WINDSOR, Ont. - The Ontario government has fired a shot across the bow of the province’s police services boards, saying it wants them better qualified to carry out their duties.

The boards are responsible for oversight of police forces, as well as giving direction and setting policy, along with chiefs of police.

But Community Safety Minister David Orazietti suggested Tuesday that some police services board members may not have the education, training or resources they need to do their job. He said people the government had heard from in consultations had said the boards must also be more reflective of a community’s diversity and needs.

Furthermore, the Minister said the government is hearing from a public that wonders if some parts of Ontario even need police services boards at all.

“We’ve heard that we need to move toward universality for civilian police governance across the province,” Orazietti told an audience at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario annual conference in Windsor. “Regardless of the manner in which police services are delivered in a municipality, there should be a local civilian police governance body.”

As well, Orazietti said the government has been told there must be a clearer definition of the boards’ roles and improved relations with the police chiefs.

The government is now considering measures to improve the police services boards. Orazietti said that could include ensuring board members possess certain skills or “competencies” to allow them to perform their functions properly.

“Our government is looking to address how it can enable consistent civilian police governance across all our municipalities as the current framework under the Police Services Act does not ensure meaningful participation in civilian police governance,” added the Minister.

His remarks were part of an update on the government’s “Strategy for a Safer Ontario,” an attempt at reforming police work and oversight in the province.

Consultations and an online survey were conducted over the winter and spring, Orazietti said, with more than 1,700 direct responses for the survey alone.

Among other things the government has heard, he noted, was support for using technology to bolster public safety and police accountability. But he also said there were concerns about privacy, cost and data storage.

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AMO 2016: Orazietti puts police services boards on notice

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