Ombudsman launches investigation into Toronto police’s Vulnerable Persons Registry

A Toronto Police Services logo is shown at headquarters, in Toronto, on Friday, August 9, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

For the first time ever, the city’s ombudsman is investigating the Toronto Police Service (TPS).

On Tuesday, Kwame Addo and his team at Ombudsman Toronto announced that they’re independently reviewing the “clarity and meaningfulness” of Toronto police’s communications to the public about its Vulnerable Persons Registry (VPR). Specifically, the investigation aims to determine if the way TPS shares details about its database is “adequate and fair.”

As part of this probe, Ombudsman Toronto will look at the purpose of the registry, its registration, verification, and engagement process, and Toronto police’s use of individuals’ information.

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People who have had experience with or are on Toronto police’s VPR are invited to contribute to the investigation.

“Last year, Toronto Police officers responded to more than 30,000 calls involving individuals experiencing mental health challenges and emotional distress. The Vulnerable Persons Registry was a tool created to give information to Toronto Police that will allow them to de-escalate these encounters better,” Addo said in a Dec. 19 news release.

“The Toronto Police Service has a responsibility to serve all people fairly – especially when serving individuals who are in crisis and experiencing emotional distress. I am launching an investigation to ensure the Vulnerable Persons Registry is meeting that vital standard of fairness.”

Vulnerable Person Registries are voluntary databases typically set up by police services to provide first responders with important and relevant information about vulnerable individuals in the community.

In 2014, former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci recommended in his report on TPS’ encounters with people in crisis that the force establish a VPR.

Toronto Police Service, which defines a vulnerable person as someone who “due to medical, cognitive, mental health, or physical conditions, may exhibit patterns of behaviour that pose a danger to themselves,” launched its database in Dec. 2019.

All information found in TPS’s Vulnerable Persons Registry has been voluntarily provided by the individual or someone with legal authority over them. It includes specific behaviours police may encounter when interacting with that person as well as recommended de-escalation strategies.

Ombudsman Toronto, in a news release, said that the goal of this registry is to provide frontline officers with context about any personal behaviours they may observe when responding to calls for persons in crisis or interacting with vulnerable individuals.

This Ombudsman Toronto investigation stems from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ombudsman, TPS, and Toronto Police Services Board that gives it the authority to review the fairness of Toronto police’s procedures and programs.

With the goal of creating “systemic improvements and fairer policing in Toronto,” the Ombudsman’s office said that it would be focusing its review on TPS activities that have a “demonstrated public interest, a high level of contact with the public, and the potential to improve the fairness of police services to the public.”

To avoid duplication and conflict with other oversight bodies, Ombudsman Toronto said that it does not have the authority to investigate individual complaints about the Toronto Police Service or how it handles complaints. It also cannot review the conduct of individual officers.

Ombudsman Toronto is an independent, impartial office that operates at arm's length from the City of Toronto.