The first London Police Services Board meeting of the year was a busy one and hit a lot of points. The hot topics of the meeting were on whether to approve the sexual assault investigation policy, and random police checks.
After spending more time on reviewing the policy, the board finally approved the long awaited policy.
The new policy takes on a victim or survivor-centered approach while providing updated training for police. The training will include quicker responses to sexual assault complaints.
Member of the board, Vanessa Ambtman-Smith, has been an advocate for the policy ever since the outlining of the policy came about in 2017. She is impressed on how hard the board and city has been working on the policy to make it a reality.
“The work that has been put forward by this board and in partnership and conjunction with the communities throughout London is really significant.”
London is the first board to adopt the sexual assault investigation policy. Javeed Sukhera is another member of the board. He explains now that the board has approved the policy, there’s a sense to encourage other boards to follow in their footsteps.
“While we passed this policy celebrating the efforts to co-construct it, we’re also taking it to the extra level of sharing this knowledge and experience with other jurisdictions.”
Random carding was also brought up during the meeting. The board passed a motion of Justice Michael Tulloch’s review of the provinces regulations on street checks. Tulloch argued that random checks can be subject to bias and an investigative value when police have no clear reason to stop a person.
Vice chair of the meeting, Susan Toth, explained that this shouldn’t be an issue in London because London police are not trained to partake in random checks.
“Carding in London does not happen. It’s not acceptable. There’s a social harm to it. Anything that’s random and arbitrary is not only problematic legally but, there’s just no place for that in this community or anywhere else.”
Main concerns for London Police
London Police brought up many concerns throughout the meeting that they want to tackle in 2019. Some include:
- Sexual assaults
- Property crime
- Fraud
As Chief John Pare explains though, the issues London Police are most concerned about are weapon related.
“Weapons offences are probably our most concerning. They are up probably about twenty percent. Firearm seizures are up significantly over 2017.”
The next London Police Services Board meeting is planned for February 21st, to further discuss ways to crack down on some of these major issues in 2019.
WATCH BELOW: Officer Steve Williams speaks on how London Police will handle the Juno’s and St. Patrick’s Day all in the same weekend.
