Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
443
0
16
Sarnia
sarnia.selfip.org
For those of you living in the province of Ontario, you may or may not be familiar with the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services. The Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services ("OCCoPS"), is the regulatory body that oversees the application of the Police Services Act in the province of Ontario.

Any person having a complaint about the conduct of a police officer or department in the province of Ontario, is entitled to file a complaint under the Police Services Act. The complaint must be initially forwarded to the attention of the police chief of the department to which the complaint relates.

The police chief, upon receipt of a complaint under the Police Services Act must follow through on the complaint in accordance with Part V of the Act.

Any person that is not satisfied with the decision of the police chief, may request a review of the complaint by the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services within thirty days of being notified of the chief's decision.

I am doing some research on the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, and would like to hear from anyone that has had any dealings with this governmental organization. I would appreciate hearing stories of both good and bad experiences with OCCoPS. Thank you.
 

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
443
0
16
Sarnia
sarnia.selfip.org
No one hear has ever had a complaint against a police officer or service? No one has ever been the victim of police brutality, unwarranted searches or harsassment, police coverups or corruption, etcetera, etcetera?

Do the boys and girls in blue not do wrong in your community?

Locally, we've read of allegations of police brutality in our local newspapers. We've read of police officers that help their friends stalk people. Actually, the case of the police aiding stalkers was quite interesting. A police officer had abused police resources to provide a local firefighter with the addresses , etcetera of a girl and her boyfriend. The firefighter was later charged with terrorizing this woman and her boyfriend. Quite remarkable, really.

Personally, I have won a battle with the local police regarding their inappropriate collection and disclosure of personal information. I had to take the matter all the way to the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario, but at the end of the day, I prevailed.

I would be really interested to know about other issues regarding Canadian police officers and/or departments. It doesn't necessarily have to be a personal experience, even anecdotal information garnered from newspapers would be happily accepted.
 

humanbeing

Electoral Member
Jul 21, 2006
265
0
16
RE: Ontario Civilian Comm

I am sure that this organization, by the way it is.. organized, does relatively little to change anything itself.

Or as you have said, you had to wind up somewhere else completely different before you won. I think this organization, at best, gives citizens a feeling of empowerment, but very little real say in things. Then again, I've not looked into the organization deeply, but I know that's how these things often are..

Anyhow, if you put the sort of authority that we do into the hands of men (the police), it will follow that they (not all of them, but some or many) will abuse that authority in some way or shape.

In absolute terms, with the exception of speeding, I swear I see more police severly violating traffic laws than the rest of society combined. Of course, I'm always looking at what the cops are doing, and don't always pay attention to regular traffic. They are always going through red lights, which is so dangerous!

In relative terms, they must break the traffic laws more than anyone else. In my city, they are either going way too fast, or they purposely go a good bit below the speed limit even with good weather and road conditions (it's not the safest thing to do). It's not like they're looking out for some hooligan on the side of the road most of the time either, and it's usually when they're on an inside lane...

Anyhow, if this thing you were talking about was serious with regards to changing anything, and more people knew that and actually bothered to report, then the various police forces would be getting a complete overhaul on a regular basis.
 

humanbeing

Electoral Member
Jul 21, 2006
265
0
16
RE: Ontario Civilian Comm

That's the local police in my area, anyhow. As far as I can tell, they're similar in a few other Ontario cities as well as a city on Vancouver Island.

I'm less sure of the OPP or the RCMP. I'd hope they're a bit better.

edit-removed city name