[0:28] Appreciate the patience of the lady at the back who's
[0:31] been working for the past hour. To try and sort
[0:34] out our streaming and recording. She could end up being
[0:40] a member of the month for July at the rate
[0:42] we're going? Okay. Thank you all. Okay.
[0:53] I will now rise and report to the open session
[0:56] the results of the closed session. The board approved its
[1:00] closed minutes of June 27 meeting and dealt with confidential
[1:04] items under section 44, two of the Community Safety and
[1:09] Policing Act. May I please have a mover and a
[1:14] second to receive the report back? Member minutes, please. All
[1:20] in favor? Thank you. We will now go back to
[1:26] open session. And do it this way around, so. We're
[1:33] beginning with calls. Good afternoon, Kirsten. Can you please confirm
[1:36] that we have quorum? Through you, Mr. Chair. We do
[1:40] have quorum. As you all in the room know, we've
[1:44] had some. Technological difficulties. We think we are both live
[1:53] streaming and. Recording. It is possible that we're only recording.
[1:57] So do the members of public out there. Thank you
[2:00] for your patient with patience with us. Even if it
[2:05] didn't livestream, we will have it up and running as
[2:08] soon as possible. Approval of the agenda. Kirsten, are there
[2:13] any changes to the agenda? Through you, Mr. Chair. There
[2:21] are a few changes to the agenda. We have. Public.
[2:28] Consent item 8.1. That report was revised with an added
[2:35] item C. We have. Public correspondence, item 8.9, which has
[2:40] been added, which is correspondence from chief Bergen regarding an
[2:44] update on efforts to address gun violence in Hamilton. And
[2:48] then finally, we have an added item. On our closed
[2:52] agenda, a consent item 3.13. And that qualifies as being
[2:58] a closed item based on section 44, one and two
[3:01] of the CSPA. Thank you. Do we have a mover?
[3:06] In a second for the agenda. One, two. Thank you.
[3:15] Discussion on the agenda. Go ahead. There is one item.
[3:24] From. Last public board meeting that I did not get
[3:27] a chance to speak to, and I kindly asked permission
[3:30] to. Seek clarifying question and speak to that agenda item
[3:36] about the reporting back from the policy recommendations. That emerge
[3:40] from the special budget meetings in February. We'll do that
[3:46] at the end, or we can do it at the
[3:48] end of the chief's report. Whichever you. It's the one
[3:50] part we weren't able to. Do last year, but the
[3:52] chief had the answers ready. I believe so. We'll do
[3:55] that. Okay. Can I have a vote? All those in
[3:59] favor? The agenda is carried. Declarations of conflicts of interest.
[4:07] Are there any declarations of conflict of interest? Seeing none.
[4:12] We'll move on. Delegation is presentations and verbal updates. There
[4:16] are no delegations. This month. Members of the month. Chief.
[4:22] Thank you very much. And through the chair, I'd like
[4:23] to call upon Inspector Carolyn Rashford for member of the
[4:27] month. Through your chair. The member of the Montreal Montez,
[4:31] Councillor James Dominsky. Unfortunately, he's. Unable to attend, so we
[4:35] will defer this presentation until the next board meeting. I
[4:39] would like to highlight a project that run out of
[4:40] Division Two. The commanders of the division are superintendent stellar
[4:44] and Inspector Dor. Project, take Back 2.0, was championed by
[4:49] Councillor Chris McGregor and Councillor Mike Musanovich. But I was
[4:52] adopted by the whole division. I'll point out that this
[4:56] is the second iteration of the project. The original project
[4:59] was equally successful and won the John Peds Problem Oriented
[5:02] Policing award in 2023. The project was focused on fighting
[5:07] the ongoing stolen vehicle issue in the city of Hamilton.
[5:10] Highlights from the project include, but are not limited to,
[5:13] 31 arrests, which led to 145 charges. 60 recovered vehicles
[5:19] for total recovered value of 1,599,500. One firearm that was
[5:25] seized, 50 failed to comply. Charges were laid. 17 operation.
[5:30] While prohibited, charges were laid. Eleven firearm charges and three
[5:34] dangerous operation of motor vehicle charges. And that's it, sir.
[5:37] Thank you. Thank you, Inspector. The board chair's verbal update
[5:42] will be short. We're in for a busy fall.
[5:52] We're coming into budget season. We're now in the middle
[5:56] of summer and will not meet again till the end
[5:58] of September. In the meantime, we have two committees that.
[6:05] Are shorthanded and they're moving ahead as best they can.
[6:09] So we're forced to prioritize. So it's fairly obvious that
[6:12] when we come to the budget, committee. We know what
[6:14] the priority is. It's the 2025 budget. It's an ongoing
[6:18] process. You will note. In our policies. It is actually
[6:23] the only policy that actually from the solicitor general requires
[6:28] the board and the service. To do a joint. Operating
[6:33] budget plan. So that process is underway. The first meeting
[6:37] took place. We're getting better at getting people engaged. The
[6:43] governance committee is still a little shorthanded, but we can
[6:46] always pull together to do things. We've highlighted a few
[6:49] things that are going to happen today. And they've already
[6:52] been dealt with before, but they're not going away, so
[6:55] we're going to kind of work on the things that
[6:57] get us through to the rest of the year for
[6:59] now and that are directly related to the coming into
[7:02] force of the new act. There's still lots of work
[7:05] to be done on that, so please. Bear with us
[7:08] as we move forward. That's all I have. Thank you.
[7:12] Chief. May I please have a mover and a secondary
[7:16] to receive the chair's update? All in favor? Thank you.
[7:23] Chief, your update, please. Thank you very much. And through
[7:26] the chair, I want to address the ongoing concerns regarding
[7:29] the recent rise in gun related crimes in our city
[7:32] and provide an update on the actions being taken by
[7:35] the Hamilton Police Service to address this critical issue. Please
[7:38] be assured. That the Hamilton Police Service is fully aware
[7:42] of the gravity of the situation and is actively working.
[7:45] To combat gun violence, we've recently made our dedicated shooting
[7:50] response team a permanent fixture within our service. This team
[7:53] is specifically trained and equipped to respond swiftly and effectively
[7:57] to our incidents involving firearms. Their presence has already made
[8:01] a significant impact, and we are confident that the continued
[8:04] efforts will contribute. To reducing gun related crimes. In Hamilton.
[8:09] Last week, our efforts led to the successful seizure of
[8:12] multiple firearms on the Hamilton Mountain. This investigated investigation highlights
[8:17] the dedication and hard work of our officers in making.
[8:20] Our streets safer yesterday we received a call from a
[8:24] concerned community member about an erratic driver on Upper James
[8:28] street. This individual reported a vehicle speeding and repeatedly crossing
[8:32] into oncoming lanes for an extended distance on Upper James
[8:36] street. Thanks to this community member, our officers were able
[8:39] to safely conduct a traffic. Stop at Fennel Avenue, and
[8:42] upon approaching the vehicle, officer detected a strong odor of
[8:46] marijuana and observed the driver exhibiting nervous behavior. The driver
[8:50] then admitted to having a handgun in his pocket as
[8:54] a result, a loaded glock 26 was seized, along with
[8:58] a quantity of crack cocaine and. Scales found in the
[9:02] vehicle. In addition to the work of our shooting response
[9:05] team, we are enhancing our community outreach and engagement. Initiatives.
[9:10] We are committed to fostering stronger relationships with community members
[9:14] and leaders to gather crucial information that can help prevent
[9:17] crimes before they occur. Our strategy includes increased patrols and
[9:22] high risk areas, collaboration with local organizations, and the use
[9:26] of strategic policing partners to track and deter criminal activities.
[9:31] Furthermore, we have enhanced our offender management strategy to focus
[9:35] more intensely on serious, repeat violent offenders with firearms. The
[9:40] recent c 48 bail reform, which came into effect this
[9:44] year, has provided us with additional tools to manage these
[9:47] offenders more effectively, ensuring that those who pose the greatest
[9:52] risk in our community are kept off the streets. It
[9:56] is also essential to recognize that addressing gun violence requires
[10:00] active involvement of our entire community. These efforts start with
[10:05] engaging at risk youth early in their lives, providing positive
[10:08] role models and steering them away from a life of
[10:11] crime. We often face challenges due to the lack of
[10:14] witness support, which hampers our investigations. Therefore, I urge all
[10:19] community members to come forward with any information they may
[10:22] have, no matter how small it may seem at the
[10:25] time. By working together and sharing information, we can make
[10:28] a significant difference. Anyone with information can contact the police
[10:33] directly or provide tips anonymously through crime stoppers. In addition,
[10:38] The province. Ontario has been actively collaborating with us to
[10:42] address this issue. Funding and resources have been allocated to
[10:46] support our initiatives, and we are working closely with our
[10:49] provincial policing partners to ensure that our community has the
[10:52] necessary tools and support to combat gun violence effectively. For
[10:58] your reference, here are the numbers of shootings in Hamilton
[11:01] over the past five years. 20, 20, 51 shootings. 20,
[11:06] 21, 39 shootings. 20, 22, 45 shootings. 20, 23, 35
[11:14] shootings. Of note this year. Today we are currently at
[11:17] 40 shootings. I understand the importance of transparency and accountability,
[11:22] and we are committed to keeping you informed about the
[11:25] steps we are taking and the progress we are making.
[11:28] Since January 2024, members of our service have taken 260
[11:34] firearms off our streets. I want to thank the community
[11:38] for their involvement. But more importantly, I want to take
[11:41] a moment. To thank the men and women of this
[11:43] organization who are doing everything they can to mitigate the
[11:46] challenges of the gun violence. We are. Thank you, chair.
[11:51] Thank you, chief. Any questions of the chief? Can I
[11:55] have a motion to receive his report and a second?
[12:06] Any further discussion. None. All in favor? Carried. The administrative
[12:14] director give a short update. Thank you. And through you
[12:18] chair. Just wanted to mention that Vice chair Robertson and
[12:24] myself will be attending the CAPG conference in. Halifax, August
[12:28] 8 through 11th. And finally, I'm in the process of
[12:32] finalizing board member training. There'll be a session with legal
[12:36] counsel Linda Bordelo at our September 26 closed session. The
[12:41] topic. Of discussion will be centered around the board's legal
[12:44] responsibilities found within the community, safety and policing act. The
[12:49] next education session. Education and training session is tentatively set
[12:54] to take place in October and.
[15:30] Will be a half day board governance training session and.
[15:35] Communication spirit for hosting me. It was a couple of
[15:38] weeks ago. Are we submitting? An application. Is this something
[15:47] the service is going to be pursuing? Thank you, member
[15:51] Mennes and through the chair, thank you for, number one,
[15:55] spending time with our members and getting an understanding. As
[15:58] this board knows, PSAp is responsibility of the municipality. We
[16:03] are working with our city partners, we up till now
[16:06] have received several million dollars of funding as the PSAP.
[16:11] Improper. Yes. We will be actively engaged and are actively
[16:14] engaged in our submissions along with the city. And our
[16:17] deadline is recognized as the August the 23rd.
[16:33] Go ahead. Unless there's any
[16:42] member who have had items about the 7.4. Item 7.5,
[16:48] which was. On the. Communication. From Mr. George, executive director
[16:54] of Hamilton Age. Center. I note here specifically, of course,
[16:58] the names of this letter was June 18 and. We
[17:03] did discuss this topic a little bit when Kojo dante.
[17:09] Delegated to the board. But I wanted to highlight. A
[17:15] couple of points that he made here. Members of the
[17:18] public who are maybe watching this recording, or if we
[17:21] were able to live stream it. This is about the
[17:23] selection process for the hate crimes case review team and
[17:27] some concerns that he is raising about this process. And
[17:33] he spoke about how the selection process undermines collaboration, mutual
[17:38] understanding. It negates the fact that individuals can hold intersectional
[17:43] identities. And he recognized that some communities have expressed a
[17:48] willingness to follow. This outline procedure for the selection process
[17:54] for a crime case review. Team members. But just because
[17:58] that. Doesn't negate the concerns that he's raising. In essence,
[18:04] we shouldn't be assembling any team solely because all the
[18:07] individuals agree. With us, right? Like that. Diversity of opinions
[18:10] is really important for us to have a wholesome understanding
[18:13] of our communities. So my question relates to this is
[18:17] through the chair, in light of these concerns, and, of
[18:20] course, again, I note the date, but have any changes
[18:23] been made or planned to be made? To address. These
[18:29] concerns raised by. Our local content expert. Chief. Thank you.
[18:38] Member men and Asians through the chair. Yes. Let's acknowledge
[18:41] that this was received on June the 18th. It was
[18:44] on the eve of the actual closure of the community.
[18:47] Call out for the community advisory panel for the hate
[18:50] crime community Review team by way of some history, this
[18:53] has been something that. Has followed me from my tenure
[18:57] as being sworn in on May 2021. This was one
[19:01] of my goals is to have a hate crime community
[19:03] review team. We have worked with several community members and
[19:07] had more than three town halls specifically to hate crime.
[19:11] It also, at some times, had been confused with race
[19:13] identity based data. And that community advisory panel being made
[19:17] up of ten amazing community members who have already met.
[19:20] Now three times, and I'll just make sure that it's
[19:23] not four, it's. Three times, and already we're seeing the
[19:27] fruits of that amazing group of people and the labor
[19:30] that they're dedicating on race of an identity based data.
[19:33] That being said, with regards to the hate crime community.
[19:36] Review team. We actually. Had upgoing conversations and took the
[19:41] sage advice from our good friend Lyndon George from Hark.
[19:46] So I will let you know that the nuance in
[19:48] this letter was recognized, and as such. The actual expansion
[19:52] of the a crime community view team was by two
[19:55] additional members, and it is now I understand having 13
[19:58] members. 14 members. Do I hear 1514 members that had,
[20:03] in fact, put their hand up and that's the one
[20:06] thing, if I could. I want to thank our community
[20:09] that these are difficult conversations. It's a challenge and understanding
[20:13] in many cases. Being able to have that voice. So
[20:16] what I get in the texture of this is by
[20:19] having 14 people now, and that originally had been a
[20:22] goal of ten to twelve does speak to us. Being
[20:25] inclusive and making sure, recognizing that everybody has a voice
[20:29] within our community. So thank you, community. And we look
[20:31] forward to the advisory panels. Both making sure that our
[20:36] service can better meet the growing needs of our community.
[20:41] Thank you, chief. Thank you, chief. Through the chair. I'm
[20:48] very appreciative. Of the ability of the Hamilton Police Service.
[20:54] To respond to our community members, to understand the nuance
[20:58] of some of the concerns raised and I appreciate. All
[21:02] the work that was done to change processes. Thank you.
[21:06] Deputy chair. Through the chair. Thank you for the report.
[21:15] Okay. Here's the question. Those in favor?
[21:26] Carrie. Thank you. We now move on. To. We didn't
[21:33] have to. We didn't have to lift it. No.
[21:44] The consent agenda. May I please have a mover in
[21:48] a second? Or to approve items 8.1 through 8.9. Member
[21:53] menissus deputy chair, Robinson. Yeah, we're not two years yet.
[22:04] I didn't miss one. I didn't miss yours. Okay.
[22:17] Is there any discussion on the consent agenda? Yes. Thank
[22:25] you. And through the chair, I just would like to
[22:26] know. 8.6. The Hamilton Police. Service board budget committee. When
[22:31] will the next meeting be? Because we know that we
[22:34] seem to be all busy or we would like to
[22:37] know ahead of time. David's been said. When was it?
[22:42] September 26. What was the date? I missed that. I
[22:48] must have fall asleep there. Through you, Mr. Chair. As
[22:54] you know, the board is to hold a minimum of
[22:56] four budget committees meetings a year. The three remaining have
[23:01] been set up and should be in your calendars. I'll
[23:05] check my calendar. Then the next one is set for
[23:09] Monday, September the 9th, at 11:00 a.m.. Okay. Yes,
[23:19] ma'am. The 9th? Yeah, at eleven. Yes. Member minutes.
[23:31] I wanted to just simply quickly speak to item 8.7,
[23:35] which is outlining interest of the board's responsibilities related to
[23:39] the Community Safety and Policing Act. And. For folks in
[23:43] the community. Just. A quick reminder. This act came into
[23:49] place April 1. It has resulted in a huge amount
[23:52] of administrative burden that is primarily been worn by Christian,
[23:57] our administrative director, or. Ms. Stevens and Lucia. Thank you.
[24:06] Members of the public can be aware of the other
[24:08] pressures on the board and why some of our work.
[24:13] Has, like, we've prioritized changing our, you know, updating all
[24:17] of our policies. And that's the royal leaf. That's really
[24:20] Kristen. That's all of your. Work. So thank you. And
[24:23] so folks can follow online in terms of the, I
[24:27] think all of the high priority items have been addressed.
[24:31] And it's a congratulations and thank you so much for
[24:34] everyone behind all of this work. Thank you. Member. That
[24:39] is so true. Like Kirsten better not get sick or
[24:43] hired by another municipality. We're all in trouble. Thank you
[24:48] very much. That was eight points. If there's no further
[24:54] discussion. Here's the question. Those in favor? Opposed.
[25:04] Good. Now, are we ready for. Number nine, which is
[25:07] recommendations. Kristen. Oh, this is board schedule. Okay.
[25:19] I'm still right. I just don't want to get lost
[25:21] here. Okay. We're still in the right place. Okay. Sorry.
[25:26] You can speak to the meeting schedule if you wish.
[25:32] Nine one through you. Mr. Chair? Yes? I've just proposed
[25:35] a meeting schedule for next year. There were appropriate vacancies
[25:41] here in Councillor chambers at city hall. So as you
[25:44] can see. From the report. All of our meetings are
[25:46] going to be on Thursdays. And I did my best
[25:50] to stretch them out so there's adequate time in between
[25:52] meetings. For the service and the board to prepare reports.
[26:02] Any questions for Kristen? Okay. All those in favor? Thank
[26:11] you. Now we move. To. Year end report. Use crime.
[26:22] Chief. Thank you very much. Chair. And through the chair,
[26:26] I'd like to call upon acting deputy. Will mason to
[26:30] introduce our speaker. Yes, thank you. And through you chair.
[26:34] I'm just looking for a stop. Sergeant Dave McKenzie. To
[26:37] make his way down. And while he's doing that, And
[26:42] preparing to present, thanks very much to him for stepping
[26:44] in, Sergeant Jason Tattison, who is our youth services coordinator.
[26:50] Was unavailable for this meeting, but thanks to him, Under
[26:54] Dave's leadership and the leadership of Inspector Frank Messioni is
[26:58] seated behind me. As well as all of our youth
[27:01] engagement team, our school liaison officers, our community service officers,
[27:06] as a former youth services coordinator myself, I have a
[27:09] deep appreciation for the work that they do. And that
[27:14] focus on youth engagement, building those positive relationships. We've seen
[27:20] numerous benefits from that, both in terms of positive relationships
[27:24] being built at a young age that benefits as people
[27:28] move into adulthood. And selfishly, some of those people do
[27:32] become police officers, and we hear about that, and it's
[27:35] a great tool that we use and try to keep
[27:38] our youth engaged. There's also a great connection to our
[27:41] wrist program with a youth social navigator that we're starting
[27:45] to see tremendous benefit from. So with that, I'll turn
[27:48] it over to staff Sergeant McKenzie. Floor is your staff.
[27:55] Present the youth report for 2023. The youth engagement team.
[28:05] Is the community based approach that proactively addresses issues that
[28:08] involve youth age twelve to 26. On the criminal code
[28:13] side. In the YCGA, the youth is defined as somebody
[28:16] between the ages of twelve and 17. But because different
[28:19] community organizations, they have different age limits. We go from
[28:23] twelve to 26. So the youth engagement team. Proactively addresses
[28:29] issues. This is done by community engagement, safety, prevention, education,
[28:35] enforcement, and consultation, and this model supports our youth via
[28:40] community and family initiatives as indicated in the Hamilton community
[28:43] safety and well being plan. This model was presented to
[28:47] the Ontario. Association chiefs of Police. Youth.
[28:57] By our inspector Missioni and a lot of organizations are
[29:01] adopting this model. Switching from an enforcement to an engagement
[29:05] model. The youth services coordinator, the youth engagement team, the
[29:09] school liaison. Community service officers continue to develop meaningful community
[29:13] relationships with innovative and strategic approaches to assist our youth
[29:17] and families relating to safety, engagement, education and consultation. And
[29:23] the youth engagement team engages the community in many different
[29:25] ways. They do it through youth initiatives. Some of our
[29:30] peraction events, community events such as after school tutoring programs,
[29:35] prom patrol, prom patrol is where we collect. A bunch
[29:39] of. We go to our community members, our organization. Suits,
[29:43] dresses to donate. To schools across all the boards for
[29:47] their prongs, because not every. Kid can afford to dress
[29:50] up nice for their prom, so that's just something that
[29:53] we like to participate in. They engage in the community
[29:57] and police in the park and a lot of community
[30:01] presentations. We like to educate the community. Not everybody knows,
[30:05] especially newcomers. Many people don't know what they can. And
[30:09] can't do. In our country, and they reach out to
[30:13] our youth team for consultation. Youth consultations is a different
[30:18] thing. We connect with youth probation, so our youth team
[30:22] likes to engage with probation to engage the youth and
[30:26] sit down with a probation officer to ensure. That everyone's
[30:31] on the same page as far as helping them be
[30:35] acclimated back. Into society, or even if they're not in
[30:39] custody, help them get through. There's also violent threat risk
[30:44] assessments in which the youth engagement team sits with. Many,
[30:49] whether it's the education system, the health care system, the
[30:51] mental health system, and there's some youth that are high
[30:54] risk for violence, and these are usually referred to not
[30:57] by police, but by these agencies, because they don't know
[31:00] what else to do. So they like to loop in
[31:01] police. As far as what can we do? And we
[31:05] sit and we come up with a plan, and each
[31:06] plan is unique for each individual. There's also the youth
[31:11] complex suicide needs, which, again, we have external partners reaching
[31:15] out to. The police and the youth team through the
[31:17] youth sergeant will. Come up with. Unique care plans for
[31:22] these youth to ensure that their needs are met. When
[31:27] it comes to community crime prevention enforcement, the goal is
[31:30] not to criminalize youth. The goal is to rehabilitate and
[31:32] reintegrate youth, foster relationships, and prevent future offenses from occurring.
[31:40] The principles of the YCGA are to prevent crime, rehabilitate
[31:44] with meaningful consequences with timely interventions to promote the long
[31:48] term protection of society. The majority of incidents involving youth
[31:52] crime get resolved by extra judicial measures and in gain
[31:56] for our purposes the YCGA. A youth is defined as
[31:59] a person twelve to 17 and a child under twelve.
[32:03] There's no stats for that. And the reason being is
[32:06] we don't. Charge youth under twelve. In the Hamilton Police
[32:11] applies the spirit of the YCJ by having multiple responses
[32:14] to youth crime. The majority of youth crime gets resolved
[32:17] by extra judicial measures. And people ask, what does that
[32:22] mean? It's usually no further action, a warning, a police.
[32:26] Caution or diversion. And when officers are involved in these
[32:30] situations, they have to weigh factors such as the circumstances,
[32:32] the remorse and the severity and even victim participation. There
[32:37] would be times where something will happen and the person
[32:40] who is the victim will say, I don't want anything
[32:43] done to this youth. And they'll work with the officer
[32:46] to resolve the situation without being charged. And again, the
[32:51] goal is to rehabilitate and reintegrate and prevent future offenses.
[32:55] The objectives of the extrajudicial measures are effective and timely
[32:59] response, which doesn't wait. For the former court process. And
[33:04] by doing these judicial measures, we can encourage young persons
[33:08] to acknowledge and repair, har. Harm caused to the victim
[33:12] and the community. And we can also loop in the
[33:15] involvement of the family in the community and design the
[33:17] implementations of the measures victim participation in decision for measures
[33:22] respect the rights of the young persons and proportionality of
[33:25] the offense. The violent crime. In 2023, 462 youth were
[33:30] involved in violent crimes, with 135 youth being charged.
[33:41] 70%. Received an extra judicial measure. When it comes to
[33:46] property crime, 295 youth were involved and 63% were charged
[33:51] with 77%. Of those receiving an extra judicial measure. When
[33:57] it comes to controlled Drugs and Substances Act 22 youth
[34:01] were arrested. 18 youth were charged and four youth were
[34:06] diverted after arrests and received measures. The most common drug
[34:10] and offense. The most common drug offense was trafficking methamphetamine,
[34:15] followed by trafficking cocaine. And only one youth was charged
[34:21] under the provincial Cannabis Control act, and they received a
[34:23] provincial offenses notice. In total. In 2023 974 youth were
[34:33] involved in crime with 348 charge. The remaining 626 people
[34:39] received an extra judicial measure, which. Represents 64%. When comparing
[34:46] 2023 to the five year average. There was an increase
[34:50] of youth involved in crime by 1%. And if you
[34:53] look at this chart, these are the 15 offenses that
[34:57] constitute 79% of youth. Involved in crime. Then the top
[35:03] three. Criminal offenses were assault level one mischiev and uttering
[35:08] threats. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we do have youth
[35:12] in our community who do not meet the criteria. For
[35:14] extrajudicial measures and despite formal charges, remain at risk to
[35:18] reoffend. The stop program is specifically directed at youth charged
[35:25] formally by the courts and are bound to abide by
[35:27] their conditions of release, such as curfew and house arrests.
[35:31] The program is an effective method for officers to attend
[35:33] the use of residence and to ensure they are compliant
[35:35] with a court imposed conditions. The youth are identified by
[35:39] courts, Ministry of Children, Community Social Services, Probation, Hamilton Police
[35:44] service. Engagement team in 20, 23 31 youth were identified
[35:51] for the program. And in 2023, as you can see,
[35:56] It's not just the youth engagement team that involves in
[35:58] stop checks. It's also divisional officers. Because the divisional officers
[36:03] take ownership of their division to ensure that youth are
[36:06] abiding by their conditions. But not only that, it gives
[36:09] them a chance to sit down at the kitchen table.
[36:12] With their families. A door knocked, they sit down, they
[36:15] have chats with them. And when you look at that,
[36:19] out of 332 stop checks, there are only 58 arrests.
[36:24] And of those 58 arrests, 37 were outside of residence
[36:28] where these youth may have committed other criminal offenses while
[36:31] not abiding by their conditions. So I know officers love
[36:35] doing these stop checks. Because it gives these youth the
[36:38] chance to see these officers, not after. An act. It's
[36:44] more of a drop in. And their families love to
[36:46] see sitting at the kitchen table having coffee with them
[36:50] in uniform. And the community likes to see the officers
[36:53] walking. Up to the house and everyone's like, oh, what
[36:55] do they do? Every nerdy know. What they did. But
[36:58] when the community sees the officers leaving laughing, they know
[37:01] that nothing serious is happening? And they know that the
[37:04] community likes to see that. And in 2014, the chief
[37:09] student advisory committee identified youth mental health as a critical
[37:13] concern and a coordinate approach was implemented in partnership with
[37:16] St. Joe's. Healthcare hps. M search coast and social navigator.
[37:26] And these agencies and programs continue to assist youth who
[37:28] experience mental health crisis in complex presentations. That's the presentation.
[37:36] Any questions? Thank you, Acting Inspector Mackenzie. Questions? For.
[37:47] Thank you, Inspector McKenzie. I wanted to highlight first off.
[37:54] I really loved the way you framed. The importance of
[37:57] having those interactions with youth outside of that high stress.
[38:04] Very intense environments. Of an arrest and actually being able
[38:08] to, outside of those conditions, meet individuals on a personal
[38:12] basis. And that's a really nice framing for the work.
[38:18] And the values that you put into your work, so
[38:22] thank you. I have a couple of questions. I'm going
[38:26] to ask a question about. Your slide first. And that's
[38:33] slide number nine. And this was just a note from.
[38:37] Is that okay? Yes, it is not on the big
[38:42] screen. I'm so sorry. Is that okay? Thank you. And
[38:47] this was. Yes. And this was. In the written report
[38:51] that was in the previous board meeting that I had
[38:54] highlighted a couple of things, and so it was really
[38:57] handy to have this on the screen, so thank you.
[39:01] And. I wanted to draw your attention to. The bottom
[39:06] three. First, right? And I thought that theft was motor
[39:11] vehicle. And I'm looking at percent change rather than overall
[39:14] numbers. And correct me if that is an unfair characterization
[39:19] and just for the public, just noting that the overall
[39:22] numbers. Are between 18 and 22. Right. But the percent
[39:26] change for theft of motor vehicles is it's? Increased by
[39:30] 22%. But then we say possession of weapons increased by
[39:34] 66%. And motor vehicle collisions, which was the one that
[39:38] really caught my attention. There's an increase by over 87%.
[39:44] And so we talked about, like, targeted interventions, and knowing
[39:48] that my knowledge. Of youth crimes is very limited. And
[39:54] you really are the expert here, but could you explain
[39:57] a little bit more about. What? Is your approach to
[40:04] handling some of the sort of hotspots just probably the
[40:08] wrong word? On this. So when you look at those.
[40:13] Thank you for that question. And through the chair. When
[40:16] you look at the denominator, the denominator is small and
[40:20] any sort of when you have a small denominator. One
[40:23] number change is a huge change. If the denominator was
[40:27] 1000 and it went up. By. Eight, it would be
[40:30] like less than 1% change. So a lot of people
[40:33] react to the percent change. But when you look at
[40:35] the overall, we live in a city of 700,000. People.
[40:39] And these theft of motor vehicles, possession of weapons. When
[40:44] you look at those numbers overall, most of these look
[40:49] at the youth that haven't been charged. So when we
[40:52] do these interventions, the goal isn't to charge these youth.
[40:55] These goals are to. Okay, is this a first time
[40:58] offense? And when you look at this, the 53% of
[41:01] possession. Of weapons, 53% or 53% weren't charged. So when
[41:07] you look at that, 15 youth into 2023 were involved
[41:13] in possession of weapons, but over half of them weren't.
[41:15] Charged. So the term weapons can mean a number of
[41:21] things. So, like I said in the previous slide, officers,
[41:24] there's a narrative that we're charging everybody that's false because
[41:28] this data says that we look at the circumstances, we
[41:31] look at the level of remorse, we look at everything.
[41:34] And a lot of times. It could be sheer nonsense.
[41:37] And when the officers see that it's sheer nonsense, it's.
[41:39] Not worth forming. Charging a youth. There are cases that
[41:42] we don't have a choice. Based on the circumstances that
[41:45] we do have to lay those charges. So, again, you
[41:47] see 66%. Overall, that number is glaring. But the reality
[41:53] is we're not out there to overly. Charge you. We're
[41:58] looking to intervene, and if we could intervene early, we're
[42:01] not going to. Have people returning to the system. I
[42:05] love that. And thank you. We were discussing a trauma
[42:09] informed approach to policing and speaking about context. Of each
[42:14] individual. Right. And tailoring that for restorative justice approach, I
[42:20] think. That is wonderful. And thank you for explaining that
[42:23] in a bit more detail. I had a question. That.
[42:29] Is related to. Page 14. For our agenda packages. If
[42:35] the pages are similar. Or the same. And. This is
[42:43] where. It was explaining a bit about. Referrals. To. The
[42:52] wording is if a youth was found to in contravention
[42:55] under the controlled drug. Substances act or the Federal Cannabis
[42:58] Control act met qualifications and extrajudicial measures Referral was forwarded
[43:03] to the John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington. An area
[43:09] in lieu of criminal charges. Right? So. Wonderful examples of.
[43:15] Not charging every use that you come into contact with.
[43:21] However, when I was looking at the numbers here, it
[43:23] seems like referrals to. The John Howard Society actually decreased
[43:29] by 22%. From 2022. The wording is. In 2023, the
[43:36] John Howard decided to receive 78 extraditional measures. Used precharged
[43:41] vibration referrals from the Hamilton Police Service, a decrease of
[43:45] 22% from the 100 froze in 2022, again noting that.
[43:50] Oh, wonderful. Again, noting that. The overall numbers, the absolute
[43:55] numbers. Are still small. And absolutely that percent changes. It's
[44:03] not a fair thing to hyper focus on, however. Many
[44:10] folks who may be skimming these agenda packages online are
[44:14] going to pick up on some of these numbers, and
[44:16] so having a bit more of an explanation of that
[44:18] would be really helpful. So John Howard isn't. So when
[44:22] we look at the referrals may go down. Because a
[44:25] lot of times we not may deal with it before
[44:27] we even get to that referral. Process, so. Within the
[44:32] number, people may say, yes, the numbers have gone down.
[44:35] But they had to be formally charged in order to
[44:37] be referred to John Howard. So if these officers are
[44:40] dealing with this at the front end, there's no reason
[44:42] for them to refer. Them to John Howard. And that's
[44:44] why by this community engagement and seeing youth out there,
[44:49] they realize that. You know what? Yeah. What I did
[44:51] was stupid, and we don't have to charge them, and
[44:53] that's our goal. So if. Somebody takes that perspective to
[44:57] say that. Yeah, we're not doing these referrals, dig? A
[44:59] little deeper because we are doing our job at the
[45:02] front end, so we're not. Dealing with them at the
[45:03] back end. That is perfect. Thank you. That is clarified
[45:06] a lot for me. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank
[45:09] you. Any more questions for the inspector? Yes, member. Thank
[45:14] you. And through the chair. Thank you, Inspector. Your sergeant
[45:20] or your inspector? Okay. Whatever. Thank you. I just want
[45:27] to ask. The question youth. And when you said twelve
[45:31] to 17 year olds to me. They're children. I just
[45:35] took the international children's game to Mexico. And they're for
[45:39] competition, and they're really children. And I'm just wondering. When
[45:43] I read 295 involve you, six to three of you
[45:47] were charged with property crime. And 228 received extra judicial
[45:52] measure. Then I read about the drug 22 youth were
[45:56] arrested under the controlled drug substance and 18 were charged.
[46:00] I'm just wondering. In your opinion? Taking the police laisson
[46:05] out of the school. Is that any relationship? That why
[46:13] we're seeing an increase of one. Excuse me. Member Paul?
[46:16] This was discussed, and the chief dealt with it at
[46:18] the last meeting, okay? We don't need to go down
[46:22] that road. Okay. I just want to say that I.
[46:25] Believe because of all the things we interact with children.
[46:28] It's important because I know. Your story, how you became
[46:31] a police officer. It's amazing. So I just wanted to
[46:34] bring. It out that it's important that these are children.
[46:37] Talk to 17, and we need to give them guidance
[46:41] as well. But my next question real quick, because I
[46:43] know we're in a hurry beside John Howard. Who else
[46:48] do we refer them to? There's a provincial contract. Through
[46:54] the chair. And correct me if I'm wrong, Inspector missioni.
[46:58] We have a provincial relationship through the chair spectator mission.
[47:03] Go ahead. Thank you. Into the chair. I was just
[47:06] going to mention I was trying to signal Dave here.
[47:08] That the YMCA is also another agency to refer our
[47:11] youth group. With that, the URS program to YMC. So
[47:15] high risk, high risk youth do get referred to the
[47:18] YMCA as well as John Howard society. Okay. Thank you
[47:24] for that. I know there's a lot. There's liberty for
[47:26] youth. And all different kinds of organization. The reason I
[47:29] brought up the other one is because when I look
[47:31] on page 95, it says all the places that we
[47:37] communicate with, and one of them is the Hamilton Police
[47:39] Service and the school board lays on committee, so. We
[47:44] do engage with school board, so I just want the
[47:46] public to know that. That's one of our engagement that
[47:49] we do and how much we need it. That's? Why
[47:51] I brought it up. Thank you. And thank you again.
[47:54] Thank you. Any more questions for the inspector. Thanks very
[47:58] much. That was an excellent. Presentation, inspector. Thank you. I
[48:05] now call the question. Those in favor of receiving this
[48:09] report. Opposed. Thank you. Now we move to ten one,
[48:15] which are motions. You'll see that there is a motion.
[48:19] To. We need to. It came out of our last
[48:22] meeting. There is a requirement to have. Us draft a
[48:31] policy with regards. To body worn cameras that give us
[48:35] appropriate direction to the chief. Hold on. Do we have
[48:42] a motion? I do believe the deputy chair has a
[48:47] motion. We have a motion, but I'd like to make
[48:57] a friendly amendment to it, if that's. Please do, Mr.
[49:00] Chair. Through the chair. Said that enough. That the administrative
[49:05] director ad be directed to prepare a draft board policy
[49:10] on the use of body worn cameras by the Hamilton
[49:13] Police Service and that the ad consult with the service
[49:17] when preparing this draft. Board policy and. That, dad. Include
[49:26] the draft board policy where police draft a board. Police
[49:32] how it aligns with. The 2021 Information or Privacy Commission
[49:36] of Ontario's model governance framework for body worn camera program
[49:42] in Ontario. Report and recommendations contained herein and that this
[49:47] draft board policy be presented to the board for their
[49:51] consideration. September 26, 2024, to regular board meeting. A second
[49:56] here, please. Thank you. Any discussion. I think it's fairly
[50:02] simple how we got to here. This is one of
[50:04] those policies that we don't yet have. We know there's
[50:07] some discussion as the chief tries to get ahead of
[50:10] a contractual challenge. This is the board policy telling him
[50:16] to have a procedure and he will come back to
[50:19] us. With an appropriate procedure that can assure us, or
[50:22] can assure us that he has one that meets in
[50:24] particularly these privacy requirements as outlined by the federal commissioner
[50:29] and the provincial commissioner. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. For all
[50:37] of the Hamilton public listening. So that was a discussion
[50:40] that we are having. As. The board about different reports
[50:45] about privacy concerns with body ward cameras, not negating the
[50:49] importance of them. But thinking about how do we incorporate.
[50:54] This innovation in a safe way. And. I wanted to.
[51:03] Add. One thing highlighting for the members of the public
[51:06] that this is going to be on the agenda. For
[51:07] the September meeting, then. My comments last meeting about having
[51:13] enough notice for members of the public to come and
[51:15] to raise any concerns, if they have them, or to
[51:18] engage with the board about this. There is also. An
[51:24] additional note in the privacy commission. Of Canada report about
[51:28] body wearing cameras. Was that 2017? I think was the
[51:34] year on that report. But it talked about. A privacy
[51:40] impact assessment. And I know that that was done. For
[51:45] the license plate. Car cameras. But can we have a
[51:51] privacy impact assessment done? In advance. I think that would
[51:55] help inform all of our decisions going forward, too. Chief,
[52:01] are you okay with that? I think you already. Absolutely.
[52:03] Thank you very much. And we have followed that procedures
[52:05] and all of our adoptions of the technology. And this
[52:08] is an outward facing as we have agreed at the
[52:11] board, that to improve public trust, Provide adequate and timely
[52:15] evidence, but also to have an unbiased record of our
[52:18] interactions to make sure we have community and officer safety.
[52:22] So, yes, we will achieve that with our report back.
[52:25] To the board. And once again, I just like to
[52:28] note the contribution of our administrator in this to get
[52:32] ready. For this. She's drafting minutes, drafting motions. She's also
[52:37] been on the phone confirming. What other of the Big
[52:42] twelve are doing in Ontario. Most have started the same
[52:46] process. We're down because we started down this road because
[52:50] there were grants available, so. They had access to the
[52:53] same grants for license, and that's where we're headed. But
[52:56] great work once again by Kirsten. And thank you for
[53:00] the positive input, all of you. Now. I'll call a
[53:03] question, if that's okay. Those in favor? Opposed. Passed. Thank
[53:09] you. Hold on. We got to go back
[53:19] to here. Okay. Number 13. Adjournment.
[53:29] Pardon me. You're right. I'm sorry. I did promise. Member
[53:36] Menace? She could have five minutes. I'd say three, because
[53:41] I really wanted to do this under 2 hours, but
[53:43] you can. Have five of something she wanted to bring
[53:46] up that a number of the board members were involved.
[53:48] And it's something we're going to deal with down the
[53:50] road. The floor is yours. Member Menesis? Thank you. And
[53:58] for members of the public. This was related to. Item
[54:03] eleven point ten from. The June board meeting. And I
[54:09] apologize that I didn't. Speak up in time. To outline
[54:18] a comment and a question or a clarification. And so
[54:22] this was regarding. The February 13 motions that. They emerged
[54:30] from our learnings, from the experiences from the February 2024
[54:33] special budget. Deliberations, right? And those learnings being that the
[54:41] budget recommendations should also be informed by the actual. Service
[54:45] providers. The police service. And that they should be made
[54:50] in collaboration with the service. And. That. Really? This motion
[54:58] included. An ask to report back. On certain policies that
[55:03] were in the budget. Motions that member Cretch and I
[55:09] had put forward. That included merging certain departments with city
[55:14] of Hamilton departments. And thank you for outlining a detailed
[55:17] report of that. That was very helpful. It included, like,
[55:21] clarification on reporting ratios. And so thank you for that
[55:24] clarification. It has really increased my understanding of reporting ratios.
[55:29] My visit with the communications team also helped increase my
[55:32] understanding of the complexities of reporting ratios in different departments
[55:35] in context, within the Hamilton Police Service. And then the
[55:39] last one was by talking about the mounted units. And
[55:42] I want to just highlight here that this was informed
[55:44] by the substantial like 10% of the over 100 written
[55:48] delegations. To the special budget meeting. Talked about. The mounted
[55:58] unit, right? And. This was not. A direction on an
[56:04] operational decision, but really. It was asking for a report
[56:07] on the feasibility or the unfeasibility of doing so. That
[56:13] the motion. When it was proposed at the board meeting,
[56:16] had the opportunity for the chief to speak to the
[56:18] feasibility. And you asked for a bit more time. To
[56:23] provide that report. The reason. Why a number of members
[56:30] of this board voted for this motion, even though we
[56:32] have very different views on this. Was to increase our
[56:37] communal understanding of the mounted unit, right? And to also
[56:42] increase the community understanding of the mantra units. So the
[56:45] way I see it is that was an opportunity for
[56:47] your expert opinion. On the operationals, on the operations side
[56:52] of the police service. To explain to us why he
[56:57] felt this unit provided a service that was invaluable. Right.
[57:00] That was more important than all the other member mannetsis.
[57:04] We're going far. Down a rabbit hole here again. You
[57:08] got 30 seconds. Okay. So for me, it was an
[57:12] opportunity to share your knowledge, to increase understanding, and to
[57:14] help bring our increasingly fractured communities together in finding common
[57:18] ground. And I will say that. I felt hurt by
[57:24] your response. That stated that this was an operational decision.
[57:30] At no point was the motion intended. To direct you
[57:34] operationally. But rather. To gain a better understanding from your
[57:40] point of view. I'm making one single comment on my
[57:43] feelings when I read this. That does not negate all
[57:46] of the rest of our positive interactions. I'm simply trying
[57:50] to be open, that I felt. A bit dismissed by
[57:54] asking for more information on the mount. Not receiving it,
[57:57] and I'm saying this in light of. The mirrored concerns
[58:03] or questions about the magic unit that informed this motion
[58:06] in the first place. If I have misread. Your response?
[58:14] I humbly ask for clarification. Thank you. Chief. Thank you
[58:22] very member mennas and through the chair. At no time
[58:26] would I want to diminish. Your opinion or anything, but
[58:30] I chose not to discern or make assumptions, I guess.
[58:34] In it. I went to the letter of. What is
[58:36] the request of the motions to be fair? Those motions.
[58:43] Are also on the heel of over 60 other questions
[58:46] that we have responded which had comprehensive responses. All in
[58:50] there, so. This was a response to the board specific
[58:54] to the motion language. Thank you.
[59:05] Thank you for clarification. And responding to the letter of
[59:09] the word. I suppose all that we can ask for.
[59:15] And. I would not be doing my job in terms
[59:19] of. Raising my voice and my concern as a board
[59:23] member. That I had questions about the mounted units, and
[59:28] thank you for clarifying for me. And the only thing
[59:32] I would ask, and through the chair is that anytime
[59:34] you can come to any of our operating. Operations units.
[59:37] As you've already availed yourself on some, I'm confident that
[59:40] we could encourage you to come to the mounted unit
[59:43] and see also what our marine unit, our k nine
[59:46] unit and all the other amazing units that we have
[59:48] in our organization, I welcome you to do that. Thank
[59:52] you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That completes the agenda
[1:00:00] for today. Kind of have a motion to adjourn, please.
[1:00:12] We did, so we didn't do bad. Thank you. And
[1:00:15] once again I will say, This agreement is not disrespect.
[1:00:20] That said, we're about to go into the budget. And
[1:00:26] a lot of this stuff is going to come up
[1:00:27] again. There's going to be ample time for you to
[1:00:30] be part because you're on the budget committee. There is
[1:00:33] ample time for you to look into these things and
[1:00:35] ask all the questions that you want and your number
[1:00:38] one target is sitting right up there. She's got her
[1:00:42] calculator out and her computer ready to go, so I
[1:00:45] encourage you to ask the questions. But just remember, when
[1:00:48] we come to the board. We're not going into individual
[1:00:51] items. That discussion is over, and we are moving ahead
[1:00:54] with. What we say that we want the chief to
[1:00:58] take to city Councillor because he has to go. And
[1:01:00] justify it. Can I have a motion to adjourn, please?
[1:01:05] Thank you, Mr. Deputy. All in favor. Thank you. We
[1:01:10] are done. We will meet again on the 26 September.
[1:01:13] Thank you.