WHEREAS on November 18, 2011, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services amended the Institutional Services Policy and Procedure Manual, specifically the Security and Controls – Use of Force Procedure which addresses incidents where correctional staff are required to utilize force in relation to inmates and provides direction on how these incidents are to be document and investigated by managers, and 

WHEREAS this amendment directs Correctional Services Staff to contact the police in their jurisdiction to advise of incidents where correctional services institution employees have been required to use force on an inmate, and 

WHEREAS it is reported that the intent behind this process is to have these incidents documented outside the confines of the District Jail and that the process provides a sense of transparency for the District Jail, and 

WHEREAS the rationale for making such reports is to ensure that police have a record of all such incidents in the event a complaint against the District Jail is lodged at some later date, and 

WHEREAS these calls result in an incident being generated as “information only” with no officers dispatched, and 

WHEREAS the standard practice for inmate on inmate assaults has been the practice as described above unless specifically requested to attend and investigate, and 

WHEREAS some municipal police services have noted an increase in the numbers of such Use of Force incidents being reported having a negative impact on police resources across Ontario, and 

WHEREAS the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police does not support this amended policy requiring police services to be involved in the administration correctional Use of Force incidents that are of a non-criminal nature. 

THEREFOR BE IT RESOLVED that the Ontario association of Chiefs of police calls upon the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to immediately suspend such Use of Force reporting until such time appropriate consultation can be undertaken with Ontario’s police leaders, and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the OACP calls upon the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to develop a more appropriate policy for Correctional Services to administer these issues be developed and implemented.