Governance
Collection of Identifying Information in Certain Circumstances – Prohibition and Duties
Policy No. 01/16
Date Approved: September 21, 2016
Reporting Requirement: 1st quarter, YRP Annual Report
Legislative Authority: Collection of Identifying Information in Certain Circumstances – Prohibition and Duties”– Regulation 58/16 of the Police Services Act
Policy Statement
The Regional Municipality of York Police Services Board (“the Board”) is committed to ensuring that policing in York Region is undertaken in a manner that protects the human rights of every individual and that policies, procedures and practices that may be discriminatory, as well as behaviours that underlie and reinforce such practices, will not be tolerated.
1.Application
The following is the policy of the York Regional Police Services Board with respect to the “Collection of Identifying Information in Certain Circumstances – Prohibition and Duties”– Regulation 58/16 (the “Regulation”) of the Police Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.15 (the “Act”).
2.Definitions
a. “Annual Report” – means the annual report provided by the Chief of Police to a Board under section 31 of Ontario Regulation 3/99 (Adequacy and Effectiveness of Police Services) made under the Police Services Act.
b. “Collection of Identifying Information” - means the interactions and documentation of such by an officer regarding an “attempt to collect identifying information about an individual from the individual by asking the individual”; that is, attempt to collect identifying information by asking the individual, in a face-to-face encounter, to identify himself or herself or to provide information for the purpose of identifying the individual and includes such an attempt whether or not identifying information is collected as governed by Regulation.
c. “Community Interactions” – means on-duty police contact with member(s) of our community meant to:
i. foster positive relationships; and/or
ii. assist members of the public (without gathering personal information for an investigative or intelligence purpose).
d. "Database" – means the paper or electronic filing system under the control of the Chief of Police where identifying information about an individual collected by a police officer from the individual as described within O. Reg. 58/16 is stored.
e. “Prohibited grounds” – has the same meaning as that defined under the Ontario Human Rights Code and includes race, creed, colour, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, language or dialect spoken, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability.
f. “Racial/biased profiling”– means the practice of a member linking a person or persons to an unlawful incident or incidents based primarily or predominantly on prohibited grounds.
g. “Racialized group” – as defined in the most recent National Household Survey.
h. “Receipt” – means the document contemplated in section 7 of the Regulation.
i. “YCJA” – means the Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c.1.
General
3. The Chief of Police (the “Chief”) shall ensure that all attempts to collect identifying information about an individual from the individual are done in a manner that is consistent with the Regulation and, particularly, shall not be based on racial/biased profiling or be done arbitrarily.
4. The Chief shall develop and maintain procedures that comply with the duties and obligations imposed by the Regulation and this Policy to ensure there is direction and assistance provided to officers regarding the collection of identifying information.
5. The Chief shall ensure that there is a database created or adapted that allows for the recording, analysis and reporting required by the Regulation.
6. For the purpose of reporting to the Board as part of the Annual Report and for other analytical reasons as directed by the Board and/or the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the Chief shall establish:
a. age groups;
b. racialized groups;
c. aboriginal peoples;
d. neighbourhoods or areas; and
e. appropriately sized random sample of entries of identifying information for the purposes of section 9(6) of the Regulation conducted by resources with statistical and analytical expertise.
7. When establishing racialized groups as set out in 6(b), the Chief shall do so in a manner that allows the information required by the Regulation, namely, the number of attempts to collect information from individuals perceived by a police officer to be within a racialized group - as per paragraph 14(2)8 of the Regulation relating to the racialized groups to be comparable to the data referred to below in (a) and (b), as released by the Government of Canada on the basis of its most recent National Household Survey preceding the period covered by the Chief’s annual report:
a. for each derived visible minority group set out in the National Household Survey, the number of individuals who identified themselves as being within that group; and,
b. the number of individuals who claimed Aboriginal identity.
8. This Policy does not apply to lawful interactions in which a person is either detained or required to provide personal information pursuant to legislative authority.
Receipts to be Provided
9. Commencing no later than January 1st, 2017, the Chief shall have a procedure requiring that all police officers engaged in Collection of Identifying Information must:
a. offer to give the individual a receipt that provides a record of the attempt; and
b. give the individual such a receipt if the individual indicates that he or she wants it unless one of the exemptions in the Regulation applies (i.e., might compromise the safety of an individual or delay the officer from responding to another matter that should be responded to immediately, and is able to articulate the reason with details).
10. The receipt given to the individual shall include:
a. The officer’s name, identification and/or badge number, and the date, time and location of the attempted collection, serialized number;
b. Information about how to contact the Independent Police Review Director and the mandate of the Office of the Independent Review Director;
c. An explanation that an individual can request access to information about himself or herself that is in the custody or control of York Regional Police, under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, C.M.56; and
d. Information about how to contact persons to whom such a request may be given.
Any draft amendments to the receipt shall be shared with the Board for information and Board input.
Training
11. For the purposes of this Policy, commencing January 1st, 2017, the Chief shall ensure that every police officer who attempts to collect identifying information about an individual from the individual, or anyone who acts as the designate of the Chief for the purpose of reviewing the database, has successfully completed the required training within the previous 36 months.
Annual Report
12. An Annual Report on the collection of identifying information shall be provided by the Chief to the Board in the first quarter of the year commencing in 2018. The Report shall include all information to be reported as required by this Policy and in section 14 of the Regulation.
13. The contents of the Annual Report as it relates to the Collection of Identifying Information shall include, at a minimum, the following:
a. the number of attempted collections and the number of attempted collections in which identifying information was collected;
b. the number of individuals from whom identifying information was collected;
c. the number of times each of the following provisions was relied upon to not advise the individual of his/her right that he/she is not required to provide identifying information to the officer and/or the reason why the police officer is attempting to collect identifying information about the individual, namely, that i:
i. might compromise the safety of an individual (subsection 6(2)),
ii. would likely compromise an ongoing police investigation (clause 6(3)(a)),
iii. might allow a confidential informant to be identified (clause 6(3)(b)), and
iv. might disclose the identity of a person contrary to law, including the YCJA (clause 6(3)(c));
d. the number of times an individual was not given a receipt because the individual did not indicate that they wanted it;
e. the number of times each of the following clauses was relied upon to not offer or give a receipt, namely, that i:
i. might compromise the safety of an individual (subsection 7(2)(a)) and,
ii. might delay the officer from responding to another matter that should be responded to immediately (clause 7(2)(a));
f. the number of attempted collections from individuals who are perceived, by a police officer, to be within the following groups based on the sex of the individual:
i. male
ii. female
g. for each age group established by the Chief, the number of attempted collections from individuals who are perceived, by a police officer, to be within that age group;
h. for each racialized group established by the Chief for the purpose of this paragraph, the number of attempted collections from individuals who are perceived, by a police officer, to be within that racialized group;
i. a statement, based on an analysis of the information, as to whether the collections were attempted disproportionately from individuals within a group based on (a) the sex of the individual, (b) a particular age (c) racialized group, or (d) a combination of groups and, if so, any additional information that the Chief considers relevant to explain the disproportionate number of attempted collections;
j. the neighbourhoods or areas where collections were attempted and the number of attempted collections in each neighbourhood or area;
k. the number of determinations made by the Chief (or designate) as to whether the information entered into the database:
i. complied with limitations on collection set out in sections 5 and 9(4)(a) of the Regulation, and
ii. the results of the review(s), done at least once a year in accordance with section 9(6) of the Regulation.
l. the number of times, if any, members of the police force were permitted to access identifying information to which access must be restricted by virtue of one or more of the following:
i. for the purpose of an ongoing police investigation,
ii. in connection with legal proceedings or anticipated legal proceedings,
iii. for the purpose of dealing with a complaint under Part V of the Act or for the purpose of an investigation or inquiry under clause 25 (1) (a) of the Act,
iv. in order to prepare the Annual Report or a report required due to disproportionate collection (under section 15 of the Regulation),
v. for the purpose of complying with a legal requirement, or
vi. for the purpose of evaluating a police officer’s performance.
(a) the number of complaints (public and Chief’s) resulting from or related to the collection of identifying information along with the status or outcome of the complaints;
(b) the number of requests under the Municipal Freedom of Information and the Protection of Privacy Act relating to the collection of identifying information;
(c) the action taken when non-compliance with the procedures and Regulation was determined to have occurred.
14. The entire contents of the Annual Report as described in sections 13 in this Policy shall be included in the Annual Report of York Regional Police under section 31 of the Adequacy and Effectiveness Regulation.
Disproportionate Report
15. If disproportionate collection is identified based on an analysis of the information as to whether the collections were attempted disproportionately from individuals within a group based on (a) the sex of the individual, (b) a particular age (c) racialized group, or (d) a combination of groups, in addition to the statement required in the Annual Report, the Chief shall:
a. review the practices of the police service; and
b. prepare a report to the Board setting out the results of the review and his or her proposals, if any, to address the disproportionate attempted collection of information.
c. report on any action taken if non-compliance was determined to have occurred;
d. the report shall be provided to the Board within 60 days of the annual report as described in Section 12 of this Policy and a summary of the disproportionate report shall be included in the Annual Report of York Regional Police under section 31 of the Adequacy and Effectiveness Regulation.
16. The Board, upon receipt of the disproportionate report shall:
a. publish the report on its website in a manner that makes it available to the public free of charge and may make the report available to the public free of charge in any other manner that the board considers appropriate; and
b. consider the report and the proposals, if any, set out in the disproportionate report and consider whether to give directions under clause 31(1)(e) of the Act to direct the Chief and monitor his or her performance.
Retention, Access and Disclosure
17. The Chief shall have a Procedure dealing with retention, access and disclosure of identifying information that provides, at a minimum, as follows:
a. Identifying information entered into the database five or more years ago and identifying information gathered and/or entered into the database that is determined to have been collected in non-compliance with the Regulation shall have restricted access as follows:
i. no person shall have access to the information without the permission of the Chief or designate;
ii. a member may be permitted to access the information only if the Chief or designate is satisfied that access is needed,
I. for the purpose of an ongoing police investigation,
II. in connection with legal proceedings or anticipated legal proceedings,
III. for the purpose of dealing with a complaint under Part V of the Act or for the purpose of an investigation or inquiry under clause 25 (1) (a) of the Act,
IV. in order to prepare the Annual Report or a report required due to disproportionate collection (under section 15 of the Regulation),
V. for the purpose of complying with a legal requirement, or
VI. for the purpose of evaluating a police officer’s performance.
b. Access to, and disclosure of identifying information collected on or after January 1, 2017, including the retention of identifying information collected contrary to this Regulation, shall be restricted to the Chief or designate in order to comply with the Regulation and subject to the exemptions set out in 20(a) of the Regulation.
c. Nevertheless, identifying information collected contrary to the Regulation shall not be retained longer than is reasonably necessary to ensure the information is available in the circumstances in which access may be permitted under paragraph 2 of subsection 9 (10), being:
i. for the purpose of an ongoing police investigation,
ii. in connection with legal proceedings or anticipated legal proceedings,
iii. for the purpose of dealing with a complaint under Part V of the Act or for the purpose of an investigation or inquiry under clause 25 (1) (a) of the Act,
iv. in order to prepare the Annual Report or a report required due to disproportionate collection (under section 15 of the Regulation),
v. for the purpose of complying with a legal requirement, or
vi. for the purpose of evaluating a police officer’s performance.
18. The Chief shall ensure identifying information and records relating thereto that was collected before January 1, 2017 shall be accessed, retained and/or disclosed pursuant to the Chief’s Adequacy Standard mandated Procedure on the retention of records and should any of the data be determined to have been collected in violation of the law as it existed at the time of collection, its access and disclosure shall be subject to the restrictions in the Regulation.
Policy Consistent with Regulation
19. Where this policy is inconsistent with Regulation 58/16, the Regulation shall apply and any inconsistent provision shall be deemed to be modified to render it consistent.
YRP Procedures
20. The Chief shall file with the Board all YRP procedures related to this Policy and Ontario Regulation 58/16.
Back to Governance Policies