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Re Saf For course information: 905.845.7200 www.drivewiseoakville.com info@drivewiseoakville.com - 20 hrs in-class - 10 hrs HomeLink - Evenings & Weekends - Small class sizes - Use of interactive tools to keep students engaged - 10 hrs private in-car lessons - Flexible scheduling & pick up - Driver training simulation labs - Adverse Weather effects - Risk free environment - Focused on highway, urban & city driving February 20, 21, 27, 28 (9:30am-3:30pm) Saturday and Sunday (2 Weekends) March 13, 14, 15, 16 (9:30am-3:30pm) Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday (March Break) FEBRUARY 20TH HAS 5 SEATS REMAINING get registered get trained get driving get DriveWise 25 YEARS Proud to be a driver training service provider for the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Winter Games! hosen because of our C 25 YEARS in the industry, excellent instructors and state of the art driving simulators. 7 W ed n esd ay, Feb ru ary 10, 2010 O A K V ILLE B E A V E R w w w .o a k v ille b e a v e r.co m n By Tim Foran OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Provinces creation of an independent, civilian agency to oversee the investigation of public complaints against police has coincid- ed with an almost 100 per cent drop in such complaints in Halton. Halton Regional Police received only two public complaints in 2009 for incidents that took place after Oct. 19, the date the Provinces Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) assumed responsi- bility for managing such complaints from police chiefs. In comparison, Haltons police service received 68 public complaints last year for incidents that happened prior to the opening of the OIPRD, according to police statistics. The service received 55, 59 and 61 public complaints in the three preceding full years, respectively. Staff sergeants have reported the public isnt following through with the new com- plaints process, Inspector Carol Crowe, of Halton Regional Polices professional stan- dards bureau, told members of Haltons police services board at its last meeting. Whats important to the public, it seems, is that the service is aware of their concerns, said Crowe during a presentation on the OIPRD. Theyre reluctant to bring an outside agency into it. Previously, the police service accepted any written and signed complaint from members of the public and the chief then decided if an investigation was necessary, said Crowe. Now, complainants have to fill out a three-page form, included at the back of a 15-page step- by-step brochure available at police stations or online at www.oiprd.on.ca, which is sent to the OIPRD. The OIPRD, an arms-length agency of the Ministry of the Attorney General, then decides if an investigation is necessary and it will assign that task to the same police service, another police service or do it itself. It sounds to me like the government has bureaucratized a system, suggested Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh, the Progressive Conservatives critic to the Attorney General. Certainly we know when people are faced with bureaucratic forms, it impinges on their time. Chudleigh expressed concern that some members of the public, who would like to make complaints in an effort to improve the police service, might be dissuaded by the new system. I wonder what kinds of complaints are not being filed, he said. However, it might be too soon to know the ultimate reason why public complaints have dropped after the OIPRD opened, Chudleigh added. Alison Hawkins, a spokesperson for the OIPRD, said the agency hasnt heard any con- cerns about the complaints form from the public. The agency has received more than 500 public complaints about police in Ontario since it opened. Hawkins said the public has six months following an incident to file a complaint, so the 2009 statistics might not tell the whole story. The 68 complaints processed in 2009 under the old system by Haltons police serv- ice were for incidents prior to last Oct. 19, but the actual incidents might have taken place over a period of almost 16 months. The two complaints processed by the OIPRD in 2009 were for incidents over a period of only two months and 12 days, Hawkins noted. Lets wait and compare 10 months to 10 months, she said. December is the holiday season, she added, and people might have been thinking about other things than filing complaints. In the last two months of 2009, six com- plaints were filed against Haltons police serv- ice, four for incidents prior to Oct. 19, accord- ing to Crowe. In the same time period in 2008, the police service processed 11 com- plaints, though she didnt know how many were for incidents prior to, or following, Oct. 19. The OIPRD brochure states people who need help filling out the complaints form may be able to get it from a community organiza- tion or legal clinic. Halton police are also able to contact translators to assist the public. The drop in complaints after the opening of the OIPRD came as a surprise, Crowe told the police services board. The service had been warned to expect a 30 per cent increase in public complaints after the OIPRD opened. That increase had been expected due to greater allowances for who can complain, she explained. Under the old system, police serv- ices would only accept complaints from members of the public who had been directly affected by an officers or services alleged vio- lation of the Police Services Act. However, the OIPRD now accepts complaints from third parties who had no involvement in an inci- dent involving police. The OIPRD has accepted some com- plaints that seem to be far fetched even if they (complainants) seem to have no personal relationship to the affected member, Crowe said. She pointed to the example of a driver passing by an officer making an arrest at the side of the road. The driver subsequently filed a complaint that the officer was using exces- sive force during the arrest and the OIPRD decided to investigate. New agency sees drop in complaints about Halton cops It sounds to me like the government has bureaucratized a system. n Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh