The ''Police Services Act'' (french: Loi sur les services policiers; R.S.O. 1990, chapter P.15) ("the Act") is the law governing the conduct of police officers in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. In addition to regulating the conduct of police officers, the law also established the Special Investigations Unit, a civilian oversight agency which conducts independent investigations where police actions have resulted in the death or injury of a civilian. Enforcing the legislation is within the responsibility of the

Ministry of the Solicitor General The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canada, Canadian The Ministry, ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General for England and Wales, Solicitor General in the Great Britain, British system and was or ...

. The Act is usually invoked in investigation or charges against police officers for disreputable conduct in accordance with s. 2(1) ''Police Services Act'', Ontario Regulation 268/10.

History

The Act became law in 1990 to provide a legal means to define the role for all police forces in Ontario (excluding the

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

) and to create the Special Investigations Unit. It replaced the earlier ''

Police Act of Ontario The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

'', which was introduced in 1946, to define the role of all police forces in Ontario. Before the ''Police Act'' there were two statutes governing the role of police in the province: * '' Municipal Act of Ontario, 1944'' - The government decided to change the law once again in 2012 to provide more safer qualities within the government - governing smaller police forces in villages, towns and cities; it also allowed the contracting of the OPP for local policing needshttps://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:wjpd3PQMwigJ:www.sudburycrimestoppers.com/Crime%2520Files%2520Images/OPP%2520100%2520Years.pdf+Constables+Act+of+Ontario&hl=en&gl=ca * ''

Constables Act of Ontario, 1877 A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

'' - governing the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...

and county police services (with amendments in 1922); first introduced to allow the formation of constables who provided law and order in the towns and cities of early years of

(

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

and

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

). The Act is to be eventually repealed and replaced by the ''Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019'' (''CSPA''), which was passed part of the ''Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, 2019'' reform bill.''Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019'', SO 2019, c.1,

References

External links

Police Services Act
Ontario provincial legislation Law enforcement in Canada 1990 in Ontario 1990 in Canadian law {{Canada-law-stub

History

See also

References

External links