Today, the Director issued a Notification Letter to all Ontario police services about issues arising from dynamic entries, or police departing from the “knock and announce” rule during the execution of search warrants at residences. This letter is available on the OIPRD website under the “Notifications” tab at www.oiprd.on.ca/news/notifications.
Notification letters proactively identify issues which, if left unaddressed, are likely to result in a loss of public trust in the police. The overall goal of this program is preventing policing issues from becoming systemic. For example, the Director issued a Notification Letter about strip search and Ontario police services responded positively by revising policies, procedures, and training to align with current caselaw and best policing practices.
In considering issues related to dynamic entries, the OIPRD reviewed case law, reviewed police policies on the execution of search warrants and consulted with several police services.
The Guideline for Publishing Notification Letters sets out the content of notification letters, the expectations of police services and police services boards, and highlights that the notifications letters and any responses from the police services and/or police services boards would be published on the OIPRD’s website.
