Toronto police registry for vulnerable persons has failed to do its job: Ombudsman

A report by Toronto’s Ombudsman concludes the Vulnerable Persons Registry established by Toronto police four years ago has failed to do its job.

Ombudsman Kwame Addo says while he applauds the service’s desire to improve how it responds to vulnerable people in crisis, “communication failures and poor management have meant that few of the people the registry aims to support have actually registered for it.”

The registry was launched in December 2019, seven years after a Toronto police review of its online reporting software and five years after Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci recommended that such a registry be created following a review of the police’s encounters with people in crisis.

The registry aims to provide the public with an opportunity to create personalized de-escalation strategies for “vulnerable persons” to help officers better understand and respond to specific behaviours they may encounter when interacting with those persons in crisis.

But Addo says four years later only 305 people currently have their information entered into the registry. He says the low registration numbers are not surprising given that no one within the Toronto Police Service took responsibility for managing it and the unit that was supposed to be in charge denies that it was.

“This is a very important tool in the police tool kit and it’s important that it be rolled out and implemented properly,” Addo tells CityNews.

Addo says this lack of accountability created gaps in the Service’s communication about the registry. He notes that the public announcement about the registry was a low-key “one and done” effort, that a community awareness event never happened, details about the registry are no longer available on the police website and staff no longer receive training on how to use or promote it.

“I think there was a missed opportunity by the police. They have internal resources that they could have drawn on that could have helped with the promotion of the registry,” explained Addo.

“If you consider everything that wasn’t done to make sure that this would be a successful launch, it’s probably not surprising.”

Among the 13 recommendations put forth by Addo is a meaningful and detailed information blitz about the goal and purpose of the registry, staff training about respective roles and responsibilities regarding the registry and a clear explanation about how police will use registrant’s personal information.

Toronto police tell CityNews it is committed to fully implementing the recommendations, saying they are “in line with our broader commitment to policing reforms, including how we can best serve community members affected by mental health challenges and intellectual disabilities.” 

The service says it plans on handing over management of the registry to a third party though Addo notes that there is no confirmation on when or if that will happen. 

The report is scheduled to be discussed at the upcoming Toronto Police Service Board meeting next week before it goes before city council.

Erica Natividad contributed to this report