Thank you, sir. I do have a prepared statement, if I may read through it.
Mr. Chair, vice chairs, committee members, good morning. Thank you very much for the invite here this morning.
I am Chief Superintendent Gary Couture, commander of the east region, field operations of the Ontario Provincial Police.
Since 1909 the OPP has had a long and proud history of ensuring the safety and security of the people of Ontario. The Ontario Provincial Police fulfills its mandate as one of North America's largest deployed police services, with more than 6,200 uniformed officers, 2,800 civilian employees, and 850 auxiliary officers. I understand this is of interest to this committee.
The OPP's mission is policing excellence through our people, our work, and our relationships. This guides each OPP member toward achieving the OPP's overall goal of safe communities and a secure Ontario.
The OPP provides core policing services to 323 of Ontario's 444 municipalities. Of these 323 municipalities, 151 are policed under contract, with the remainder policed on a non-contractual basis.
Policing is conducted through our provincial headquarters, five regional headquarters, one divisional headquarters, 165 detachments, numerous investigative and intelligence offices, four provincial communication centres, the OPP Academy and in-service training facilities, forensic identification units, and other facilities.
Both the obligation of the municipalities to provide core police services, and the methods by which a municipality may opt to have these services delivered, are outlined for us in section 5 of Ontario's Police Services Act. If a municipality does not provide police services by one of the methods outlined, the Ontario Provincial Police is required to provide police services to that municipality.
Under Ontario's Police Services Act, the OPP is further mandated to deliver a wide array of specialized services, including criminal investigative and technical expertise, and leadership, not only to OPP communities but also as support to all municipal and first nations police agencies across Ontario.
The OPP utilizes a variety of diverse positions to ensure an efficient, cost-effective service delivery, while operating within the limits and guidelines of the Ontario Public Service Act, Ontario Police Services Act, and current collective agreements.
I'm here to outline some specific roles filled by members of the OPP, as requested by this committee. These include special constables, court officers, court security, and auxiliary members. I will describe in greater detail the respective general roles and responsibilities as well as the legislative limits of their respective authority.
Special constables are classified by the OPP as bailiffs. They constitute a unique category in law enforcement. Unlike police officers, whose duties have been established by legislation, special constables do not have specific statutory authorities. Under subsection 53(2) of the Ontario Police Services Act, the commissioner of the OPP is authorized to appoint special constables to act for the period, area, and purpose that the commissioner considers expedient, subject to the approval of the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
As a result, individuals are provided limited peace officer and/or police officer powers, as defined in the appointment. The appointment is utilized for a variety of positions to provide the necessary authorities to perform their duties. The specialized and focused roles of those appointed as special constables involve law enforcement, security, and investigation services, closely related to the duties of police officers.
To ensure that the public trust and professionalism related to the appointment by the commissioner is maintained, anyone who is appointed as a special constable is subject to strict accountability outlined in their conditions of employment. Subsection 53(4) of Ontario's Police Services Act clearly states that a special constable should not be employed by a police force to perform on a permanent basis, whether part-time or full-time, all the usual duties of a police officer.
Within the OPP, special constable status is primarily awarded to these positions: offender transport, court security, and court officer civilian positions.
As the name implies, members of the offender transport unit, provincially and regionally, are responsible for the physical movement of offenders between OPP detachments, municipal police services, regional jails, and court locations. These uniformed special constables receive extensive training to ensure their own safety, public safety, and the safety of the offenders. This category can further be broken down into the following areas: offender transport, provincial; offender transport, regional; and offender transport, within municipal contracts.
Court officers are responsible for managing the files, making notifications for court appearances, updating databases after court appearances, DNA sampling, processing court briefs, and organizing offender transportation. This role is filled by a combination of regular uniformed members and special constables. The court officer is the face of the local detachment within the court environment in relation to all judicial and administrative matters.
In terms of court security, the OPP has a mandate under section 137 of Ontario's Police Services Act to ensure “the security of judges and of persons taking part in or attending” court “proceedings”where the OPP is a primary police service. This also includes the security of those in custody at the court facility.
A local committee establishes the appropriate level of security, and the OPP uses a combination of regular uniformed members and special constables to meet these requirements. In communities policed by the OPP under contract, individual municipalities are required to pay the costs associated with this court security, which affords opportunities for enhanced special constable positions within the parameters of OPP contracts. In smaller, non-contractual municipalities, the requirement for court security has resulted in financial and operational pressures for the OPP.
On the OPP auxiliary program, the Ontario Provincial Police supports a contingent of dedicated civilian volunteers through its auxiliary program, which also receives its mandate from Ontario's Police Services Act. The mission statement of the auxiliary program is:
To provide fully trained volunteer Auxiliary members to assist in the delivery of traffic safety and community-based crime prevention initiatives and; to perform police duties only in special circumstances, including an emergency that the police officers of the OPP are not sufficiently numerous to deal with.
An executive committee comprised of senior auxiliary officers, commissioned officers, and representation from the OPP Commissioned Officers Association and the Ontario Provincial Police Association administers the provincial auxiliary program.
Members of the OPP auxiliary have no police authority or power and must rely on the same arrest provisions afforded regular citizens. Ontario's Police Services Act does, however, provide for instances when an auxiliary member may have the authority of a police officer. This can occur in an emergency situation where the OPP requires additional strength to cope with a special occasion or event.
Being a volunteer with the OPP auxiliary allows citizens an opportunity to experience the excitement and challenges as well as the routine and the uneventful in any tour of duty in police functions.
Members of the OPP auxiliary are not paid but are reimbursed for travel and meal expenses.They include people from diverse backgrounds and civilian occupations. Their duties in assisting front-line officers are extensive and may include ground security at major events, doing surveys, seat belt clinics, assisting with RIDE spot-check initiatives, assisting at safety displays and presentations, foot and road patrols with regular members, accompanying regular members on marine and snow vehicle patrols, and ceremonial duties.
OPP auxiliary members are not used to replace regular members in any duties. Training for auxiliary personnel must occur to a level to provide necessary skills to safely fulfill the requirements of their mandate under the Police Services Act. And they participate within those duties that enhance community policing efforts, crime prevention programs, and public service as opposed to direct police service delivery. Our auxiliary members must always be under the direct supervision of uniformed OPP members.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. I'd be happy to answer any questions.