April 2, 2024
An Introduction as the Inspector General of Policing’s Mandate Begins and the Inspectorate of Policing’s Operations Launch
I am honoured to officially begin my mandate as Ontario’s first Inspector General of Policing with duties and authorities under the new Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA), now in force. I look forward to working in a role focused on providing independent compliance oversight and driving improved performance in Ontario’s policing and police governance.
- A. The Inspectorate of Policing and the Executive Team
Along with my Executive Team – Joseph Maiorano and Rekha Chetlur – senior leaders and all members of the Inspectorate of Policing, we will work diligently each day to serve the public interest. Our vision is to drive improvements in policing performance and police governance through an independent system of inspecting, investigating, monitoring and advising, supported by data collection, analysis, and public reporting.
- B. The Inspectorate’s New Website and Public Complaints
In addition to those topics we select for inspections, the Inspectorate of Policing will independently respond to public complaints concerning adequate and effective police service delivery and the conduct of police board members. Members of the public will be able to file complaints through a portal available on the Inspectorate’s website, and will be able to track the progress of their complaint. Our website and portal are key components of making real our commitment to transparency and accessibility. 2
We encourage you to link to our website on your own organization’s websites, so that members of your organizations and the public you serve will learn more about the new role of Inspector General of Policing, my mandate, and why the public may wish to contact the Inspectorate of Policing. When you upload the link to our website, we ask that you use the following description of the Inspector General and Inspectorate of Policing, so that we can create consistency in the public’s understanding of our work:
Description of the Inspector General and Inspectorate of Policing and
How to Make Public Complaints
The Inspector General of Policing is a new policing oversight body under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA). The Inspector General is responsible for ensuring policing is delivered adequately and effectively across Ontario and that police board members are complying with the Code of Conduct. The Inspector General exercises independent compliance oversight focused on ensuring police services, police service boards and board members, and special constable employers are complying with requirements under the CSPA for policing and police governance.
The Inspector General of Policing is supported by the Inspectorate of Policing, a new organization comprised of professionals that are dedicated to driving improved performance in Ontario policing and police governance.
Members of the public can file complaints with the Inspector General concerning adequate and effective police service delivery, or allegations of police board member misconduct through our website: www.iopontario.ca.
Under Ontario’s new Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA), the Inspector General of Policing is responsible for:
- • Responding to public complaints, which can be filed at www.iopontario.ca, concerning adequate and effective police service delivery and allegations of police board member misconduct;
- • Examining the performance of police services and boards through independent inspections, investigations, monitoring and advising;
- • Identifying effective performance and, where improvements are needed, using enforcement tools, including issuing directions and imposing measures to ensure compliance with the CSPA and its regulations;
- • Imposing measures to ensure the provision of adequate and effective policing or in cases of a policing emergency;
- • Conducting data analysis and research to promote evidence-based actions and improvements; and,
- • Publicly reporting on the activities of the Inspector General, including publishing all inspection reports and an annual report.
- C. A Commitment to Continuous Engagement
I am filled with gratitude for your early trust and confidence in the Inspectorate of Policing. Along with members of my team, we have enjoyed the opportunities to meet with many of you, and to hear first-hand about the challenges you face and the opportunities that exist to help in our collective goal of improving community safety for the public we all serve.
I want to assure you that our engagement efforts are not just a moment in time. As Inspector General, I am committed to remaining meaningfully engaged with the policing and police governance sectors, and other stakeholders whose mandates intersect with the policing landscape. Through these engagements, I look forward to continuing to learn about your experience in navigating the new world under the CSPA; to understand how the Inspectorate of Policing can adjust and refine in order to be more responsive; and, to ensure that I deliver on my mandate in a way that better positions police services and boards to confront the critical issues of today and tomorrow. The Inspectorate of Policing embraces our shared responsibility of ensuring that all communities in Ontario receive the adequate and effective policing and modernized police governance that they deserve.
I also recognize that with any new legislative environment, there will be lessons we learn along the way. We, at the Inspectorate of Policing, do not view performance improvement as a one-way street: we are committed to an ‘evergreen’ approach to our work by applying lessons learned so we, too, can continue to improve in the delivery of our mandate.
- D. The Inspectorate’s Risk-Based and Data-Informed Approach
As we enter this new era of policing with new legislation and oversight, we will ask the questions the public deserves to have answered, apply our expertise to the evidence and, where necessary, take measures to improve Ontario’s policing and police governance system to help make everyone in this province safer.
Our approach to compliance oversight will be rooted in our risk-based model, and we remain committed to working with you to identify and mitigate risks – ideally, before a risk could lead to a compliance issue or impact public safety. We will use the right tools, apply the right touch, at the right time in order to address compliance matters effectively, and in the best interests of the public we serve. 4
- E. More Information in the Coming Weeks and Beyond
You will be hearing more from us over the coming weeks. We will not be pursuing the previously identified inspection topics at this time (these topics were previously identified in an All Chiefs Memo distributed in early 2023). Our next set of inspection subjects will be identified by applying our new inspection selection framework, conducting independent research, and by incorporating feedback from our engagements and the public complaints we receive. While my team will have more to say on this in the coming months, our focus will be to delve into issues that are of greatest public value and have the potential to improve sector-wide policing performance.
On the data front, I was pleased to see the enthusiastic interest and support for our Data Collection Pilots. I have also heard from many of you around the importance of the type of information we will be gathering, and the potential it will unlock in terms of data intelligence informing decision-making. We will also have more to say about the Inspectorate’s work in these areas in the future.
- F. How to Continue to Follow the Inspectorate’s Work
To stay informed about the Inspectorate of Policing’s activities, I encourage you to follow us on our new social media channels: LinkedIn and X (twitter). We will be posting content on a regular basis about the work we do. Of course, please also use our website as a resource to learn about the inspections we have conducted, our findings, and work to profile critical areas of policing and police governance.
- G. Committed to the Public Interest
The CSPA marks a new era of policing for all of us and I believe, our collective success depends on mutual confidence and trust – and, most importantly, the confidence of the public we serve.
I want to thank you for your continued support in my work as Inspector General of Policing and in the Inspectorate of Policing, as we launch our public-facing operations. 5
I look forward to unlocking the promise of my legislative mandate and improving performance in policing and police governance to make everyone in Ontario safer.
Best regards,
Ryan Teschner Inspector General of Policing of Ontario
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