CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA

That the Ottawa Police Services Board confirm the Agenda of the 26 February 2018 meeting.

                                                                                                    CARRIED

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

COMMITTEE MEETINGS: REPORTS FROM COMMITTEE CHAIRS & MINUTES

Policy & Governance Committee - Draft Minutes 19 January 2018 and Draft Minutes 7 February 2018

Complaints Committee - Draft Minutes 1 February 2018

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive these reports for information.

                                                                                            RECEIVED

1.

NEW CANNABIS LEGISLATION AND IMPACTS ON POLICING IN OTTAWA - PRESENTATION

Presentation by Deputy Chief J. Skinner

A presentation on the highlights of the new cannabis legislation and the impacts on the Service was given by Deputy Chief J. Skinner, accompanied by Insp. M. Knowles, and S/S J. Devine. (A copy of the presentation will be kept on file with the Board’s Executive Director.)

The following points were made during the ensuing discussion:

·           Health Canada continues to work on identifying tools that will be defensible in court.  Impaired driving is currently one of the most contested court charges.  When cannabis is legalized, the public’s attitude will change towards it.  Without the proper tools, police will not be able to stop drug impaired driving.  The tools must be in place before the legislation passes.

·           Individuals will be able to carry 30 grams of cannabis outside the home.  The rationale behind this specific amount is to get low-level drug possession out of criminal court. 

·           The Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario will be operating task force teams to deal with the dispensaries that are currently operating.  There will be a coordinator who will report back to Toronto and determine where the task force teams will actually go.  Once the cannabis legislation is passed, more legislation will be required to ensure these dispensaries, when closed, remain closed; currently these dispensaries are illegal and illegal activity cannot be legislated.

·           The RCMP operates a drug recognition program and provides the OPS with two seats per year. The training occurs in Florida.  There is a training opportunity available in Quebec and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) is attempting to determine if it will be feasible in Ontario.  The legislation will determine the type of training required.

·           OPS high-level costing is partly based on the analysis York Region completed. York has put forward estimates of what the implementation of the cannabis legislation will cost them:  2% of their annual operating budget or $6.9M average per year;  $6.2M in one time costs; $14.5M in on going costs; $7.8M in annual costs after 2020. OPS did not include the operating costs for the 2018 implementation of the legislation as part of the budget.

·           The time to sufficiently train staff and meet the 1 July deadline will be quite challenging.  Preliminary estimates will change over time, as more information becomes available.

·           From a governance perspective, it will fall to the Police Services Board to advocate with the Minister of Health and Minister of Finance on behalf of the Police Service as the City is focused on the effects to the municipality. The Board may have some decisions to make with respect to plants that are seized.  The OPS will have to come up with a communication strategy which will form part of the work plan.

·           The Service will continue to conduct investigations surrounding illegal pot shops.  However, the City is facing an opioid crisis, as well as a number of drug related shootings.  The number one priority is to stem the violence associated with guns in the community. 

·           There are numerous moving parts to implementing this legislation, and the Board will be updated whenever changes occur. 

·           The biggest concerns facing OPS are: 1) impaired driving, which is a significant concern, and it will not be not be helped with the addition of another drug and 2)  the impact on youth; this will have a negative impact on the community and the way youth think about drugs.  This isn’t just a policing problem; it is a community problem.

·           In terms of lessons learned from other jurisdictions who decriminalized cannabis, it was noted that Washington and Colorado’s initial costs were low but increased over time. Also, public messaging could have been better. It is still too early to draw any long term conclusions. Usage of the drug increased a lot but it is unknown what the uptake in Ottawa will be.

D/C Skinner indicated she has copies of numerous motions and recommendations that have been brought forward to the Association’ of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).  Reviewing these is something that the Board may consider. 

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this presentation for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

2.

GO FORWARD FRAMEWORK - DIVERSIFYING THE OPS SWORN WORKFORCE - PRESENTATION

Presentation by Director General Debra Frazer and Insp. C. Cartright

Director General Frazer was joined by Insp. C. Cartright and Insp. D. Millar to update the Board on Diversifying the OPS sworn workforce.  (A copy of the presentation will be kept on file with the Board’s Executive Director.)   

After the presentation a discussion ensued and the following points of clarification were made:

·         The OPS are currently hiring one in five prospects.  Based on the proposed changes they are hoping to hire one in three prospects.

·         The OPS is looking to have a dedicated outreach team to supplement the recruitment team. School Resource Officers are great ambassadors to the Service.  Focusing on high school students will not see rewards for a few years; it is a long-term process.  The current focus is on post high school individuals.  The completed marketing strategy will show how social media will figure into the process as well as reaching out to external targets.

·         Moving forward the OPS is hoping to gain some insight from the data to determine what the failure rate is between the target group versus the general applicants across Ontario and see at what stages they are occurring. 

·         There is OPS data available that will be reviewed; however, this information cannot be divided between demographic groups, as permission was never requested when the information was obtained.  It will take some expertise to find the barriers and determine what some of the unknown barriers are.

·         Before launching the marketing program staff want to ensure that the recruitment team and supports are in place. They will be using a generalist and targeted marketing strategy to ensure marginalized communities are reached.

·         The OPS Pilot Study let people through the process without their ATS initially (it was still a requirement but pushed to a later step in the process). The OPS expects that should they continue this practice, they may experience an influx of candidates.

·         There are 5000 ATS applications and only 10% are from women, with a 45% pass rate. Data is not currently available from ATS on a further breakdown of who is failing. There are ongoing discussions occurring around data collection within the OACP.

·         Currently the background check is number eight on the list.  Staff have found that the background check is the most time consuming and costly step in the process.  It takes roughly 40 hours per candidate.  There are ways to split this process and discussions are ongoing to determine when in the process this step would be most optimal. It is possible the pool of trained background investigators may be increased.

·         There is a need for mentorship to be available before the application process that would help guide individuals through the process.  Mentorship is ongoing; however, more can be done.  The outreach team would like to see outreach recruiters also mentor individuals.  Individuals within the service are mentoring individuals and directing them to the recruitment office.

·         It was noted that back in March of 2006 a list of 17 recommendations was created with respect to diversifying the workforce.

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this presentation for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

3.

CHIEF’S VERBAL REPORT

Chief Bordeleau reported on the following items: SIU Investigation, Arrest in Bank Robbery, Gun Violence Suppression, Opioids and Youth Advisory Committee Invited to Present at the United Nations.  (A copy of the Chief’s verbal report is available online.) 

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

                                                                                                CARRIED

4.

BOARD COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS

Executive Director’s report

                                                                              CARRIED

5.

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF POLICE GOVERNANCE:          2018 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Executive Director's report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board approve payment of $5,945 to the Canadian Association of Police Governance for its 2018 membership fee.

                                                                                                CARRIED

6.

ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF POLICE SERVICES BOARDS’ ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Executive Director’s report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board approve the attendance of E. El-Chantiry, L.A. Smallwood, A. Blaustein and K. Ferraro at the Annual Conference of the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards, to be held 23 – 26 May 2018 in Blue Mountain, Ontario.

                                                                                                CARRIED

7.

APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL CONSTABLE:  CARLETON UNIVERSITY

Chief's report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board approve the appointment listed in Document 1 as Special Constable pursuant to Section 53 of the Police Services Act, in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the attached Approval of Appointment form.

                                                                                                CARRIED

8.

RE - APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL CONSTABLE:  OTTAWA POLICE SERVICE

Chief's report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board approve the re-appointment listed in Document 1 as Special Constable pursuant to Section 53 of the Police Services Act, in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the attached Approval of Appointment form.

                                                                                                CARRIED

9.

CONSULTATION PLAN ON FUTURE DEPLOYMENT OF CONDUCTED ENERGY WEAPONS

Chief's report

Analysis of the data suggests there was an 84% increase in CEW usage from 2014 to 2016 following the expansion of access.  There was also a decrease in the usage of other types of force – including discharge of firearms and drawing of handguns.  This trend has been very consistent.

As part of the reporting process, a request was made to include information pertaining to the provincial baseline;  how much training is the Big 12 providing, how much training Ottawa is providing, and to make a commitment to always be a leader in terms of de-escalation training for officers.  It was agreed that this information would be included in the next Board report.

That the Ottawa Police Services Board:

1)    Approve the consultation plan on the future deployment of conducted energy weapons as outlined in this report.

                                                                                                CARRIED

2)    Receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

10.

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT REPORT – FOURTH QUARTER 2017

Chief's report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board:

1)  Approve the appointment of the sworn officers identified in Document 2; and

                                                                                                CARRIED

2)  Receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

11.

PERFORMANCE REPORT: FOURTH QUARTER 2017

Chief’s report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

12.

POSITIVE WORKPLACE: 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

Chief’s report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

13.

REPORT ON SIU INVESTIGATION

Chief’s report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

14.

OUTSTANDING BOARD INQUIRIES & MOTIONS: FEBRURY 2018

Executive Director’s report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

15.

LETTERS OF COMMENDATION

Chief’s report

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

                                                                                                RECEIVED

OTHER BUSINESS

CONSIDERATION OF MOTION TO MOVE IN CAMERA

That the Ottawa Police Services Board adjourn the public portion of its meeting to move In Camera to discuss confidential items pertaining to legal and personnel matters in accordance with Section 35(4)(b) of the Police Services Act.

                                                                                                CARRIED

ADJOURNMENT