Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

Chapter 12. Equipment
1. This chapter reviews the equipment issued to TPS officers, with a particular focus
on two relatively new tools: conducted energy weapons (CEWs), which are currently
provided to supervisors and specialty units such as the Emergency Task Force but not to
primary response officers; and body-worn cameras, which the TPS is currently testing in
a pilot program.
2. There are both benefits and drawbacks to providing police officers with new tools
such as these. On the one hand, police are better able to protect public and officer safety,
and to resolve a variety of incidents without lethal force, when they are equipped with a
wider range of less-lethal equipment. On the other hand, the risks associated with the
use and misuse of CEWs and other less-lethal weapons cannot be ignored. Similarly,
while body-worn cameras provide greater transparency and accountability regarding
police interactions with the public, they raise privacy concerns that must be addressed
before such cameras are issued to all officers.
I. The Current Situation
A. Equipment in use by the TPS
3. Pursuant to provincial requirements, all TPS officers are issued a baton, oleoresin
capsicum (OC) aerosol spray (often referred to as “pepper spray”), and a handgun. 1 TPS
procedures permit officers to use weapons of opportunity (that is, weapons found at a
scene rather than those issued to officers by the TPS) when their issued equipment is
unavailable or inappropriate to defend themselves or the public. 2 Handcuffs, leg
restraints, and other restraints authorized by the Chief of Police, such as plastic flexible
handcuffs, are permitted to control a person in custody who is violent, to transfer
prisoners and to prevent escape. 3
1. Provincial and TPS equipment standards
4. The Ontario government has issued guidelines regarding the use of weapons
issued to police officers that the TPS must incorporate into its procedures. 4 The
guidelines relating to batons, OC spray and firearms are discussed below.
1
Adequacy and Effectiveness of Polices Services, O. Reg. 3/99; Equipment and Use of Force, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 926 [Reg. 926];
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Policing Standards Manual: Use of Force Policing Standards
Guidelines (Ottawa, ON: Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, November 2013), ss. 10-11 [MCSCS, Use of
Force Guidelines].
2
Toronto Police Service, Use of Force and Equipment, Procedure 15-01 “Use of Force” (Toronto, ON: Toronto Police Service, 2013)
at 4 [TPS, “Procedure 15-01”].
3
Ibid.
4
Reg. 926, supra note 1. The Ontario Use of Force Model and TPS, “Procedure 15-01”, supra note 2, discussed in Chapter 10 (Use
of Force), also provide guidance to officers on the circumstances in which it might be appropriate to use different equipment to
contain a situation.
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