Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

Report should not simply fade from public view. I have therefore recommended certain
mechanisms to provide for that accountability.
C. Respect for the role of the Chief of Police
15. This Report deals extensively with the administration and operation of the TPS.
Any implementation program for the Report’s recommendations must recognize the
ultimate decision-making authority of the Chief of Police relating to these matters as
prescribed by section 41 of the Police Services Act, subject to oversight by the Toronto
Police Services Board within the scope of its jurisdiction.
16. Although I stress the importance of advisory input from stakeholders during the
implementation process, as well as the importance of partnerships with other
organizations as explained below, it is the Chief of Police who has ultimate responsibility
for the decisions made and I am not recommending that the chief’s formal responsibility
or authority be modified or constrained.
D. Respect for the role of the Toronto Police Services Board
17. This Report does not make recommendations dealing directly with the Toronto
Police Services Board (TPSB). At the same time, several of the recommendations in this
Report relate to TPS policies, and many if not most of the recommendations bring into
play, in one way or another, the objectives and priorities of the TPS, as well as related
resource implications.
18. Under the Police Services Act, the TPSB is responsible to establish policies for the
effective management of the TPS, and generally to determine, after consultation with
the Chief of Police, objectives and priorities with respect to police services in Toronto,
among other things.
19. The Board plays a key role in the democratic oversight of the police, and in
ensuring accountability of the police to the community that the police serves. Although I
do not make specific recommendations for Board involvement in overseeing the
implementation of this Report (because to do so would be beyond my mandate), the
Board will undoubtedly have an important oversight role to play.
E. Leadership
20. Meaningful implementation of reforms requires leadership, of more than one
type. There must be moral leadership for the reform initiative—including leadership by
example and by expectation-setting at all levels. There must be organizational
leadership in order to effect implementation—the creation of an infrastructure of
responsibilities and accountabilities so as to ensure that all necessary steps are in fact
taken. Finally, there must be institutional leadership. That is, for some of the
recommendations in this Report to be implemented, the TPS as an institution will need
to play an enhanced leadership role outside the organization itself.
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