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One Year After Broken Trust: Report on Implementation

02/26/2020, by: OIPRD Admin

Toronto – Today the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), releases its report, One Year After Broken Trust: Report on Implementation. The report reviews the Thunder Bay Police Service’s (TBPS) progress on the implementation of the recommendations made in the OIPRD’s systemic review, Broken Trust: Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service (further referred to as, ‘Broken Trust’). Broken Trust found that systemic racism exists at an institutional level in TBPS which affected the investigations into the deaths of Indigenous people.

This report is the culmination of engagement discussions with TBPS, Thunder Bay Police Services Board, Indigenous leadership, the Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC), the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OFPS), community organizations, and the Indigenous Justice Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General. The report reviews the 44 recommendations made in Broken Trust and provides an update on the progress made by the service, with the Interim Director’s commentary regarding whether the changes are satisfactory. The report determines the following:  

  • TBPS has started work on many recommendations, including, but not limited to:
    • The creation of the independent, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team, which started the reinvestigations into the nine cases identified as problematic in Broken Trust
    • The promotion of information sharing through the establishment of protocols with other police services, including Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service and Anishinabek Police Service
    • Diversifying its staff and revamping the Aboriginal Liaison Unit
    • The reorganization of Criminal Investigations Branch and the establishment of a Major Crimes Unit
    • Collaborating with the OCC and the OFPS regarding the implementation of the Thunder Bay Death Investigations Framework
    • The completion of the in-car and body-worn camera pilot project and TBPS recommendation to the Thunder Bay Police Service Board to proceed with full deployment
    • Continued work on an organizational change project, which has the potential of initiating systemic change within the service
  • Many recommendations are not complete and will require more time, continued effort and commitment of financial resources on the part of TBPS and the Thunder Bay Police Services Board.
  • TBPS will continue to work on meeting the recommendations, which will be publicly reported to the Thunder Bay Police Service Board and the OIPRD.
  • The OIPRD will continue to monitor the work completed by TBPS to implement the recommendations of Broken Trust.  

OIPRD FACTS

  • The OIPRD is an independent, arm’s length agency of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.
  • The OIPRD receives, manages and oversees public complaints about Ontario’s municipal, regional and provincial police. 
  • The Police Services Act gives the Independent Police Review Director the power to conduct systemic reviews. The purpose of a systemic review is not to find individual misconduct, but to identify and address larger issues of systemic importance and make recommendations to improve policing.