Police's vulnerable persons registry not doing its job: ombudsman
CBC
Only 305 people are registered in Toronto police's vulnerable persons registry because the service failed to promote it properly and no one took responsibility for managing it, a report by the city's ombudsman has found.
Toronto ombudsman Kwame Addo says in the report released Thursday that a lack of accountability led to communication gaps about the vulnerable persons registry (VPR).
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) launched the registry in December 2019 to allow the public to file "personalized de-escalation strategies" to help officers support people with emotional, psychological, medical, or other physical conditions. Addo said the registry would ideally help inform how officers interact with vulnerable people, but problems arose once it was launched.
In a news release on Thursday, Addo said the registry "has failed to do its job."
"Due to communication failures and poor management, the individuals who would benefit or be supported by this resource weren't registering for the service," Addo said in an interview on Thursday.
On top of that, dedicated training was only provided in the first two years of the program and hasn't existed since, he said.
"It's unreasonable to expect officers who don't know about the service, or who are not familiar with the service, to be able to promote it," he added.
Addo said the low registration numbers are not surprising.
"No one within the Toronto Police Service took responsibility for managing the Vulnerable Persons Registry," Addo said.
Police's community partnership and engagement unit was supposed to be in charge of the registry, but told the ombudsman that it was not responsible for managing it. "Liaison officers" were supposed to promote it, Addo said his office was told.
"This lack of accountability created gaps in the Toronto Police Service's communication about the registry. No one is promoting the registry on an ongoing basis, nor is anyone reviewing how communications can be improved, ensuring staff are fulfilling their roles, or providing a central place where people can get consistent answers to their questions," Addo said.
According to Addo, the announcement of the registry was low key and one time, despite police staff saying it should have been ongoing. There was no planned targeted promotion, nor any events to promote community awareness, he said.
More information about the registry is needed on the police's website, he said.
As well, police did not complete a review of the registry's impact on the privacy of registrants and their personal information.
