] ext. 22
C. [phone]
E. [email protected]
www.oacp.ca