News

Ontario Association Chief of Police Statement 
Decriminalization for Simple Possession of Illicit Drugs

Substance Advisory Committee (OACP SAC)
December 2020

 Summary 

Substance Use Disorder is a public health issue and requires a coordinated and collaborative approach. This is why the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) supports the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) report entitled Decriminalization for Simple Possession of Illicit Drugs:...

Ontario’s police leaders today support their colleagues at the CACP as they apologize to our Two-spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Transgender, and Queer (2SLGBTQ+) communities for a historical wrong that has caused pain and suffering to countless fellow Canadians.

In 1968, the Government of Canada introduced amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada to decriminalize homosexuality. Police leaders at the time publicly opposed these amendments. Police organizations across Canada...

Racism, in any form, is evil. Recent demonstrations across North America have made it clear that racism – and specifically systemic racism – is an evil that continues to plague our society. As police professionals, we must be clear in denouncing it and fighting against racism, which drives a wedge between our dedicated police members and the public each of us has taken an oath to serve. We must also acknowledge that there is still work to be done to eliminate systemic racism in our own organizations...

School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs are utilized by many police services in Ontario as collaborative, community-based initiatives to promote safe environments for members of educational communities. SRO programs allow police officers, typically assigned to one elementary or high school on a full-time basis, to conduct daily interactions with students and other members of an educational community. Some SRO models employ officers who serve a group of schools. SROs are also sometimes...

Recent comments by Mr. Jagmeet Singh, leader of the federal New Democratic Party, regarding the successful de-escalation of an incident on July 2, 2020 involving an armed suspect at Rideau Hall in Ottawa requires a response by police leaders. Specifically, Mr. Singh suggested that police would have purposefully handled the situation differently if the suspect had been a person of colour and that the incident was “what systemic racism in policing is all about.” When Mr. Singh asserts that he is speaking...