WHEREAS police organizations across Ontario having courthouses within their jurisdiction have experienced continuous growing expenditures relative to the costs associated with providing security for those facilities, and

WHEREAS these costs have grown dramatically and today represent an estimated five percent of police budgets, and

WHEREAS the Police Services Act provides the Chief of Police with legislative responsibility to determine the level of court security after consultation with the local Court Security Committee, and

WHEREAS employees of the Ministry of the Attorney General working in these facilities are utilizing the Ministry of Labour to demand increased security levels within the courthouses, and

WHEREAS local Court Advisory Committees established pursuant to the Adequacy Standard Regulation - 03/99 of the Police Services Act are demanding increased levels of security without regard or responsibility for police budgets, and

WHEREAS the core functions for police as established by the Police Services Act do not include court security as a core function, and

WHEREAS police in Ontario have, for many years, called on the Government of Ontario to assume its responsibilities for funding court security costs (including at the OACP’s 2006 Annual Conference).

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police again call upon the Government of Ontario to take immediate steps to provide financial assistance to police services to address these growing fiscal concerns, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police call upon the Government of Ontario to assume full responsibility for the provision of court security.