The framework may have changed, but local police are still facing few complaints.
South Simcoe Police Services Chief John Van Dyke presented the service’s semi-annual report on complaints covering July 1 through Dec. 31, 2024, as part of the police services board meeting at the South Division station in Bradford on Feb. 12.
That showed a total of 11 conduct complaints, as calls for service in the second half of 2024 increased to 15,504 from 13,940 over the same time in 2023.
Of those complaints, eight were screened out. Of the remaining three, one was withdrawn, another was resolved informally and another was investigated but found to be unsubstantiated.
“It really just tells me our officers are out there, they’re acting professionally and they’re doing their job professionally,” Van Dyke said.
That continues the trend from the same time last year when six of seven conduct complaints were screened out.
Similar to the prior Police Services Act, under the Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA), which came into effect on April 1 last year, a member of the public can file a complaint about the conduct of an officer. That’s now filed with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA) and now also for the conduct of a special constable.
Similar to the director of the prior Office of Independent Police Review Directorate (OIPRD), the LECA director then reviews the complaint and determines whether to proceed or screen it out for being frivolous, vexatious, made in bad faith or if it is made more than six months after the incident occurred.
There was also one internal complaint initiated by the chief about officer conduct, which actually resulted from an issue in 2023 and was still outstanding at the end of 2024, but was withdrawn in early 2025.
There were also two prior complaints which had been investigated and substantiated which were awaiting the police tribunal, but have since been resolved.
Unlike under the old Act, complaints about the policies or services of police are now investigated by the inspector general, and complaints about the policies of the board or the procedures established by the chief are now referred by the inspector general directly to the board for review and response.
According to the report, there were no policy/service complaints.
“We can’t stop complaints from happening, but we try to offer exceptional service to our communities,” the chief said. “We’re not perfect, but I think we’re doing the job to the best of our abilities.”
The CSPA also sets out the relevant actions and penalties for when misconduct is proven and the decision of the chief or board can be appealed to the Ontario Police Adjudication and Arbitration Commission (OPAC).
There was also one Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigation — the same amount as in the first half of 2024.
That related to the Aug. 15 incident when four officers responded to a 911 call on Shoreview Drive in Innisfil, and two 19-year-old men reportedly assaulted officers and attempted to hit them with a motor vehicle. Officers responded by firing their pistols and the driver was killed.
In their Dec. 16 report, the SIU determined there was “no reasonable grounds” to believe the officers committed a criminal offence.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers and some other officials that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.