Quality Assurance

Police Quality Assurance Unit

Statutory Quality Requirements

Policing in Ontario is governed by the Police Services Act (PSA). According to the PSA and its regulations, police services shall be provided throughout Ontario in accordance with the following six principles:

1. The need to ensure the safety and security of all persons and property in Ontario;
2. The importance of safeguarding the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code;
3. The need for co-operation, between the providers of police services and the communities they serve;
4. The importance of respect for victims of crime and understanding of their needs;
5. The need for sensitivity to the pluralistic, multiracial and multicultural character of Ontario society;
6. The need to ensure that Police Forces are representative of the communities they serve.

Ministry Responsibilities

To ensure these principles are being strictly adhered to, the PSA empowers the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services to oversee and be responsible for police services in Ontario. This authority includes:

• monitoring police services to ensure that adequate and effective protection is being provided at both the municipal and provincial levels;
• monitoring police boards and services to ensure they comply with prescribed standards of service;
• developing programs to enhance professional police practices, standards and training;
• conducting a system of inspection and review of police services across Ontario;
• assisting in the co-ordination of police services;
• consulting with and advise police boards, community policing advisory committees, municipal chiefs of police, employers of special constables and police associations on matters relating to police and police services;
• developing, maintaining and managing programs and statistical records and conduct research studies in respect of police services and related matters;
• providing to police boards, community policing advisory committees and municipal chiefs of police information and advice respecting the management and operation of police services, techniques in handling special problems and any other information required by these organizations;
• issuing directives and guidelines respecting policy matters;
• developing programs for community-oriented police services;
• operating the Ontario Police College.

Police Services Advisors

Police Services Advisors perform a variety of duties and functions. Their clientele are the stakeholders within the policing community. Each advisor is assigned a portion of the province encompassing a number of police services. These areas of responsibility coincide with the zone structure used by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards.

Advisors assist their stakeholders with alternative policing proposals, costings (or other policing options), Police Service amalgamations, police-provider transitions, high-level adequacy reviews and in-depth inspections and audits of police services. They work with police services on an on-going basis to address outstanding issues as well as new concerns that may arise.