Law of Policing Conference, Eastern Edition

Registration Opens and Refreshments Served

Opening Remarks from the Co-Chair

Sgt. Amar Gosal
Professional Standards Unit (PSU)
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), O Division

Bail Reform Act: The Expected (and Unexpected) Impact of How Bill C-48 Amendments are Changing Policing

Jon Reid
President
Toronto Police Association

Eric Neubauer
Defense Counsel
Neubauer Law
Co-Chair
Criminal Lawyers Association Technology Committee

This session will look at Bill C-48, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (bail reform) which comes into effect January 2024. How will the bill work in concert with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Criminal Records Act.

• Creating a new reverse onus to target serious repeat violent offending involving weapons
• Expanding the list of firearms offences that trigger a reverse onus
• Broadening the reverse onus targeting repeat offenders of intimate partner violence
• Clarifying the meaning of the terms “prohibition order” in an existing reverse onus for offences involving weapons
• Requirement for:
  • courts to consider an accused person’s history of convictions for violence when making a bail decision
  • courts to state on the record for any bail decision that they have considered the safety and security of the community in relation to the alleged offence (thereby increasing accountability to the public)
  • courts to state on the record for any bail decision how they have considered the particular circumstances of Indigenous accused and accused from vulnerable overrepresented populations, as required by section 493.2 of the Criminal Code

Preparing for Incoming Disciplinary Regimes under the Reformed Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA)

Lauren Katz
Counsel
Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General

Larry Vieira
Counsel
Toronto Police Association

The Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act (2019) which came into effect April 2024, with updated rules for disciplinary hearings. Different types of disciplinary action can be imposed by the Chief of Police without first conducting a hearing. 

• Status report on the timeline for implementation
• How the disciplinary regime in the Act will affect professional standards, and internal disciplinary prospective?
• Disciplinary hearings in the matter of termination and demotion
• Deciphering when suspension without pay apply, under what conditions
• When to go to adjudication

Networking Break

FOCUS ON BWC PART I

BWC Investigative Techniques and How Evidence is Now Being Used in Court

Sunil Mathai
Senior Counsel, Crown Law Office
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General

Deqa Nur
Executive Director
Hooyo Innovation Hub
Member, Community Advisory Panel
Toronto Police Service

Margaret Sciortino
Hearings Officer
Canada Border Services Agency
Community Advisory Panel Co-Chair
Toronto Police Service

In a precedent-setting 2023 Ontario Court decision, the act of two Toronto Police Service officers muting their body worn cameras during an arrest, has resulted in an acquittal following a 2021 impaired driving charge. In a second unrelated case, gun charges were dropped after Durham Regional Police officers testified they also muted their microphones mid-arrest. This session will discuss the evolving legal implications of BWC evidence in court.

The Legal Parameters Affecting AI Ethics, Law, Policy and Usage by Police

Dubi Kanengisser
Executive Director
Toronto Police Services Board

Katherine Robertson
Senior Research Associate, Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
University of Toronto

• Identifying the scope and legal parameters of AI usage in policing
• Determining how police can use AI tools for investigations and in evidence
• Creating a policy forward process that anticipates the implementation challenges and the evolution of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Exploring AI applications in direct correlation to known problems, including optimizing resources
• How to proactively address privacy concerns 
• Authenticating audio and video, and identifying manipulated evidence

Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Delegates

Keynote Address

STATUS UPDATE

Dissecting Trends in Complaints and Charges Against Police and Disciplinary Outcomes – From Use of Force to Frivolous Complaints

Justin Amaral
Legal Counsel
National Police Federation

Carla Goncalves
Deputy Director
Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA)

Sgt. Amar Gosal
Professional Standards Unit (PSU)
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), O Division

Jennifer Smith
Executive Director
New Brunswick Police Commission

Delegates will hear a status report on the types of complaints being lodged against police officers, the frequency of the types of complaints, and how there are viewed by oversight agencies. Discover which types of complaints are most common, which are considered vexatious and/or frivolous, and which are of most concern.

Networking Refreshment Break

The Evolving Case Law on Using Electronic Surveillance: Grey Areas and How to Navigate Them

Anil K. Kapoor
Barrister
Kapoor Barristers

Solomon Friedman
Partner
Friedman Mansour LLP

This session will look at the evolving legal, operational and budgetary challenges surrounding electronic surveillance.

• Examining the reasonable expectation of privacy in IP addresses, with a look at the SCC pending decision in R. v. Bykovets (2022)
• Ensuring the data can be searched, and examining R. v. Cuffie (2020) ONSC
• When the Crown’s disclosure of non-searchable PDF constitutes meaningful disclosure
• Handling the volume of data acquired by electronic surveillance and disclosure requirements

CROSS-BORDER INVESTIGATIONS

Combating Cyber and Trafficking Crimes Affecting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Taken Across the Border

This session will delve into the awareness and prevention work the United States Department of Homeland Security is doing to address missing and murdered Indigenous people, both in the realm of cybercrime and human trafficking, across the U.S.-Canada border.

• Recognizing the red flags of trafficking in a community
• Evidence gathering and information sharing
• Maintaining a list of trafficking incidents
• Giving expert testimony in court
• Explaining evidence gathering, and sharing techniques and technology in court

Closing Remarks from the Co-Chair

Registration Opens and Refreshments Served

Remarks from the Co-Chair

Carding, Legacy Data and the Liability for Police Department

A 2023 class action lawsuit has been brought against Toronto Police Service for the historical and ongoing practice of “carding” and data retained from carding. This session will review Chief Justice of Ontario Michael Tulloch 2018 “Report of the Independent Street Checks Review” as well as take stock of implementation of the 129 recommendations.

FOCUS ON BWC-PART II

BWC Privacy Policy: How Police Services are Updating the Privacy and Body Worn Camera Policy

R. Kyle Friesen
General Counsel, Legal Services
Surrey Police Service

• Clarifying when BWC need to be on vs off
• What discipline themes/challenges arise in connection with BWC
• Discussing cases on BWC and their lessons
• Where are the gaps in the policy from department to department
• Setting out expectations of usage
• Guidelines for when/when not to take disciplinary action

Networking Break

Conducting Complaint and Misconduct Investigations Under Ontario’s Incoming
Community Safety and Policing Act

Anitra Basant Sisavang
Executive Director
York Regional Police Services Board

Heather Mackay
Crown Counsel, Office of the Independent Police Review Director
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General

Coming into effect for April 2024, the Community Safety and Policing Act, (2019) (CSPA), as part of the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, (2019), will replace the current Police Services Act (PSA).

• Conducting complaint and misconduct investigations under the new Act
• Examining how discipline, suspension and independent adjudication will be handled under the new Act
• What is considered “adequate and effective policing” under the new Act
• Examining how the roles and responsibilities of the boards and chiefs are changing
• Analysing anticipated changes in labour relations

Cracking Cold Cases with Emerging DNA Technologies and the Impact on Case Outcomes

Jack Laird
Senior Manager, Biology
Ontario – Ministry of the Solicitor General

Jeremy Tatum
Counsel, Crown Law Office, Criminal
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General

• Evolving investigative techniques
• Investigative Genetic Genealogy
• DNA evidence admissibility litigation

Networking Luncheon for Speakers and Delegates

Cybercrime Investigations: Canadian and International Perspectives on Cross-Border Collaboration

Insp. Lina Dabit
OIC FP Cybercrime Investigative Team, Toronto CIT
Royal Canadian Mounted Police

• Examining the latest in digital forensic investigative techniques
• Trends in cyber investigations from the private sector perspective
• Partnering and sharing information: How, when and what gets shared between agencies

Prisoner Release: What Information Can and Cannot be Shared between Police, Corrections and the Public

Sarah Hunter
Director, ATIP
Correctional Service Canada

This session will examine what information is shared between corrections and police when an inmate is released as well as the information sharing process.

• Examining standard information sharing process, and when information is shared, with whom, and when
• Deciphering when additional information can be requested, under what circumstances
• Analysing what types of information are considered private and what is in the police/public interest
• Writing production orders for corrections

Networking Refreshment Break

The Finer Points of Disciplinary Hearings Amid Long-Term Disability Claims: Special Considerations and Key Pitfalls to Avoid

David Butt
Barrister
Camden Lane Law Chambers

• Adhering to hearing timelines and meeting the duty hold hearings within a reasonable timeline
• Delineating when a disability claim will result in a hearing postponement, and when proceedings can move forward
• Analyzing how mental health disability will impact a professional standard’s hearing, including timelines and delays
• Addressing the medical evidence in a trial
• Outlining which medical information a physician can share with police and/or an employer

The Roles of Community Advisory Boards and the Coordination with Police

Anitra Basant Sisavang
Executive Director
York Regional Police Services Board

Under the incoming Community Safety and Policing Act (2019), police services boards are required to create a diversity plan to ensure that the members of the board reflect the diversity of the surrounding municipal population.

• Examining the liaison role between police and community, from day-to-day and when there is an emergency situation
• The impact of a community advisory board on situations such as a protest, compared to when there is  no community advocate
• Calibrating communication when a community is in mourning
• Addressing the unmet needs of a community and bringing those to police attention

Closing Remarks from the Co-Chair