[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[1:25] Test, test, test, test.
[31:55] Good afternoon, Kirsten.
[32:00] I guess start over again. We'll be here all day if I have to do that. Good afternoon, Kirsten. Can you please confirm we have quorum?
[32:08] Through you chair. We do have quorum.
[32:11] I will not call a meeting door to our meetings. Our webcast live temporarily archived on the Board's website.
[32:18] Presentations and reports considered at today's meeting are available on our website.
[32:23] And members of the public may contact the Executive Director to acquire documents in an alternate format.
[32:29] a reminder to everyone that electronic devices should be switched to the non-autable function during our meetings.
[32:41] I would like to do the land acknowledgement now.
[32:47] Thank you, and three you chair.
[32:49] And I'm just going to share something that, you know, our commitment as a board to continuously learning on our path to reconciliation.
[32:56] You know, today we're going to switch up and also share a resource that has helped with the land acknowledgement today.
[33:00] So there's really great resources called nativeland.ca and they have an actual, and some directions on how can we craft meaningful land
[33:11] acknowledgments, starts with recognizing our position to this land, acknowledging right the land that we're on.
[33:21] But also a statement to our intentions and our actions.
[33:24] So let's begin with that.
[33:27] So we recognize our position as settlers on the land here.
[33:31] Now it's the city of Hamilton.
[33:32] The traditional territories of the eerie here on Wendette,
[33:36] a Nishinaabe, Houdina Shone, and Mississaugas
[33:38] of the new credit.
[33:40] This land is covered by the dish with one spoon
[33:43] womp and agreement.
[33:44] And agreement to peacefully share the lands
[33:46] and the resources around the Great Lakes.
[33:48] This land is also covered by the between the Lake
[33:52] purchases of 1792 between the crown and the missisogas of the new credit.
[33:58] And our intentions of recognizing this land is how we perceive or how I perceive, you know,
[34:06] one of the central steps in towards reconciliation, right, is recognizing the folks and
[34:12] the people and the heritage of the land.
[34:15] And our intention is that, you know, and the actions that I like to take forward is learning
[34:19] and meaningfully incorporating some of the lessons
[34:22] from our indigenous colleagues and folks in this area.
[34:28] So the one that is hitting home for me today
[34:31] is the concept of neutrality, right?
[34:34] That, especially with the just one,
[34:36] it's been more onpening agreements
[34:37] that not only do we share all the resources around these lands,
[34:42] because it's the right thing to do,
[34:44] but because our survival is interdependent.
[34:48] It is, it is between eachality that we will, the only way for it is neutrality, and so that, I think, given the topics on the agenda today,
[34:59] bears residents with me. Thank you.
[35:02] Thank you.
[35:04] At this time, I'd like everyone to join me in a moment of silence, as we honor the memory of three fallen officers who dedicated their lives to serving and protecting their communities.
[35:15] Ontario Police Constable Tyrone By Lee, Toronto Police Service Constable Mark
[35:25] Pinazato and Montreal Police Service Constable Mojavad Ben Rendon lost their lives
[35:34] in the line of duty. These offers officers answering a calling that demanded courage,
[35:41] commitment, sacrifice, and remind us of the risk of police officers face each day in performing
[35:47] their duties.
[35:49] As we reflect, we hold their family, friends, and colleagues in our thoughts, if you would
[35:55] please stand and join me in a moment of silence.
[36:25] Thank you.
[36:30] This last month's been a tough month to be a police officer, and to recognize the sacrifices
[36:38] This is the youth people make for us every day.
[36:43] I know I can speak for myself.
[36:45] I want to say thank you.
[36:47] I know I watched the news coverage last night on CH.
[36:52] And when I saw one of my former players,
[36:55] Jay Penis Auto, speaking about his brother,
[37:01] it brought me to tears.
[37:04] So I get it, and you guys got a tough job,
[37:07] and many are grateful and today, maybe a bit more than every other day, but thank you for what you do.
[37:19] In order to keep our meetings running smoothly and to be fair to everyone, I'd like to remind the members that there is a five-minute speaking limit.
[37:26] I've been lenient in speaking time.
[37:30] We'll be adhering to our procedural of bylaw. For those not familiar with our bylaw, see section
[37:36] 19, eight, only eight, and 19.10. No member shall speak more than once on the same question, or
[37:45] motion, below the approval of the board, and no member shall speak to the same question or motion, or
[37:51] in reply for more than five minutes at a time. Recognizing that sometimes the answers could
[37:56] up most of your time or that will be certainly be taken into consideration. It's all part and
[38:00] parcel of the deal right.
[38:03] So,
[38:05] Cursion is there any changes through the agenda?
[38:08] Through you chair, there are two changes to the agenda. We have an amended recommendation
[38:13] item 9.1. That's the 2025 year-end report use of force. There was an added appendix B. And
[38:21] then we have revised recommendation item 9.3, which is the 2025 annual report minor revisions
[38:28] to the final copy. Thank you.
[38:30] Okay, I'm going to get a mover.
[38:36] Robin.
[38:39] Seconder. Sorry. Remember Padilla.
[38:44] Any discussion on the matter? Yes.
[38:49] Thank you. Through you chair. I'd like to add a statement of my resignation.
[38:55] shorter than the land acknowledgement I just remarked on.
[39:00] So, you know, I've served with a citizen appointee on this board since November 2023, and I'm the first citizen appointee to be nominated by a groundbreaking collaborative committee of both diverse citizens and city counselors.
[39:13] It courageous attempt from our city to redefine its relationship between the Hamilton police and the public it serves.
[39:22] And I entered this role deeply aware that large segments of our community harbor a profound
[39:28] mistrust of law enforcement.
[39:31] And I hope that I could bring both accountability and transparency to this role to better
[39:35] address the hate in our city, and to work towards finding common ground, right, building bridges
[39:40] between the widening divides in our city.
[39:44] But that hope has been extinguished.
[39:47] I've experienced this persistent mistreatment from colleagues, including ongoing commentary
[39:51] that is exclusionary, patronizing, and focused on my identity.
[39:56] But my personal treatment is not an isolated issue, instead it reflects how this governing
[40:00] body views and treats marginalized communities in Hamilton.
[40:03] This fort is actively presided over a profound failure of institutional oversight, including
[40:07] a disregard of the importance of violations of our charter rights, a denial of our community
[40:13] realities and unaddressed systemic disparities with visibility that is afforded by this
[40:21] comes responsibility to model respectful, collaborative, transparent, and accountable governance.
[40:27] And I have a responsibility to maintain public trust and not just in policing, but an integrity
[40:31] of this board and the legitimacy of its actions.
[40:34] I refuse to continue validating my continued mistreatment in these failures of governance
[40:38] to my silence.
[40:40] And so today, nearly three years into my term on this board, is it is with profound sadness
[40:46] and disappointment that I must announce my resignation as a citizen appointee to the Hamilton police services board effective immediately.
[40:55] I'm grateful to all of the community who has stood behind me and supported me throughout that my time on this board.
[41:02] I would not be here today if it were not for the community that has backed me.
[41:07] And so, you know, I've kept my comments brief in light of, you know, the board chairs, you know, remarks, but, you know, at this point I reckon I, I, I, I welcome any members for the press and any members of the community who stands behind me to meet and outside for my full remarks.
[41:27] Thank you.
[41:42] Is there any other discussion on the motion?
[41:45] So,
[42:00] we don't have quorum now,
[42:07] and this being new to me, that means we can't proceed any further
[42:10] until member spot of forks comes or, probably
[42:22] a good plan.
[42:24] So, I'm going to propose that we recess for
[42:30] 15 minutes and then we'll come back.
[1:10:00] Thank you.
[1:10:06] I'll move through the agenda as we've started it. And remember, St. Jean and moved second member of approval, seconded the update in the agenda. We had some discussion. Is there any further discussion? All favor?
[1:10:27] Proved.
[1:10:30] Are there any declaration conflict of interest by the members?
[1:10:35] Seeing none?
[1:10:36] Member of the month, I'll call on Chief Bergen to introduce the presenter for a member of the month.
[1:10:42] Thank you chair and through the chair I'd like to call upon Inspector Greg Doer to introduce the member of the month.
[1:10:54] Good afternoon, please service board chair, please service board members.
[1:10:58] Chief Bergen, Deputy Chief Diodati, Acting Deputy Chief Abbott.
[1:11:03] Senior officers, House of Police Service members and members of the public.
[1:11:06] My name is Greg Doer and I'm the chair of the House of Police Service Awards Committee.
[1:11:09] Today, I join you to share the member of the month award, which celebrates extraordinary
[1:11:14] acts by Hamilton Police Service members and is my honor and pleasure to announce the
[1:11:19] March member of the month, Acting Sergeant Mark Steeds.
[1:11:22] If you could join me down here, please mark.
[1:11:27] In February 26, Acting Sergeant Mark Steeds demonstrated outstanding professionalism, leadership,
[1:11:33] and life-saving skills during two separate medical emergencies, exemplifying the highest standards
[1:11:38] of Hamilton Police Service.
[1:11:40] On February 2, well, patrolling near the Salvation Army on York Boulevard, he and Cadet
[1:11:45] Miranda Anderson encountered an individual in medical crisis following suspected overdose.
[1:11:52] Despite numerous unsuccessful mercantile attempts acting sergeant seeds immediately took
[1:11:56] over chest compressions, while Cadet Anderson managed communications and seen control.
[1:12:02] He continued CPR until paramedics arrived and then assisted EMS as they prepare the
[1:12:07] for a defibrillation, ultimately helping restore a faint pulse
[1:12:11] before transport to hospital.
[1:12:14] Later that month on February 23, acting sergeant's
[1:12:17] feeds and cadet Owen Simpson responded to a collapse mail
[1:12:19] inside a Metro grocery store on Barton Street East.
[1:12:23] Acting sergeant's feeds provided ventilations
[1:12:25] with a bag and valve mass while cadet Simpson
[1:12:28] performed continuous chest compressions,
[1:12:30] maintaining coordinated CPR until paramedics delivered
[1:12:33] a defibrillator shock and assumed care.
[1:12:35] In both instance, acting sergeant seats remained calm, decisive and highly effective, demonstrating
[1:12:41] exceptional teamwork, medical proficiency and dedication to community safety.
[1:12:47] His actions directly contributed to giving both patients the best possible chance for survival.
[1:12:53] Acting sergeant marks seats, thank you for demonstrating how the police service values
[1:12:56] the professionalism and dedication.
[1:12:59] Your efforts made a difference.
[1:13:01] Thank you for all that you do and congratulations on being the March number of the month.
[1:14:26] Thank you.
[1:14:28] I'll give the chairs verbal updated this point in time from June 1st through 3rd members,
[1:14:35] Padurolo and Spada Fora and myself executive director Stevenson attended the police
[1:14:40] Governor and sub-antirio annual spring conference in Niagara Falls.
[1:14:44] Vice Chair Paul's attended the Interval House
[1:14:47] Drives for Lives Golf Tournament on June 3.
[1:14:51] Vice Chair Paul's also attended the Hammond Leadership
[1:14:54] Fair Breakfast on June 4.
[1:14:57] Vice Chair, Charles.
[1:15:00] Members, about a four executive director, Stevenson, and I attended the Hammond Police Service Spring Badd's
[1:15:06] ceremony on June 4. On June 15, I attended a meeting in the Inspector General Holden, Toronto, along
[1:15:12] with board chairs and chiefs concerning the growth of anti-Semitism and hate-based incidents
[1:15:19] across Ontario. Vice chair Pauls, attended the Hammond Police, we tried to ease golf tournament
[1:15:25] on June 22nd. I attended the next mid-dinner on June 22nd.
[1:15:36] May I please have a mover and
[1:15:38] a second to receive the chair's report, moved by member St. Jeans, second by member
[1:15:44] Padurollo, any discussion? All in favor, posed, carried.
[1:15:54] I'll call on the chief to
[1:15:55] provide us update.
[1:15:58] Thank you chair and through the chair.
[1:16:01] On June 22nd, we opened the downtown
[1:16:03] substation at two King Street West in Jackson Square,
[1:16:08] creating a dedicated police presence in the heart
[1:16:10] of the city's downtown core.
[1:16:12] The new substation responds directly to its concerns,
[1:16:16] raised by downtown businesses,
[1:16:18] residents, service providers, and community partners
[1:16:20] about safety, visibility, and the need for stronger
[1:16:23] connections in the core.
[1:16:25] As this board is aware, Hamilton Police hosted the downtown safety summit, bringing together a broad cross section of downtown partners to discuss the challenges facing the area and identify practical steps to support a safer, more vibrant and welcoming downtown.
[1:16:40] One of the action items identified through that process was exploring the feasibility of a downtown police substation.
[1:16:48] 3,500 and 4 square-foot substation will be staffed using current Hamilton police resources.
[1:16:55] As chief, I will not be coming to this board with a request for additional dollars.
[1:17:01] The city of Hamilton is leasing this face for $1 per year over the next two years from Jackson Square.
[1:17:07] Capital and operating costs are also being covered by the city.
[1:17:12] We heard clearly from businesses and residents that are stronger, please present downtown matters.
[1:17:17] The new sub-station will be open from Monday to Saturday, 8am-6pm, there will be one officer
[1:17:23] permanently stationed on site with two additional officers conducting patrols in the surrounding
[1:17:29] area.
[1:17:30] This deployment will be supported by core patrol, M-SERT, the social navigator, and cabin
[1:17:35] engagement team and youth engagement team.
[1:17:38] Members of the community are welcome to visit the sub-station and can buzz in through the front
[1:17:42] entrance.
[1:17:43] We're also committed to utilize this space for community meetings.
[1:17:48] The substation puts our officers closer to the people we serve, increases visibility, and
[1:17:53] strengthens our work with partners to keep downtown Hamilton's safe, vibrant, and a welcoming
[1:17:59] place for everyone.
[1:18:01] Also a product of the Community Safety Summit, we hosted a meeting last week with public
[1:18:06] prosecution service of Canada.
[1:18:08] The PPSC handles prosecution for federal statutes such as charges under the controlled drug and substance act, including trafficking in narcotics.
[1:18:19] We know many serious cases notably involving the trafficking of fentanyl have been stayed or withdrawn likely related to a billing cap imposed by the government on contract federal prosecutors.
[1:18:30] We will continue to advocate for a full-time prosecutor in Hamilton.
[1:18:35] Based on the tenure of this meeting, there is hope.
[1:18:38] There may be immediate assistance available in our collective delivery of the principles of Bill C5.
[1:18:45] The discussion was constructive and focused on solidifying our partnership to address our common concerns regarding the harmful impact of drug trafficking addictions within Hamilton.
[1:18:56] We recently received a letter from the solicitor General's office,
[1:19:00] commanding Hamilton Police on our use of E intake.
[1:19:04] E intake expedites the process for law enforcement officers to file criminal charges electronically,
[1:19:11] and streamlines the information shared between police,
[1:19:14] other enforcement agencies, and court in real time.
[1:19:18] It also allows the justice of the peace to enter there in their decisions,
[1:19:22] sign documents digitally and request additional information from law enforcement officers online.
[1:19:29] Hamilton Police Service achieved a 99% upload success rate for April of 2026 using the integrated
[1:19:37] court offense network or what we call icon.
[1:19:41] During April 2026, Hamilton submitted 584 charge packages containing 635 court information.
[1:19:50] of those submissions 626 information were successfully uploaded to the ICONS system.
[1:19:57] The court's record management system resulting in an exceptional 99% success rate.
[1:20:05] Charge packages that contain errors or deficiencies, such as an incorrect appearance details
[1:20:10] or innate detail, notice will automatically be unloaded to the ICON instead of require
[1:20:15] manual data entry by court host staff.
[1:20:18] As such, this result is a direct reflection of the care, accuracy and attention being applied during charge package preparation and review.
[1:20:27] As of May 31, 2026, Hamilton Police Service has transmitted, 2,517 charge packages containing 2,775 information.
[1:20:39] of those 2,600 and 79 information were successfully uploaded in the icon.
[1:20:47] This represents a 97% success rate.
[1:20:50] These results are particularly no worth and given the volume of charge packages being
[1:20:54] processed by Hamilton Police Service and reflect an exceptional level of accuracy and consistency
[1:21:00] in charge package preparation and transmission.
[1:21:04] To put this achievement into perspective, another niche agency with a comparable number
[1:21:09] of members, recorded a year-to-day icon, upload success rate of just 90% and an April as
[1:21:16] rate of 87%. I would like to read one quote directly from the Solicitor General's Office.
[1:21:23] Hamilton, please, service has established itself as a leader in the submission of high-quality
[1:21:28] charge packages. This is not only supports the efficient processing of matters by justices
[1:21:34] of a piece, but also reduces the need for manual data entry by court services division staff
[1:21:40] and the delays that can result when submissions fail to upload.
[1:21:45] A special thank you to staff sergeant Amanda Gill, staff sergeant Andrew Rochard and staff
[1:21:51] sergeant Michelle Wiley, who oversee the staff responsible for pairing and transmitting
[1:21:57] charge packages.
[1:21:58] There are case prep teams also deserve recognition for the professionalism and diligence that
[1:22:04] is contributed to these outstanding results.
[1:22:07] The solicitor general also recognized our MS administrator Heather McLean for all her work
[1:22:13] as Hamilton's police contact with the solicitor general's office.
[1:22:18] And in conclusion, congratulations to Inspector Ben Tibbito, who is one of 255 law enforcement
[1:22:25] officers who graduated from the FBI.
[1:22:30] In Quantico, Virginia. The 298th session of the National Academy consisted of men and women from 46 states and the district of Columbia.
[1:22:40] The class also included 29 international members of law enforcement agencies from 26 countries, 5 military organizations, and 4 federal civilian organizations.
[1:22:54] Internationally, respected and known for its academic excellence, the National Academy offers
[1:22:59] 10 weeks of advanced communication, leadership, and fitness training.
[1:23:04] Participants must have proven records as professionals within their agencies to attend.
[1:23:10] The FBI Academy instructors, special agents, and other staff with advanced degrees provide
[1:23:16] the training.
[1:23:17] Many instructors are recognized internationally in their fields.
[1:23:21] A total of 57,196 graduates have completed the FBI National Academy since it began in
[1:23:30] 1935, including Deputy Ryan Diodati.
[1:23:34] The National Academy is held at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, the same facility
[1:23:40] where the FBI trains its new special agents and intelligence analysis.
[1:23:45] Thank you, Chair.
[1:23:47] Thank you for the update chief.
[1:23:51] I get a mover and a second to accept the chief's update.
[1:23:56] Move by member Padillo, second by member St. Jean.
[1:23:59] Any discussion?
[1:24:01] Seeing none, I'll call the vote all in favor.
[1:24:04] Opposed?
[1:24:06] Carried?
[1:24:10] Cursion, can you please provide your update?
[1:24:15] Through you chair.
[1:24:16] This past month I provided a presentation to municipal and
[1:24:20] P.P. Police Service boards across Ontario through the Police Governance Ontario Organization
[1:24:25] at the Virtual Administrator Summit on June 16. I attended a community safety and well
[1:24:30] being planned presentation to the service. This is tied into the board strategic planning
[1:24:35] review process. I'd have to say most of my time have been focused primarily on strategic
[1:24:39] planning and working alongside Consilium Public Sector Services on this initiative.
[1:24:44] The inspector to policing has invited me to participate in a small focus session group to review the 2026 police service board information data collection questions and proposed updates to the dashboard.
[1:24:59] And then finally, on June 9, Luchia, Jordan and myself, so the entire board staff took part in the walk a mile in their shoes event.
[1:25:08] Thanks to everyone who sponsored our team, and thanks to generous donors, we reached our goal of raising just over $1,000.
[1:25:17] I just like to mention that I am a survivor of gender-based violence.
[1:25:22] A lot has changed over the years but not enough.
[1:25:25] It's disturbing to realize that this is still a big problem.
[1:25:28] Having said that, the stigma has been reduced over the past years for people who finally speak up.
[1:25:34] I'd like to thank all of the officers, Victim Service Workers and Volunteers for all of their support and the work that you do.
[1:25:41] Thank you.
[1:25:43] Thank you, Kirsten.
[1:25:44] Can I get it moving on to second or do we remember Paduolo?
[1:25:48] Second one.
[1:25:49] Number 17.
[1:25:51] Is there any any discussion on a matter?
[1:25:56] All in favor?
[1:25:58] Post.
[1:25:58] Kerry,
[1:26:04] can you please provide your update on the revision of the board's 27-30 strategic
[1:26:11] plan?
[1:26:14] Through you, Chair, I would like to let everybody know that the public survey that the
[1:26:19] board has out on their website.
[1:26:21] We've also advertised in all libraries and community centers across the city that the deadline
[1:26:26] has been extended to complete the public confidential survey until July 31, 2020.
[1:26:32] A media release will be sent out shortly to announce the extension and to remind the public where they may access the confidential public survey.
[1:26:41] Our recent focus for the past month or so has been on organizing stakeholder feedback.
[1:26:49] Based on the CSPA, the community safety and policing act,
[1:26:54] The strategic plan must provide an overview of the consultations that were conducted.
[1:27:01] So in preparing and revising our strategic plan, the police service board will be consulting
[1:27:05] with the Chief of Police, Municipal Council, BAN Councils of any First Nations of which
[1:27:12] we don't have any in our area.
[1:27:15] Groups representing diverse community in the board's area of policing, school boards, community
[1:27:19] organizations, businesses, and members of the public in the board's area of policing, and
[1:27:24] then any other prescribed persons, organizations, or groups.
[1:27:29] In the past month, we've identified key stakeholders.
[1:27:32] These groups were broken out into main categories, and then into further subgroups.
[1:27:38] We've got governance, and for example, that would include board members, board members, municipal
[1:27:43] council, MPs, and MPs.
[1:27:45] And this list is an exhaustive. I'll save you that. I'm just giving you a high level of the stakeholders we've identified.
[1:27:54] Education is another main group that includes post-secondary institutions, public Catholic French school boards, private schools,
[1:28:02] and also faith-based institutions.
[1:28:05] Social services, health and community organizations are our third group.
[1:28:09] Our fourth group is groups representing diverse communities.
[1:28:14] Again, not a Folsom list, but that includes indigenous racialized communities, faith communities,
[1:28:20] 2 SNL, GPT, QIA, plus communities, people with disabilities, seniors, and people experiencing
[1:28:27] poverty and the unhoused.
[1:28:30] Youth is another large group.
[1:28:32] That's our fifth group, sixth group is business and economic communities.
[1:28:35] We've reached out to the Chamber of Commerce, business improvement areas in rural businesses.
[1:28:42] The Hamilton Wentworth Federation of Agriculture.
[1:28:45] And then the seventh group is community safety partners in advocacy groups.
[1:28:49] So this would include the Women's Abuse Working Group, which is a 23 member coalition.
[1:28:54] Emergency service partners, EMS, Fire and Bala, and then Salt, which is the system advisory leadership table.
[1:29:02] Internal focus groups were also organized within the service and included individuals from all levels for the sworn and civilian, including special units from the strategic initiative unit, so EDI, community engagement groups etc.
[1:29:17] On behalf of the board, I would like to send a big thank you out to staff Sergeant Tammy Uart for all of our hard work facilitating the internal focus group sessions,
[1:29:26] and for her assistance in identifying and compiling key stakeholder group contacts.
[1:29:32] Thank you.
[1:29:34] Thank you, Carson.
[1:29:34] This is a significant and a big addition to by the board at you and the chair on it.
[1:29:41] That's a good thing.
[1:29:43] Can I get a, may please get a mover in a second to receive the strategic plan verbal update
[1:29:48] and item 5.5.1 media release requesting to public input on revisions to this strategic plan.
[1:29:57] Can I get a mover?
[1:30:00] Next by 4A, welcome.
[1:30:04] Second by Member Pudule. Any discussion? Comment?
[1:30:12] All in favour?
[1:30:15] Opposed? Carried.
[1:30:22] Public minutes of May 21st. May please get a mover and a second to approve the minutes of May 21st,
[1:30:30] 26 as presented, moved by member of St. Jean, second by member of Spadafore, are there any discussion
[1:30:37] on the matter?
[1:30:41] All in favor? Post? Carry. Correspondence. May I get a mover to seconder
[1:30:48] receive correspondence item seven one through seven seven point one through seven point eleven
[1:30:55] moved by member of St. Jean second by member spot of for a
[1:31:02] cheaper game would you like to speak to the correspondence items are there any correspondence items
[1:31:06] board would like to discuss will start with the chief. Thank you chair and I will stand down
[1:31:11] and waiting for board direction. Any correspondence items are boarded like to comment on
[1:31:20] Is there any other further discussion?
[1:31:24] All in favor?
[1:31:26] Polls, carried.
[1:31:36] Concern items may get a mover and a seconder
[1:31:40] to receive consent items 8.1 through 8.7.
[1:31:46] Moved by Member Cretch, second by Member Spadafora.
[1:31:55] Sheepurgin or any consent items you would like to speak to?
[1:31:59] Thank you, Chair and I'll stand down waiting for board direction.
[1:32:03] Remember if any consent items you'd like to speak to?
[1:32:07] Member correction?
[1:32:09] 8.2 and 8.4.
[1:32:13] I'll start with 8.2.
[1:32:17] I attended the downtown safety summit meeting
[1:32:21] and reviewed the report.
[1:32:22] A couple of things I wanted to point out from my perspective
[1:32:24] as the downtown counselor and as some of the attended meeting.
[1:32:30] My understanding, before we got to the meeting, based on the emails I received, was that the
[1:32:34] meeting was going to be focused on dealing with ways to support youth.
[1:32:41] Those are the folks that were involved in the specific shoes that the meeting was called
[1:32:44] for the discuss, instead the meeting ended up being a sort of side town hall on another subject
[1:32:51] altogether.
[1:32:52] Which is finally really regrettable, because those youth who are looking for leadership, looking
[1:32:57] for support looking for ways to find resources and communities who are grieving from those incidents
[1:33:02] reach out to me and said they didn't get anything out of the meeting.
[1:33:06] And that was the purpose of the meeting.
[1:33:08] So that's regrettable from my perspective.
[1:33:11] I also think it's important to say that one of the things that is not talked about continually
[1:33:16] and we're talking about shootings in the city which I find personally fine bizarre is that
[1:33:21] more than 80% of the shootings do not occur in the area that is identified by downtown
[1:33:26] down town by the police. Something that meeting me had a map up on the board that showed down town.
[1:33:31] 83% of shootings happen outside that area. Recently, the media contacting me to ask me questions
[1:33:37] about different things were happening down town and one of the questions they asked me was,
[1:33:40] well, Councillor, what do you think about this and the perception? I said, I think it's important
[1:33:44] for us to start actually having a conversation about the perception of these situations and how
[1:33:49] that perception is created in the first place. There were recently two shootings, four days apart
[1:33:54] in Ann Caster, Ward 14 type area.
[1:33:58] I didn't see the same level of press conferences,
[1:34:01] repeated press conferences, media releases,
[1:34:04] media attention about those two shootings.
[1:34:06] But when one of those shootings happens downtown,
[1:34:09] we are seeing multiple press conferences,
[1:34:13] press releases, availability, media attention on the subject.
[1:34:16] And so I think there's something to be said about
[1:34:18] how that perception gets created.
[1:34:20] If the majority of shootings aren't happening downtown,
[1:34:22] why aren't we having a conversation similar
[1:34:24] of the kinds of conversations we're having downtown, every single time they're shooting in
[1:34:27] our city. I don't get it. It's not a question, by the way. That's a rhetorical statement
[1:34:32] I'm asking for an answer from anybody. I'm just saying to you that for me it's deeply
[1:34:35] troubling that the majority, the vast majority of shootings happen outside downtown, but the
[1:34:39] only conversation we're seeing we're seeing what we have is the ones that are having downtown.
[1:34:42] We should be having a meeting like that. I mean we had here in every community with our shootings
[1:34:46] and there should be discussions about why they're happening there. Thank you.
[1:34:56] Are there any further discussions on any of the items?
[1:35:02] Eight point four, I was just waiting to see if anybody else had anything on eight point two or three.
[1:35:05] Thank you.
[1:35:06] I only question for eight point four.
[1:35:07] I didn't see this two questions I have.
[1:35:09] Question number one is with respect to the number of people in the traffic safety unit.
[1:35:13] So in the traffic safety unit was first built, it was going to be nineteen twenty people.
[1:35:17] And then there was a conversation about not being able to find enough people to staff the unit.
[1:35:20] So then there was eleven people that were in the unit and there was people that were off and other kinds of reasons.
[1:35:24] But I didn't see that information here. I may have missed it and that's my fault, but where are we at today?
[1:35:32] Thank you for the question, member Cretchen, through you chair. So currently the unit is at 18 people.
[1:35:39] We're currently staffed at 15 as three members are off on WSIB. So we're down three members at this time.
[1:35:45] So we're kind of up for from before. We're kind of in the middle at this point.
[1:35:49] In terms of people that are doing.
[1:35:50] We're up for members from the 11. We're kind of in the middle of the sort of 20.
[1:35:54] That's correct.
[1:35:55] There are transfer meeting last year.
[1:35:58] The staffing concern was brought to the chief and the chief reassign some resources throughout
[1:36:02] the organization to make sure that we are remaining with our commitment to TSU.
[1:36:09] Thanks.
[1:36:09] My second question about this is regarding targets.
[1:36:13] So I've seen all the tables here.
[1:36:14] They show changes.
[1:36:15] They show what things look like as a trend, but I don't see targets here.
[1:36:19] So how are we supposed to know how we're evaluating this information of whether we're
[1:36:22] doing a good job or not?
[1:36:23] I'm simply comparing information year over year,
[1:36:25] it gives us a sense of how we're doing year to year,
[1:36:27] but without sort of a really targeted program
[1:36:29] of this is how much we think we should be doing
[1:36:31] this is how much money we're coming in before
[1:36:33] and the purpose of the program was to increase that
[1:36:36] or the purpose of the program was to do something else.
[1:36:38] I don't see that overlay here
[1:36:39] and says, hardly understand what outcomes we're measuring.
[1:36:44] Yes, that's pretty good.
[1:36:46] So I guess I can start, I have some prepared comments,
[1:36:49] actually just I'll go through them first
[1:36:51] and then I'll attempt to if those don't answer your question that I can go further.
[1:36:57] So I'll begin by acknowledging that our recent traffic enforcement numbers have not been where
[1:37:01] we would like them to be as an organization. So they'll start there. That said, this was not
[1:37:05] a matter of priority. Traffic enforcement has remained a priority for the service, but ongoing
[1:37:10] staffing challenges over several years have significantly limited our officers ability to engage
[1:37:16] and proactive enforcement, quite simply our members were largely consumed by calls for service,
[1:37:21] leaving limited capacity for discretionary activities like traffic enforcement.
[1:37:26] January 2020.
[1:37:30] For the organization, the investments made by this board in staff and compliments, hiring approvals, and collective agreement changes are now allowing us to properly backfill those positions, including some of the members off on WSIB.
[1:37:44] Those changes have restored the proactive capacity that was missing. We're now seeing clear and sustained progress, so I'm happy to report that from January 1st until May 31st of this year, traffic enforcement activity is up approximately
[1:37:59] 55% compared to the same period last year. During that same period, motor vehicle collisions
[1:38:05] are down 10% and impaired driving apprehensions are up 4%. We've also laid 217 stunt driving
[1:38:14] charges in just the first five months of this year and that compares to 273 during all of
[1:38:21] 2025. The statistical loan demonstrates both the extent to the problem and the intensity of our
[1:38:28] enforcement efforts directed at the highest risk drivers in our community.
[1:38:33] The rallies that more people in our community will be impacted by serious or fatal motor
[1:38:37] vehicle collisions than by violent crime.
[1:38:39] Everyone in these collisions is preventable.
[1:38:42] While speed is often discussed as a contributing factor, speed alone is rarely the sole cause
[1:38:47] of fatal collisions.
[1:38:49] More often, you see a combination of factors that play.
[1:38:51] These include impairment by drugs, alcohol, destructive driving, excessive speed and failure
[1:38:57] to wear seatbelts. This is why our approach has evolved, not simply about increasing volume,
[1:39:02] it's about being more intentional, and I hope this begins to answer your question. We
[1:39:08] are focusing on the highest for strivers and behaviors. Not so much a set number, including
[1:39:13] impaired driving, distracted driving, excessive speed, seatbelt enforcement, and stunt driving.
[1:39:20] Our enforcement efforts are specifically designed to target these behaviors because they
[1:39:27] The combination of this targeted enforcement strategy along with the proactive efforts of our commercial motor vehicle unit is beginning to pay in dividends.
[1:39:36] We're seeing increase enforcement activity, fewer collisions overall, more impaired drivers being removed from our roadways and a stronger focus on those drivers who pose the greatest risk to public safety.
[1:39:47] So, based on the results we've seen the first five months of 2026, I'm confident that next year's report will look significantly different, and we'll better reflect the efforts of our members and the expectations we have set for ourselves as an organization.
[1:40:02] I want to thank the board for its continued support and investment. I'm confident that the positive results that we've seen so far in the first five months of this year will continue throughout the range of year.
[1:40:12] That said, we have two traffic campaigns set for July and August of this year.
[1:40:19] July will be running a program called Buckle up Phone Down to significant causes of fatal
[1:40:26] and serious motor vehicle collisions in the city.
[1:40:30] Clearly, we're going to be focusing on seat belt enforcement and distracted driving, and
[1:40:34] in August, mostly around complaints that we have been receiving from our residents and
[1:40:40] on behalf of citizens. We're going to be focusing on equipment violations, things like mufflers,
[1:40:48] tinted windows, plate covers, things like that. There are equipment violations that can
[1:40:52] contribute to safety concerns. So I hope I hope that answers your question, remember,
[1:40:57] CRECH, and if not, I'm happy to go a little bit deeper into the data if you need it.
[1:41:03] Thanks. It does answer in part in terms of the things that you're doing, but I'm trying to understand
[1:41:07] how we're evaluating these outcomes.
[1:41:10] What I mean to say for instances,
[1:41:12] let's just say that we are aware that there are
[1:41:15] 10-stunt driving locations in the lower city.
[1:41:18] If we were aware of there, 10-stunt driving locations
[1:41:21] in the lower city, then I would presume
[1:41:22] that we're trying to eliminate,
[1:41:24] start driving in those locations.
[1:41:25] Then I presume by the following year,
[1:41:26] we're able to say, okay, in three of those locations,
[1:41:29] we were able to eliminate, start driving,
[1:41:31] or in this many instances of sun driving,
[1:41:33] we're not measuring against something that I can see.
[1:41:36] So for me, the data kind of just floats here.
[1:41:38] And that's why I'm trying to get understanding of is your
[1:41:40] thing we're not trying to approach or come after outcomes,
[1:41:43] but or specific numbers and targets, but they exist, right?
[1:41:47] So why is that information not available?
[1:41:48] And can we get a sense of how we're doing?
[1:41:51] Absolutely.
[1:41:52] So we work very, very closely with my field over at the city.
[1:41:57] And data is shared between our organization.
[1:42:00] So we have Dan here from the current information
[1:42:02] in the analysis unit, and we share information back and forth on what those locations are.
[1:42:08] And then accordingly, we deploy our resources, so for example, the Red Hill Valley Parkway
[1:42:14] is an area where we're constantly seeing people start driving.
[1:42:17] So we're working with Mike Field on his team there and deploying resources around the
[1:42:22] times that we see those offenses occurring.
[1:42:28] Yeah, I think I'm not quite getting the answer I want, which is okay, I'm not going to
[1:42:31] believe we're the point.
[1:42:32] It's just that, yes, I understand that you're getting this information.
[1:42:34] I think it's important to report it and we can see the outcomes and measure our success without having a number we're trying to get to
[1:42:40] We have no way of knowing if we're being successful in doing this. We're doing it, but for my education
[1:42:44] I'm looking at this thinking well, how many of these situations are there? Are we being successful in
[1:42:50] Remitting the situation in more than half of them or less than half of them? What are the challenges that are presented in doing that?
[1:42:55] What are we doing to address those challenges? That information is not here. So for me. I know we've understand them
[1:43:00] Are being successful or not?
[1:43:01] Yeah, what I'll add is probably what you want to go to the Chief of Peru, the Crime Prevention and Evans
[1:43:06] based policing it. With that, we're looking at working with the city on the road, safety,
[1:43:11] initiatives fund, Dan and his team are working with us to use an Evans based approach on the
[1:43:17] deployment of our resources and with that and through that project is our hope that we can report back
[1:43:23] on those outcomes that you're seeking. But Dan, if you want to speak further to it, please.
[1:43:27] Thank you, Sarah. In three years, you just to follow up on that. You're looking, the question you're
[1:43:31] asking member crutches, we're doing enforcement.
[1:43:33] We're producing numbers each year.
[1:43:35] What is happening?
[1:43:36] What is the effect?
[1:43:37] So to superintendent's point, the goal for our unit right now
[1:43:42] in the years to come is to understand, OK, where
[1:43:46] are the issues occurring, for instance,
[1:43:47] we have areas with high motor vehicle collisions,
[1:43:51] and we can report whether or not you
[1:43:52] or be here this goes up or down.
[1:43:54] But we don't know whether or not our enforcement
[1:43:56] is doing anything about it.
[1:43:58] So what we're doing in our unit is to give you
[1:44:00] example with respect to the RSIF funding and with respect to our
[1:44:04] chat with deployment is okay if we are to provide a treatment area how does
[1:44:10] that you know can we establish a control zone so with for instance our deployment
[1:44:16] in this area no deployment in another comparable area however that area is
[1:44:20] comparable is our enforcement having an effect and that's what we are doing
[1:44:24] across the service and especially in the traffic safe unit in the future okay I
[1:44:31] in the future. Thank you.
[1:44:36] Are there any other questions on the consent? We have a mover
[1:44:41] in the second. Are you voting or asking the question?
[1:44:45] I got one.
[1:44:50] All the favor?
[1:44:53] Polls carried.
[1:45:00] We'll call on Chief Bergen to introduce the presenters for the use of force 2025 via N report.
[1:45:07] Thank you, Chair, and gives me pleasure to introduce Sergeant Mass Julianne, Sergeant James
[1:45:13] to Princeton, Dr. Daniel Lucentif, to come to the podium to give us the 2025 year-end report used
[1:45:20] to force.
[1:46:13] Members, please, Services Board, Chief Bergen, Deputy Chief Diodati, Acting Deputy Chief
[1:46:19] of it, senior officers, police service members, and members of the community.
[1:46:24] Good afternoon.
[1:46:25] My name is Massimo Giuliani, I'm one of the two sergeants in the use of force section
[1:46:28] of the training branch.
[1:46:31] Today's presentation will align some of the background information about use of force
[1:46:34] and proceed into a highlight of the statistics for the calendar year 2025.
[1:46:42] So just some background where use of force comes from.
[1:46:45] So the Criminal Code of Canada, section 25 and 26, dictate the majority of the force,
[1:46:50] the legal aspect of force.
[1:46:53] So, officers may use force during their duty,
[1:46:56] only permitted by law.
[1:46:57] Even if force is authorized by law,
[1:46:59] it's not unrestricted.
[1:47:00] It must be necessary, reasonable, and proportional.
[1:47:03] There's a reasonable discretion on force being acquired
[1:47:06] in what degree of force is required.
[1:47:10] The courts have also recognized
[1:47:11] that officers must act quickly in emergencies,
[1:47:14] so the standard is not perfection,
[1:47:16] but a reasonable under the circumstances.
[1:47:18] resources. Force must be lawful, reasonable, and necessary.
[1:47:22] So Section 25 gives us the authority to use force.
[1:47:25] And Section 26 is the limit on it.
[1:47:28] So it covers the excessive force section.
[1:47:33] Officers are criminally responsible for any excess force.
[1:47:36] Any accusations of excess force can be investigated by any other following.
[1:47:41] The Hamilton Police Professional Standards Branch, the Ontario Special Investigations Unit,
[1:47:46] Leica, the law enforcement complaint agency, and now judges in trials are now reviewing
[1:47:52] use for support string proceedings.
[1:47:59] The Ontario Public Police Interactions Training Aid came into effect in 2023.
[1:48:05] It is not a justification for an officer's force, but rather assist officers in articulating
[1:48:10] events in all interactions, not just use of force incidents.
[1:48:14] This also assists the public in understanding why and what manner officer may respond during
[1:48:19] an interaction.
[1:48:20] The conflict prevention and de-escalation
[1:48:22] involves the entire model.
[1:48:29] So when is the force report required?
[1:48:33] An officer drives a handgun in the presence of the public.
[1:48:36] So if a handgun is drawn, a report is required.
[1:48:40] If any firearm by a police officer is pointed at a person,
[1:48:43] I use the force report as required as well.
[1:48:47] If an officer discharges firearm, a report is required,
[1:48:51] If it also uses a weapon, any weapon on another person, that report is required.
[1:48:57] If they draw and display a conducted energy weapon, so our tasers, if that is drawn with
[1:49:04] the intention of achieving compliance, a report is required.
[1:49:07] If they point a conducted energy weapon, or taser at a person, a report would be required,
[1:49:14] if they discharge that conducted energy weapon.
[1:49:16] If they use force on any other person or any person, that results in an injury required medical
[1:49:23] attention through a physician, a nurse, or a paramedic, and the officers aware of that
[1:49:28] before they leave for their shift, and their shift, then a report is required.
[1:49:37] So reports are completed by officers before the end of their shift.
[1:49:42] So if you have any use of force interaction and a reports required, the officer's report's
[1:49:46] of electronic report.
[1:49:48] This report has been in use for the last several years now.
[1:49:52] They're electronic reports.
[1:49:54] The officer then submits the report to their supervisor.
[1:49:57] It's either the sergeant of the staff sergeant.
[1:50:00] The staff sergeant then reviews if there's any relevant body
[1:50:03] worn camera or in-car camera.
[1:50:06] If the report's complete and the supervisor's satisfied
[1:50:09] with the thoroughness of the report,
[1:50:11] it then goes to the divisional commander.
[1:50:14] The commander conducts their own review of the report
[1:50:16] and the circumstances. And again, if there's any body-worn camera or in-car camera, the commander
[1:50:21] has the option to review that. Once the commander is finished with that report, it then gets
[1:50:27] forwarded to the use of force section. And we then go through the report and then it's submitted
[1:50:33] electronically to the Minister's solicitor in general.
[1:50:38] If at any stage, there's concerns about
[1:50:40] force, allegations, or concerns about how force was applied, they didn't get flagged at any
[1:50:47] these steps, and definitely from the use force perspective, we will review it and we'll call
[1:50:52] the officers and if there's any remedial training required.
[1:50:57] That is my component for now, we'll have Dr. Mostnuff continue.
[1:51:04] Okay, and just stand now, let's get this, as well.
[1:51:06] Good afternoon everyone.
[1:51:08] So in terms of the trends, I'm going to take you through some of the trends coming out of
[1:51:11] this year's use of force report.
[1:51:13] Owing to time, I won't be able to discuss every data point by happy to answer any questions
[1:51:17] that you may have.
[1:51:18] So, at a very high level, we find that in 2025 compared to 2024, we had 203 incidents involving
[1:51:27] police use of force last year, which is the lowest in six years, so about 28 percent
[1:51:32] below the 2024 number, and about 40 percent below our five-year average, nearly half of all
[1:51:39] of these incidents fall into two categories, categories that are weapons related or categories
[1:51:46] that are warped in nature, so officers conducting warne executions.
[1:51:51] And related to that, a weapon was perceived by officers and about 75% of all of these incidents.
[1:51:58] Okay, that's up from 65% in 2023.
[1:52:01] So even as overall use of force is declining, we see that more of these situations are involving
[1:52:08] perceived weapons.
[1:52:10] This is just a visualization of the numbers for this year.
[1:52:13] on the blue graph or the blue line show is the number of incidents.
[1:52:18] As we can see, 2025, but 28% reduction compared to last year, also use of four
[1:52:26] incidents can involve multiple-
[1:52:30] Objects, as it says on the forum. So the right graph shows that overall reduction as well.
[1:52:36] Whoops. Going a little bit too far. There are also, for 20 incidents that involved animals.
[1:52:42] So predominantly humane destruction of animals or uncontrolled animals that had to be safely contained.
[1:52:49] This figure here shows a number of individuals that were involved.
[1:52:53] Okay, and Ontario and as I've learned is working here is that police use the force follows a structured approach based on levels of risk in a situation and as a result officers have a range of options available to them in terms of use of force.
[1:53:06] So while use of force is declined compared to 2024 it's still important to see, okay, what do we mean by force? How are officers using force?
[1:53:15] We're going to ahead ourselves.
[1:53:18] Beginning with the most severe end of the spectrum.
[1:53:20] So firearm discharges by officers.
[1:53:22] These are very rare.
[1:53:24] They have occurred on three occasions or fewer
[1:53:27] between 2020 and 2025.
[1:53:29] Last year we had one incident of involving officers
[1:53:32] discharging firearm.
[1:53:34] And again, between 2023 and 2025,
[1:53:37] we've had one incident per year.
[1:53:40] Fire on pointing is the most common form
[1:53:44] of lethal force in our data.
[1:53:47] This also declines substantially in 2025.
[1:53:50] Incidents fell to 107 involving 198 individuals.
[1:53:55] Again, both the lowest levels recorded from 2025
[1:53:59] in while below the five-year average.
[1:54:03] CW's conducted energy weapons, otherwise known as tasers.
[1:54:07] These refer to, or these are commonly used
[1:54:09] intermediate force option for officers.
[1:54:11] They were used in 86 incidents last year, there were 86 tazer uses, that's about 42% of all of our use of force incidents.
[1:54:23] However, this figure here doesn't define, okay, how is the tazer being used?
[1:54:28] This just means the tazer was used in some way.
[1:54:31] Looking more closely, we can see that this very far right column here or bar is 2025.
[1:54:38] and how CEW's for use. So the highest observed level, we have incidents where tasers were drawn
[1:54:45] and only drawn in 17% of the time, points it only and about 45% of the time, and only discharge
[1:54:54] so being the highest level in 37% of our incidents. So what this means is that in approximately 63%
[1:55:02] of our use of CEWs, it was drawn or pointed without actually being discharged by our officers.
[1:55:11] And only the time I'm going to go through this next section a little bit quicker as well.
[1:55:15] But incident context, so the call source, the type, the context.
[1:55:19] This is all information that is captured in our use of force forms.
[1:55:23] So a common question that we get often from the community is, okay, but how do these interactions start?
[1:55:28] We know that most use of force incidents begin with a citizen generated call for service.
[1:55:35] We also have warns that account for between 14 in upwards of 18% each year.
[1:55:42] These are involved planned enforcement against known subjects, often with elevated weapon or violence risks.
[1:55:51] Officer initiated incidents are rare and they declined to five.
[1:55:56] Last year we had five and makes it about two and a half percent of our overall use of force incidents.
[1:56:03] In terms of the incident type, so officers can actually input what was the incident they were responding to on their use of force form.
[1:56:10] We see that weapons related incidents have increased in proportion in the last few years.
[1:56:15] Warrants while they have declined as far as the proportion of use of force, they still make up the second most proportion.
[1:56:23] And what we see this year, one thing that has, that has flex some, some consideration is IPv related incidents.
[1:56:30] We see that higher proportion of our use of force incidents are related to intimate partner violence.
[1:56:37] So these are disputes that have become more prominent in the last year.
[1:56:41] And the last data point that I'm going to end off with is perceived weapons.
[1:56:45] So right in the use of force form, officers can check off whether or not they perceived
[1:56:50] the individual to have a weapon, whether that is information that was received from the
[1:56:55] caller, from prior information about the individual, most of the time that.
[1:57:01] And this has increased to about 75% of our incidents in 2025.
[1:57:05] This suggests that even as overall use of force has declined, the remaining incidents are increasingly
[1:57:12] concentrated in high risk situations.
[1:57:15] To conclude everything here, use of force remains rare relative to police public contacts,
[1:57:22] but every incident carries a real potential for impact on the individuals, on the community.
[1:57:27] And so the goal of this report is to really provide the community with an understanding of the
[1:57:34] circumstances and some of the data that we're seeing.
[1:57:38] So again, we remain committed to this transparent reporting,
[1:57:42] accountability ongoing learning.
[1:57:44] This year we've included more data points compared to last year.
[1:57:47] That was based on community input.
[1:57:50] And we are happy to engage with this more to show this data.
[1:57:53] Thank you.
[1:58:05] I'm just resting my old feet.
[1:58:09] Is there done any, so let's do this in the proper.
[1:58:13] Do you're done?
[1:58:13] You're good?
[1:58:14] Okay,
[1:58:19] get a move on a second to receive the report of the presentation.
[1:58:23] Remember, do a little second by member or a spot of fora.
[1:58:28] Any discussion?
[1:58:30] On the matter.
[1:58:31] Members, spot of fora.
[1:58:36] Thanks, Chair.
[1:58:38] I don't have any questions more of comments for me.
[1:58:45] Early on there was a page that had some pretty, some pretty good stats when we
[1:58:50] talk about the decrease that we've been able to, not we, the service has been able to, to
[1:58:58] do.
[1:58:58] When you look at, I can't remember the slide, I'm trying to find it, but the reduction
[1:59:04] on there it is, 20% decline and reported use of force, I think, I think that's, you know,
[1:59:12] 203 instances in 2025, the lowest in six years, I mean, these are numbers I think that we
[1:59:18] should be celebrating. He's our real big changes that come on the backs of the work that our officers
[1:59:26] do. Number one getting trained and just being able to do a better job. But the thing that's
[1:59:34] interesting with that is as those numbers decline incidents including a weapon have increased.
[1:59:41] So we're being able to reduce the amount of times we're taking our guns out or using force,
[1:59:50] because I know there's different ways to use the force, but we're doing that well.
[1:59:55] We're seeing an increase in terrible crime, like way.
[2:00:00] Proceed weapon, and our numbers are declining. So for me, I don't have any questions, like I said, but I think this is great work by the service, right from the chief all the way down to anybody who's part of these statistics. This is great news. I'll definitely be sharing it and celebrating. I know there's people in this city that like to use it, look at our use of force numbers and talk about how we have a major issue. When I look at this slide at 2025 at a glance, I think it shows that we're doing a,
[2:00:29] really good job and I commend the chief and the entire service on that. That's it for me. Thanks.
[2:00:36] Thank you, Members. About a four. Well said and well put. I think we're good. I think just think
[2:00:44] a simple congratulations to the service on a job well done is in order based on the use of force
[2:00:51] stats this year. Thank you. It was a wonderful presentation and we're grateful. We're over the second
[2:00:56] all in favor. Okay,
[2:01:03] we'll call on Chief Bergen to introduce presenter for the next 2025 year and report
[2:01:09] race and identity based strategy update. Thank you, Chair, and through your position, again, Daniel,
[2:01:19] move some off his head to podium, and we'll go through our approach to race and identity based data.
[2:01:25] Yes, I
[2:01:28] guess that was the, they did that last month.
[2:01:57] Danny, you can't keep all those stats in your head.
[2:01:59] You got a lot of them up there.
[2:02:01] I'm just,
[2:02:14] remember, Spadafore, during the slight pause,
[2:02:18] at the start of the meeting, I remind it every one
[2:02:21] that there's a five-minute speaking order,
[2:02:23] and you can only speak the one item once and less
[2:02:26] the board approve it.
[2:02:29] Just, so you were a minute and forty-seven seconds,
[2:02:32] and it was very well done.
[2:02:33] Thank you.
[2:02:37] And like a soccer game, you can plot time back
[2:02:39] if the guy asked him to question, goes too long.
[2:02:46] It's all my, but there's enough exposure to it.
[2:02:48] We get it.
[2:02:49] We're just trying to kill time here.
[2:03:33] Wait a minute.
[2:03:47] I'm a poor singer, so we're gonna have to find
[2:03:51] some other way to kill time.
[2:03:55] Can you sing?
[2:03:57] Can you?
[2:03:58] Okay.
[2:04:00] Members, Batafore is gonna do a rendition of, are you ready?
[2:04:05] Yeah?
[2:04:05] We good?
[2:04:11] Yeah, Batafore is gonna sing.
[2:04:12] You can pick the number,
[2:04:16] I'm born in that way,
[2:04:22] you want to hold a five-minute break.
[2:04:25] Okay.
[2:04:28] Put the annual report.
[2:04:35] Change your plans.
[2:04:36] No, no singing.
[2:04:40] I have an employee service annual report.
[2:04:43] We
[2:04:48] get a mover in the seconder to approve the 25-end or report as presented by members
[2:04:56] batter for us.
[2:04:57] Seconded member Padulot.
[2:04:58] Are there any discussions on the matter?
[2:05:02] All in favor?
[2:05:04] Posts.
[2:05:05] Okay.
[2:05:13] I'll just keep going until you guys tell me you're ready to turn that operation around.
[2:05:18] The employment of Metroling Special Constables in the City of Hamilton.
[2:05:24] This is a 9-4 May.
[2:05:25] Please get a mover and a seconder to approve that.
[2:05:29] The Hamilton Police Service board entering into an agreement with her Majesty, the King,
[2:05:34] as represented by the solicitor general operating through Ontario Provincial Police
[2:05:39] to permit the OPP Special Constables employed by Metroling to act in the City of Hamilton and
[2:05:47] The chair be authorized to execute the amended agreement.
[2:05:53] Move by.
[2:05:54] Members by for a second by members saying,
[2:05:57] Gene, are there any discussions on this matter?
[2:06:00] All in favor?
[2:06:03] Okay.
[2:06:07] Single source approval.
[2:06:11] May I please get a mover and a seconder to approve the single source procurement of
[2:06:16] integrated virtual reality training solutions to street smart VR ink pursuant to procurement
[2:06:23] policy number 11, non-competitive procurement until May 10th, 2028, approval of procurement
[2:06:30] from street smart VR ink, a U.S. business per policy number 11, non-competitive procurement.
[2:06:40] moved by members in Gene's second and by members
[2:06:43] out of four of the rate discussions on the matter.
[2:06:47] Seeing none, I'll call the vote all in favor.
[2:06:50] Opposed, carried.
[2:06:55] DJI's drones standardization.
[2:06:57] May I please get a mover to seconder to approve that standardization of day
[2:07:03] DJI drones and accessories pursuant a policy number 14.
[2:07:08] standardization until December 30th, 1331.
[2:07:14] Moop, 2031, Moop.
[2:07:17] Moop by members, about a 4th, a 2nd by member,
[2:07:22] Padurolo, letting you discussion on a matter.
[2:07:26] All in favor.
[2:07:32] Okay, I'm going to have a conversation about this now. It's not on, I've got it here. So I wanted to discuss and we did discuss this a little over email.
[2:07:48] Through the fact that the municipal election is taking place on Monday, October 26th, our October board meeting is on October 22nd and we will likely not have quorum.
[2:07:59] We have no meeting in August, I'm unable to chair our September meeting.
[2:08:05] I'll be out of the country.
[2:08:07] I'd like to propose that we move our Thursday, September the 24th meeting to Thursday, September the 10th.
[2:08:14] This will allow the opportunity to decide if you wish to plan an early October meeting
[2:08:18] and still provide the service of myself and find a pair of reports
[2:08:22] between the proposed September 10th meeting and the early October meeting.
[2:08:28] October meeting is currently October 22nd, proposed would be the first, but what we should
[2:08:34] decide on today is, it's the board's pleasure to move the September 24th meeting to the
[2:08:42] 10th.
[2:08:45] Members, by default, are moves at the next board meeting, which of September 24th be moved
[2:08:51] September 10th
[2:08:59] probably now. So is that a conditional
[2:09:04] seconder or are y'all in? Okay. Are there are there any
[2:09:10] discussions? I think I just got it in deeper. All in favor.
[2:09:17] Okay.
[2:09:22] How are we making up
[2:09:29] what we're going to do? You want to
[2:09:29] decide that now too? All right. The executive director is
[2:09:35] the question that we entertain changing the October meeting now and probably benefit the service.
[2:09:44] So, from move our October 22nd meeting to October 1st, I think that just makes some sense.
[2:09:50] Move by members by the for a second by member.
[2:09:54] Pudulo, any discussion?
[2:09:57] All in favor?
[2:10:00] I'm both carried.
[2:10:03] That's done.
[2:10:07] Now I'm out of juice here. I got nothing left.
[2:10:11] Remember it's about a four year going to have to sing.
[2:10:25] Okay, we're going to resize for five minutes
[2:20:18] I'll take a quick technical break. I'll call and see if we're going to introduce the presenter for the 2025 year in report, race, and
[2:20:28] identity-based data strategy update.
[2:20:31] Thank you, Chair, and again, Dr. Daniel Messenough. We'll give us race and identity-based data strategy update,
[2:20:37] and it's an opportunity. Also to thank Daniel Samantha, the team, Jim calendar, Carolyn Rashford,
[2:20:44] all the work that they have done and where you have taken our organization to have a better understanding
[2:20:49] of what an interaction looks like.
[2:20:52] Thank you.
[2:20:57] The implementation implementation update under our IBD strategy.
[2:21:01] More importantly, it responds directly to some of the questions in some of the recommendations
[2:21:06] that were developed by our community advisory panel.
[2:21:09] Some of you heard from them just last month.
[2:21:13] The beauty of this work and really where this work comes from is working with our community
[2:21:18] advisory panel. So they have played a central role in the development of the strategy over a two-year
[2:21:24] period, bringing lived experience, bringing professional expertise, community knowledge, and
[2:21:29] critical perspectives to our strategy. So really, without them, the strategy this work is really
[2:21:37] non-existent. We've met more than 50 times for multiple hours over the last couple of years.
[2:21:44] We see the recommendations from the community advisory panel as ongoing guidance.
[2:21:50] We don't just see this as something that we're looking to check off over the next year
[2:21:54] and we're done with it.
[2:21:55] This work continues to develop and it continues to develop with our community.
[2:22:00] The community advisory panel last month, they provided us with a number of recommendations.
[2:22:06] They can be understood in two sort of connected areas.
[2:22:09] On one hand is evidence itself, how are we collecting and race and identity-based information?
[2:22:16] How are we connecting it?
[2:22:18] How are we validating it and more importantly, how are we analyzing it?
[2:22:23] The second part of this is concerned with how evidence is interpreted, how we are engaged.
[2:22:30] And these two things cannot be separated, right? More sophisticated analysis. You know, has a very limited value. If the findings are not understandable, if they're not connected to the community who's asking the questions.
[2:22:42] So together, the recommendation provide ongoing guidance for us. So this report for today, this update, it shouldn't be seen as the final answer to all of these recommendations.
[2:22:52] It represents an early and concrete implementation step.
[2:22:57] Several recommendations are already reflected in how this analysis and a report was done
[2:23:04] with respect to benchmarking.
[2:23:06] Really considering how do we measure racial disparities?
[2:23:10] Really being serious about that.
[2:23:12] Advanced analytics and more importantly, some plain language explanations for our community.
[2:23:17] The other recommendations that have not been implemented yet, they will require not just one report but over time investments in our analytics and work with our community on the engagement front.
[2:23:32] So putting the recommendations into practice as we know use a force was selected as the first priority area because it's one of the most consequential forms of police public interactions.
[2:23:42] Although use of force is rare and as we discussed that today, each incident can still have significant impacts on our community.
[2:23:52] So the questions examined so far did not emerge just from data or just from the police service itself.
[2:23:57] They were developed through structured discussions with our advisory panel.
[2:24:02] So questions surrounding, you know, not whether just racial disparities appeared, but wanting to understand where disparities arise.
[2:24:10] whether people experience similar outcomes in similar circumstances.
[2:24:15] What happens before forces applied and what information is still missing from this whole discussion.
[2:24:21] So very early on, there is some discussion within the support in terms of how do we measure racial disparity.
[2:24:27] Our community advisory panel has pushed us in terms of how do we measure it.
[2:24:32] Not just relying solely on simple descriptive basic statistics such as
[2:24:40] compared to how many there may be in Hamilton.
[2:24:43] But really, when we are interacting with members
[2:24:46] of the public, are these incidents
[2:24:49] are individuals being treated equal once they enter police
[2:24:52] contact?
[2:24:53] So that is what is coming out of this report specifically.
[2:24:56] So there are a number of findings
[2:24:58] that are found in this interim report,
[2:25:00] and this report will be made public.
[2:25:01] The data will be made public on our ABD website.
[2:25:04] So this is not just the B. All in Endo.
[2:25:07] But the findings that we're seeing
[2:25:09] is that there are two. Number one is that use of force is declining over time, as we have discussed
[2:25:15] today. Second, we see disproportionalities and disproportionality remains, but it depends on the
[2:25:22] benchmark that we are using. The panel has recommended that we consider an interaction benchmark.
[2:25:28] So arrests, for example, are individuals that we're stopping. When we use a benchmark like this,
[2:25:35] over-representation is less consistent, which is a good finding for our service.
[2:25:41] And one larger finding that's in this report is when we use analysis that can control
[2:25:47] for the multiple different factors that are involved in a use of force incident, such as
[2:25:54] the perception of a weapon, such as the incident type, the number of officers.
[2:25:58] Once we control for that, we see no significant differences in, for instance, the severity
[2:26:05] of force for certain racialized groups compared to non-racialized individuals.
[2:26:10] So from this analysis, this is just saying that contextual factors, situational factors
[2:26:14] are really amplifying the likelihood of a higher severity of force.
[2:26:18] But that's just one question, and that's just three years of data, essentially.
[2:26:23] So that is found in this report, and the data is also going to be made public.
[2:26:27] So, again, getting back to how do we measure racial disparities in use of force?
[2:26:33] What data is available to us and how can we control for the complexity that's involved?
[2:26:40] So, I'm just going to skip a little bit down to the last couple of slides.
[2:26:44] So, a community member may have a serious or deeply negative experience that does not appear in our patterns, in our trends.
[2:26:51] That experience remains real and important.
[2:26:54] So, statistical analysis works across many incidents at once.
[2:26:58] We can test relationships, we can see if there is evidence.
[2:27:01] But it can't decide what happened in any individual encounter.
[2:27:05] So, what we are trying to do with this strategy
[2:27:07] and we're going to continue to do over time
[2:27:09] is to bring different forms of evidence together
[2:27:12] where we don't have administrative data,
[2:27:15] considering body-worn camera analysis,
[2:27:16] which is a recommendation from our cap
[2:27:18] in which we have started to implement
[2:27:20] in our analysis work so far.
[2:27:21] community experience continuing to engage with the community advisory panel.
[2:27:27] Again, trying to strengthen our understanding and this is where community interpretation is critical.
[2:27:35] So, where this work is going next, we want to continue to build our evidence base.
[2:27:39] This is what this report has suggested.
[2:27:42] And then, secondarily, but actually equally, is the recommendations with respect to community engagement.
[2:27:48] So this is found in this report as well.
[2:27:52] One partnership that we're especially proud of,
[2:27:54] and I'm going to leave on this on the last couple of notes.
[2:27:58] The next stage of our work is going to be supported by a federal research grant.
[2:28:02] So we partnered with Dr. Clifton Vanderland in the McMaster University
[2:28:06] and Dr. Quasie O'Waffu-Bemfa from the University of Toronto,
[2:28:11] who has done a lot of work in this space.
[2:28:14] And we received a Social Science and Humanities Research Council
[2:28:17] partnership in gauge grant worth $25,000.
[2:28:21] So that funding not only is it important, you know, it's first to continue doing rigorous analysis.
[2:28:28] It also shows that this work is necessary.
[2:28:31] It's been vetted by an external body, such as Shirk, and we also placed in the top three
[2:28:39] in this competition that we have many of many different projects.
[2:28:41] So this is one thing that we're really happy for.
[2:28:43] Happy with.
[2:28:44] I mean, when I continue this, I'm going,
[2:28:46] these types of partnerships into the future.
[2:28:49] So to conclude everything with this report,
[2:28:51] the panel's recommendations provide really strong
[2:28:54] ongoing guidance in a long-term roadmap.
[2:28:57] The report shows the work moving beyond,
[2:28:59] commitment, moving beyond data collection
[2:29:02] towards rigorous analysis, interpretation,
[2:29:05] and implementation.
[2:29:07] There is still considerable work ahead,
[2:29:09] improving our evidence, monitoring patterns over time,
[2:29:12] And keeping involving communities in how the findings are interpreted, right?
[2:29:18] And report on these things publicly over time with open data, with dashboards online, and etc.
[2:29:26] Most importantly, we must use what is learned to inform practical improvements for policy,
[2:29:32] for training how we collect our data, and engagement overall.
[2:29:36] So the goal is not simply to produce another report, it is to establish a sustained process of accountability of learning and continue to contribute to more equitable policing in public trust.
[2:29:50] Thank you.
[2:29:57] Move by members.
[2:30:00] Thank you for my members, by default. Can you just wait down and assume that we have any questions?
[2:30:06] Are there any discussions on the matter?
[2:30:10] We're good. Thank you for your presentation. All in favor?
[2:30:15] Opposed, carried.
[2:30:21] Good afternoon.
[2:30:22] Good afternoon.
[2:30:26] Can I get a motion for the board to move into closed section and accordance with section 441 and 2 of the community
[2:30:35] safety, and policing act as the board will be considering personal matters about a
[2:30:41] identifiable individual, including members of the police service, or any other
[2:30:45] employee of the employees of the board, a proposed or pending acquisition, or disposition
[2:30:52] to land by the board, labor relations, or employee negotiations, litigation, a potential
[2:30:58] litigation affecting the board, including matters before the administrative tribunals.
[2:31:03] move by. Members, by or for a second, by member Padurolo, is there any discussion on a matter?
[2:31:11] All in favor, carried. Anyone not required to remain in closed session, please exit the
[2:31:18] Council chambers after the board has completed its close section. We will rise and report
[2:31:24] in a public session. The board will take a 10-minute recess prior to commencing its closing session.
[3:21:13] During close session today, the Board approved its close minutes of May 22, 2020, 6th, though with confidential items of fall under the section 441 and 2 of the community safety.
[3:21:24] A policing act may please get a mover and a seconder to receive the chair's report back, moved by members, by a second by members, Saint Jean.
[3:21:32] Is there any discussion? Seeing none all in favor?
[3:21:37] The next regular meeting of the board will take place on Thursday, July 23rd, 2026 in the council chambers at City Hall.
[3:21:47] If there's no further business, kind of get a motion.
[3:21:51] Remember, a pedulo, any discussion, all in favor?
[3:21:57] Carried, meeting adjourn, thank you for your attention.