The Panel's mandate and process

The Ontario Provincial Police Independent Review Panel (“the Panel”) was established by Orders in Council 643/2019 and 644/2019 on May 2, 2019, and further to section 3 of the Police Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, chapter P.15, section 3.^{footnote 1[1]}

The Panel’s mandate is to undertake an independent review of the workplace culture of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in light of recent suicide deaths and mental health concerns of OPP members, as well as complaints about the workplace culture by current and former OPP staff.

The Panel is tasked with making recommendations on:

• The root causes and potential remedial actions to address the alarming rate of suicides, bullying and workplace harassment.
• Concerns identified by frontline officers and other OPP staff that contribute to a negative workplace culture, and how those concerns have been or are being addressed.
• How to improve the way complaints and concerns by frontline officers, civilians and the bargaining agent of the OPP are addressed by all levels of the organization.

The Panel appreciates that the Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of the Solicitor General, has acknowledged the significance of these issues at the OPP and across policing in Ontario.

Our approach to this mandate has been to:

1. acknowledge that, while we bring a depth of experience to the table, we are not mental health or policing experts
2. listen to the experiences of individuals across the organization as well as to the guidance of experts
3. respect that the impact of this Report is in both the clear framing of the urgency of the situation and in making recommendations that are practical and resonate across the organization

To this end, the Panel’s process has been one of exploration and dialogue. Since commencing its review in May 2019, the Panel has engaged with OPP members representing a cross-section of the organization – senior members, members in specialized units, detachment constables, civilian members working in internal operations, administration and human resources. We have also spoken with leadership of the member associations, and former members and families of members who died by suicide.

The Panel has been able to meet with Commissioner Carrique on a number of occasions and we have appreciated his wise contributions and clear dedication to addressing mental health and workplace culture issues.

Members have welcomed the Panel and been supportive of the Review and its objectives, sharing their own experiences and recommendations for improvement. Our engagement with members was multi-dimensional and included:

• A confidential and anonymous survey from July 2-July 23, 2019 open to all current and retired members of the OPP with 5,192 responses. Of total survey respondents, there were 4,750 current member respondents, representing approximately 52% of the overall OPP membership and 412 retiree respondents.  [see Malatest Survey Executive Summary at Appendix C]^{footnote 2[2]}
• An email address (inquiries@opp-irp.ca) launched on July 1, 2019 received over 250 substantive emails from OPP members and former members, sharing personal experiences and insights for improvement and a number of submissions from members of the public.
• A dedicated web page launched on July 1, 2019 which attracted more than 4,800 pageviews.
• A series of roundtables open to members across the five geographic regions, attended by more than 55 uniform and civilian members reflecting a range of positions including frontline constables, sergeants, communications operators, information analysts and administration.
• Individual conversations with 18 current and former members to better understand their own personal experiences.
• Individual conversations with four family members of OPP members who have died by suicide.

The survey provided options for respondents to answer questions and submit comments. We are grateful for the hundreds of comments we received and we have shared some of these anonymous and de-identified responses in this Report to highlight key themes.

In addition to the critical input from members and their families, the Panel benefitted from the information and input given to us by a wide array of important individuals, organizations and stakeholders, including the bargaining agents. The Panel was impressed with the personal dedication of the President of the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA), who actively shares his own lived experience in support of stigma reduction and encouragement to members. The Panel was also deeply appreciative of the thoughtful contributions from and dialogue with the Commissioned Officers Association (COA) and CAMS.

We met with members of the OPP leadership team at GHQ and in the regions, the teams and divisions who currently provide wellness services to members, including pilot projects in detachments, the OPP Academy and Recruitment, and the leaders of the Mental Health Review^{footnote 3[3]} and the OPP Suicide Review.

Beyond the OPP, the Panel has had the benefit of input from many sources including the OPC, the TPS, the Ontario Ombudsman, the RCMP, a number of chiefs of police of self-administered First Nations police services, municipal police services boards in several communities where the OPP provides service, and a group of health care leaders from Windsor, Ontario.

The Panel has also engaged in extensive review and study of reports including the Chief Coroner’s Expert Panel Report on Police Officer Deaths by Suicide, “Staying Visible, Staying Connected, For Life”,^{footnote 5[5]} and wellness reports from police services comparators along with best practices from other police services and the military in Ontario, across Canada, and internationally. As well, we conducted a jurisdictional scan of leading literature regarding police culture, operational stress injury (OSI), PTSD, mental health, and approaches to workplace complaints and conflict resolution.

For a complete list of the Panel’s activities, see Appendix D. For a list of the material reviewed by the Panel, see Appendix E.

This broad review connects the workplace impacts felt by members, the challenging realities of operating a complex police service and the increasing scientific and societal understanding of trauma, mental health, conflict resolution, and policing.

Significant work has already been done inside the OPP by the teams that authored the recent OPP Suicide Review and the Mental Health Review. The findings contained in these reports, driven by input from members and families, contributed greatly to the Panel’s analysis.

This Report contains the observations, findings and recommendations of the Panel. It is not an assignment of guilt or wrongdoing on the part of any individual or organization. Rather, it is our intention to provide the Government and the Solicitor General, Commissioner Carrique, and the members of the OPP and their families with a perspective on the current state of wellness within the OPP and make practical, achievable and meaningful recommendations for improvement.

OPP member engagement with the Panel in 2019

July 2-23

Confidential and anonymous survey open to current and former members of OPP

• 5,192 responses.
• 4,750 current members (52% of OPP membership).
• 412 retiree respondents.

July 1

• email address inquiries@opp-irp.ca launched.
• More than 250 substantive emails received sharing personal experiences/insights for improvement and submissions from members of the public.
• Dedicated webpage launched.
• 4,800 pageviews.

July-August

Roundtables across 5 geographic regions

• More than 55 uniform + civilian attendees reflecting a range of positions (frontline constables, sergeants, communication operators, information analysts, administrators)

July - October

• Individual conversations with 18​ current and former members.
• better understand their own personal experiences.

September - October

• Individual conversations with 4 family members of OPP members who died by suicide.