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weekly journal
MAY 2002
Police Complaints – How is the system supposed to work?
In any ordered society the Police are accorded special and
extraordinary powers. Democratic societies, of necessity, have put
in place mechanisms for the civilian oversight of its police
forces. There exists as yet no one universally recognised ideal
model for accomplishing this very important task. Canada is known
internationally for the attention that it gives to the oversight
of law enforcement.
One basic element of the oversight function is monitoring the
manner in which complaints against the Police are handled. In
Ontario, complaints against the Police must be submitted in
writing and are referred to the Chief for investigation and
resolution. The Chief must respond within a reasonable and fixed
time period. The concern that arises immediately is that, up to
this point, the police are investigating the police. The next step
should give reassurance however. If the complainant is not
satisfied with the Chief’s response, an appeal may be filed with
an independent agency - in fact, there are two of them! Appeals
regarding complaints related to the quality of the local service,
something over which the local Police Services Board has control,
are directed to a committee of the Board. Appeals having to do
with police conduct are referred to the Ontario Civilian
Commission on Police Services (OCCOPS).
The recent articles in the media really posed the following
question regarding those complaints for which appeals are never
filed: “How is the Police Services Board to know if the complaints
are being resolved according to its policies if the Board is not
provided with any information on those complaints?” In fact,
statistical quarterly reports are provided but that is all. No
information is provided which gives the Board an idea of the
specifics of the complaint and how it was resolved, presumably to
the satisfaction of the complainant. The Board is no longer
provided summary complaint information, which it had previously
received. If you would like more information on the complaints
process, I encourage you to consult the Ottawa Police web site at
www.ottawapolice.ca or
ask for a pamphlet on the subject at one of our community police
offices.
You can communicate with me at (please include a telephone
number):
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1J1
Tel: 580-2483, Fax: 580-2523
e-mail:
jacques.legendre@city.ottawa.on.ca
Web Site:
www.rideau-rockcliffe.com
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