Windsor law students help file complaints against police
By Chris Thompson, The Windsor Star (April 23, 2010)
WINDSOR, Ont. -- In the past, many people who felt they had been wronged or mistreated by police found the process of lodging a complaint less than inviting, even intimidating, and often confusing.
University of Windsor law professor David Tanovich is hoping a recently introduced program through Community Legal Aid along with a new provincially mandated police complaints process will change all that.
"That's been a constant complaint, sort of the idea that accessibility, of knowing where to go and sort of feeling safe, is one of the impetuses of the new system," said Tanovich.
The Law Enforcement Accountability Project, along with Community Legal Aid, are now open for business with U of W law students to assist people with filing a police complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
"It's really about providing students a way to learn about these issues and to provide meaningful sources of research and policy development," said Tanovich.
Under the program, law students who underwent a training program last month will be available at the legal aid office at 2475 University Ave. W. to assist people seeking to lodge a complaint.
"We need to get the word out to the community that there is this new complaints process," said Tanovich. "And the availability of community legal aid to provide a safe space and a law student to file a complaint."
The OIPRD has been in operation since October and was instituted in response to a report by Patrick LeSage, who recommended a new independent civilian body to administer public complaints about police in Ontario.
Thus far there has been only one person who has taken advantage of the service, and Tanovich would not divulge details, citing confidentiality.
Across the province there have been 1,200 complaints lodged since the opening of OIPRD, an increase over the norm for that period prior to the office's existence.
Windsor police Staff Sgt. Rick Facciolo, the head of the professional standards branch, said the new system is working well, but adds an extra step in having to send case information to Toronto. He said the number of complaints is roughly the same since the new system came in.
Complaints can now be filed directly online, and will be handled by civilians.
Tanovich plans to hold community outreach meetings to get the word out about the service.
"We believe police complaints are under-reported," said Tanovich. "There's a lack of knowledge about the process, a fear of the process."
Tanovich said he hopes the local service is a success and spreads to other communities across the province.
"I think it's a good idea for other legal aid clinics across the province to provide similar support," said Tanovich.
"Hopefully we'll serve as a model in terms of our training, which is really critical in terms of students being able to do this effectively. There are often underlying issues in terms of the trauma individuals have experienced, that have been victimized by the police."
More information is available at www.oiprd.on.ca and www.uwindsor.ca/law/policing-the-police.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star
Showing posts with label OIPRD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OIPRD. Show all posts
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Toronto Star reports on first six months of Office of the Independent Police Review Director
"Police complaints office gets some of what it wants: Now better-funded, grievances are coming in. But there are still credibility issues"
Jim Rankin,
Staff Reporter (11 April, 2010)
Gerry McNeilly and a friend cooked up the idea of an African Canadian Legal Clinic in his Mississauga kitchen in 1991, and 15 years later he helped found a Manitoba clinic that provides legal advice for abused women.
But if you picture him in an activist role as head of the Office of the Independent Police Review Director – Ontario's new civilian-run system for overseeing public complaints about police conduct and policy – think again.
"We're not here to get anybody," McNeilly said in a recent interview. "We're independent, and we're going to continue to act independently, and we're not taking sides and we're not here to do that.
"My role will be very, very neutral. I'm going to carry out my job in an extremely collaborative and consultative way, with all of the stakeholders."
The agency officially opened up for business in October, and it's taking complaints online, at its Bay St. office and by mail and fax, provided the incident occurred after the new system kicked into place and is within its mandate to oversee.
As of mid-March, 1,011 complaints had been filed province-wide, slightly more than was expected, says McNeilly. About half were filed directly with the civilian agency, with the rest being passed on by police services.
People can still file complaints at any police station. Police must then pass them on to the civilian agency within three days, which then decides how to classify the complaint and makes a call on whether to assign a civilian investigator, ask that another police service investigate, or pass it back to the originating service for self-investigation.
Of the complaints received so far, 416 were screened out because they either predated the new system, were deemed to be frivolous or vexatious, were better dealt with elsewhere, or were duplicates, incomplete or not about police officers.
One in every six complaints that has been accepted – and deals with officer conduct – has been kept by the agency for investigation by one of its own civilian investigators.
The Independent Police Review Director's office has 45 staff and will top out at 50. This includes 10 civilian investigators with the power to get search warrants, summon witnesses and order police to hand over relevant documents.
Four of the 10 investigators are former police officers. "I needed the experience and skills to do a police investigation – and the know-how," says McNeilly, who was appointed director by the Lieutenant Governor.
The office also has the power to delve into systemic issues. "One area I'm looking at already," says McNeilly, "is that there is a fair amount of incivility, and it has a lot to do with traffic stops, and that may be an area where part of my role is to provide education and training."
The soft-launch of the office last October caused barely a media ripple. It came nearly five years after former Justice Patrick LeSage delivered to the Ontario government a blueprint for a more transparent and efficient system to replace one that instilled little public confidence and, perhaps more important, would be better funded than the Police Complaints Commission, mothballed in 1996 by the Mike Harris government.
McNeilly expects the annual budget will be about $9 million. That's more than the budget for Ontario's civilian Special Investigations Unit – which probes police incidents involving serious injury and death – and double that of the old Police Complaints Commission.
So far, the new office hasn't been as active as police leaders thought it would be. "Frankly, I was expecting more of an impact," says Toronto police Chief Bill Blair. "But I'm confident Mr. McNeilly sort of will get his legs and take more active involvement."
"It is still early," says Ron Bain, executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. "And I think that we, and Mr. McNeilly, are still waiting to hear from people who are the harshest critics of the old system, as to whether the new system is in fact meeting their expectations."
McNeilly is indeed anxious to hear from those who were critical of the old system, the loudest of whom were fellow lawyers who had long advised clients not to even bother lodging a formal complaint.
Among them was Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby. He has had no experience with the new system but so far sees nothing in the way it's set up that would change his mind. "It's always useless."
Many of LeSage's recommendations have been adopted into the new system, including the ability of a third party to file a complaint. "The floodgates haven't been opened," as some expected, says McNeilly. "It's just been a trickle."
Under the new system, police will continue to investigate the vast majority of complaints. The civilian agency will oversee decisions, has the power to review, and can take over an investigation. Police chiefs remain in charge of any discipline that is eventually meted out.
And police will continue to adjudicate police disciplinary hearings stemming from serious public complaints involving allegations of harassment, discrimination, breach of confidentiality, misconduct or conduct that might result in a criminal charge. This, despite an explicit recommendation by LeSage that a stable of independent, on-call adjudicators be developed for such occasions.
Spokespersons for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Attorney General, the ministries involved in policing and police oversight, confirmed no action has been taken on that front.
In a telephone interview, LeSage said he met and learned of many competent police officers who served as adjudicators during his consultations, but hopes the government follows through on the recommendation to enlist a cadre of independent adjudicators, if for no other reason but the optics. He suggests the Independent Police Review Director's office should be able to retain lawyers to serve when needed and serve as lone adjudicators or as part of a panel.
McNeilly hopes the new regime – geared toward better communication with complainants and timely investigation and resolution of complaints – will change minds and be seen as fair and impartial.
McNeilly, who is in his 50s and ran Legal Aid Manitoba for nine years, says other provinces are watching how the new Ontario complaints system will work.
"Nothing is etched in stone," he says, "so we can make changes to make it better if I have to."
Copyright (c) Toronto Star 2010
Jim Rankin,
Staff Reporter (11 April, 2010)
Gerry McNeilly and a friend cooked up the idea of an African Canadian Legal Clinic in his Mississauga kitchen in 1991, and 15 years later he helped found a Manitoba clinic that provides legal advice for abused women.
But if you picture him in an activist role as head of the Office of the Independent Police Review Director – Ontario's new civilian-run system for overseeing public complaints about police conduct and policy – think again.
"We're not here to get anybody," McNeilly said in a recent interview. "We're independent, and we're going to continue to act independently, and we're not taking sides and we're not here to do that.
"My role will be very, very neutral. I'm going to carry out my job in an extremely collaborative and consultative way, with all of the stakeholders."
The agency officially opened up for business in October, and it's taking complaints online, at its Bay St. office and by mail and fax, provided the incident occurred after the new system kicked into place and is within its mandate to oversee.
As of mid-March, 1,011 complaints had been filed province-wide, slightly more than was expected, says McNeilly. About half were filed directly with the civilian agency, with the rest being passed on by police services.
People can still file complaints at any police station. Police must then pass them on to the civilian agency within three days, which then decides how to classify the complaint and makes a call on whether to assign a civilian investigator, ask that another police service investigate, or pass it back to the originating service for self-investigation.
Of the complaints received so far, 416 were screened out because they either predated the new system, were deemed to be frivolous or vexatious, were better dealt with elsewhere, or were duplicates, incomplete or not about police officers.
One in every six complaints that has been accepted – and deals with officer conduct – has been kept by the agency for investigation by one of its own civilian investigators.
The Independent Police Review Director's office has 45 staff and will top out at 50. This includes 10 civilian investigators with the power to get search warrants, summon witnesses and order police to hand over relevant documents.
Four of the 10 investigators are former police officers. "I needed the experience and skills to do a police investigation – and the know-how," says McNeilly, who was appointed director by the Lieutenant Governor.
The office also has the power to delve into systemic issues. "One area I'm looking at already," says McNeilly, "is that there is a fair amount of incivility, and it has a lot to do with traffic stops, and that may be an area where part of my role is to provide education and training."
The soft-launch of the office last October caused barely a media ripple. It came nearly five years after former Justice Patrick LeSage delivered to the Ontario government a blueprint for a more transparent and efficient system to replace one that instilled little public confidence and, perhaps more important, would be better funded than the Police Complaints Commission, mothballed in 1996 by the Mike Harris government.
McNeilly expects the annual budget will be about $9 million. That's more than the budget for Ontario's civilian Special Investigations Unit – which probes police incidents involving serious injury and death – and double that of the old Police Complaints Commission.
So far, the new office hasn't been as active as police leaders thought it would be. "Frankly, I was expecting more of an impact," says Toronto police Chief Bill Blair. "But I'm confident Mr. McNeilly sort of will get his legs and take more active involvement."
"It is still early," says Ron Bain, executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. "And I think that we, and Mr. McNeilly, are still waiting to hear from people who are the harshest critics of the old system, as to whether the new system is in fact meeting their expectations."
McNeilly is indeed anxious to hear from those who were critical of the old system, the loudest of whom were fellow lawyers who had long advised clients not to even bother lodging a formal complaint.
Among them was Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby. He has had no experience with the new system but so far sees nothing in the way it's set up that would change his mind. "It's always useless."
Many of LeSage's recommendations have been adopted into the new system, including the ability of a third party to file a complaint. "The floodgates haven't been opened," as some expected, says McNeilly. "It's just been a trickle."
Under the new system, police will continue to investigate the vast majority of complaints. The civilian agency will oversee decisions, has the power to review, and can take over an investigation. Police chiefs remain in charge of any discipline that is eventually meted out.
And police will continue to adjudicate police disciplinary hearings stemming from serious public complaints involving allegations of harassment, discrimination, breach of confidentiality, misconduct or conduct that might result in a criminal charge. This, despite an explicit recommendation by LeSage that a stable of independent, on-call adjudicators be developed for such occasions.
Spokespersons for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Attorney General, the ministries involved in policing and police oversight, confirmed no action has been taken on that front.
In a telephone interview, LeSage said he met and learned of many competent police officers who served as adjudicators during his consultations, but hopes the government follows through on the recommendation to enlist a cadre of independent adjudicators, if for no other reason but the optics. He suggests the Independent Police Review Director's office should be able to retain lawyers to serve when needed and serve as lone adjudicators or as part of a panel.
McNeilly hopes the new regime – geared toward better communication with complainants and timely investigation and resolution of complaints – will change minds and be seen as fair and impartial.
McNeilly, who is in his 50s and ran Legal Aid Manitoba for nine years, says other provinces are watching how the new Ontario complaints system will work.
"Nothing is etched in stone," he says, "so we can make changes to make it better if I have to."
Copyright (c) Toronto Star 2010
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