You may have read today’s editorial in the Toronto Star regarding the issue of suspension with pay for police officers. I blogged about this in February and was pleased to see this issue finally starting to get the mainstream attention that it so rightly deserves.
Let me explain.
Under the Police Services Act, a police officer cannot be suspended without pay unless s/he is convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
I understand the philosophical reason that the Act is so restrictive. I do not, however, understand why this provision needs to be so broad in scope that an officer cannot be suspended without pay even when charged with the most serious acts and why the protection applies even when the officer's action occurred off the job.
For police services boards, who are responsible for policy regarding policing, including that related to the employment of police officers and who have responsibility to seek legislative changes to the Police Services Act, this is a very serious issue.
Last year, the Toronto Police Services Board yet again wrote to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services recommending that subsection 67(1) of the Act be amended to allow police officers to be suspended without pay in certain limited circumstances. The issue has been raised with all political parties in the last two years, during hearings by the Ontario Legislature's Standing Committee on Justice Policy related to amendments to the Act.
The Ontario Association of Police Service Boards and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police also want these necessary amendments to the Act to reflect today's societal expectations of police conduct.
The only groups that vehemently support the continuation of suspension with pay under all circumstances are the Toronto Police Association and the Police Association of Ontario.
It is time that the Police Services Act is amended to allow for suspension without pay in certain circumstances. Perhaps increased public attention and the resulting pressure on legislators will be what it takes to finally get the required amendments.
