OTTAWA POLICE SERVICES BOARD

COMMISSION DE SERVICES POLICIERS D’OTTAWA

The Trusted Leader in Policing

Le chef de file de confiance dans la police

REPORT

RAPPORT

DATE 27 January 2014

TO/DEST. Chair and Members, Ottawa Police Services Board

FROM/EXP. Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

SUBJECT/OBJET POLICE SERVICES BOARD ACTIVITY, TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE – 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Ottawa Police Services Board:

1. Receive this report for information.

2. Direct the Executive Director to forward it to City Council for information.

BACKGROUND

In December 2005 the Ottawa Police Services Board received a report from the City of Ottawa Auditor General on the Board’s governance practices. Among the Auditor General’s recommendations were the following:

a) That the Board specify training requirements and report annually (and publicly) on individual member training, and training of the Board as a whole.

b) That the Board determine performance evaluation measures and conduct a formal Board evaluation annually.

c) That the Board report the results of the performance evaluation in a board activity report … (including) information on such things as:

- number of board meetings held

- number of community meetings held

- ceremonial events attended

- number of Council presentations

- hours of commitment

- board training.

The first annual report on Board Activity and Training was submitted to the Board in early 2007 and forwarded to City Council for information; a separate report on the results of the Board’s first formal performance review process was also submitted. At that time the Board decided to conduct comprehensive, formal evaluations at least once every four years and less formal evaluations in other years. Comprehensive performance reviews were conducted for the years 2006 and 2009, and most recently for 2012. The less formal evaluations conducted in other years consist of measuring the Board’s achievements against its work plan for the year. The Policy & Governance Committee takes the lead in conducting these reviews.

This report and the data contained in Annex A constitute the eighth annual report on the Police Services Board’s Activity, Training and Performance, covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2013.

BOARD ACTIVITY

In 2006 the Board approved that the activity indicators noted below would be tracked throughout the year and reported on in the annual report; statistics on the Board’s 2013 activity are contained in Annex A.

Activity Indicators

1. Board and Committee Meetings

The volume of work associated with board and committee meetings on a monthly basis demonstrated by:

· Number of meetings, including all board meetings (public and in camera), meetings of board’s standing committees (Complaints Committee, Finance & Audit Committee, Human Resources Committee, and Policy & Governance Committee), and other committees on which board members serve (Community Awards Selection Committee, Police Scholarship & Charitable Fund Board of Trustees, Thomas G. Flanagan Scholarship Award Selection Committee)

· Hours spent at meetings

· Number of items on agendas (public and in camera)

· Number of pages of agenda material reviewed.

2. Community Meetings

In accordance with the Auditor’s recommendations, the number of community meetings is identified separately from other board meetings and includes statistics on:

· Number of meetings

· Hours spent at meetings.

3. Other Functions & Events

Members of the Police Services Board attend a wide variety of other business functions and ceremonial events outside of board and committee meetings each year, such as: business meetings (OAPSB Board of Directors, Big 12 boards, meetings with city or provincial officials); collective bargaining and other meetings related to labour relations; Ottawa Police Association and Senior Officers’ Association functions; media conferences; briefings; police awards ceremonies; recruit badge ceremonies; community events; and meetings with other community partners. This category records the following statistical information related to these other functions:

· Number of events

· Hours spent at them.

Board Committees

Under the terms of the Board’s Committee Policy #GA-4, the Policy & Governance Committee is required to meet a minimum of four times a year, and the Finance & Audit Committee a minimum of three times a year. The Complaints Committee and Human Resources Committee meet on an as required basis. The number of times the committees met in 2013 was:

Complaints Committee: 0

Finance & Audit Committee: 4

Human Resources Committee: 1

Policy & Governance Committee: 5.

Additional Workload for Board Chair

The indicators tracked and reported on in Annex A do not reflect the additional time the Chair of the Board spends dealing with emails and phone calls on matters related to the work of the Board outside of meetings. The Board Chair estimated that in 2013 an average of 12 hours per week was spent on emails, phone calls and media. The majority of meetings attended by the Board Chair are captured in the statistics for “other functions and events” contained in Annex A.

BOARD TRAINING

The Auditor General’s report emphasized the importance of board member orientation and training as essential elements of good governance. To assist the Ottawa Police Board in ensuring its members make the commitment to ongoing learning, the Auditor General recommended that the Board specify training requirements for its members, and report annually and publicly on training for the Board as a whole and for individual members. The Board captured these recommendations in a Training Policy adopted in 2006. Statistics for training in 2013 are contained in Annex A.

Indicators pertaining to board training include:

· Ministry training attended by board members either individually or as a group

· Other training/education sessions attended by the Board as a group

· Other training/education sessions attended by each individual board member

· Hours spent in training by the Board as a whole and by individual board members.

If the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services offered no training in the year being reported on, the Activity Report will indicate that. Similarly, if there were no members serving their first year on the Board in the year being reported on, the report will indicate that the required orientation training for new members was not applicable for that year. No new members joined the Board In 2013, however one new member joined the Board as of 31 December 2012, so their training is captured in Annex A for 2013.

A recommendation arising from the 2009 performance evaluation and accepted by the Board is to acknowledge in this annual report that failure to engage in appropriate training and development opportunities limits a board member’s ability to participate effectively as a board member.

Another recommendation approved by the Board on 1 February 2010 was that on an annual basis, each member of the Board shall be asked to read and sign the “Police Services Board Code of Conduct” contained in Police Services Act regulation, and that the names of members signing the affirmation form be recorded in the Annual Report on Activity, Training and Performance. The following members have signed and submitted an affirmation form, thereby signifying their review of the Code and their re-commitment to it: A. Doyle, J. Durrell, E. El‑Chantiry, J. Harder, C. Nicholson, L.A. Smallwood and J. Watson.

Board Training as a Whole

Learning about police operations and programs through staff presentations is one of the objectives contained in the Board’s Strategic Plan. In 2013 the Board received educational presentations from OPS staff at regular Board meetings on the following topics:

· Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project

· Ottawa Gang Strategy – A Roadmap for Action 2013-2016 (co-presented by Crime Prevention Ottawa)

· Facilities Strategic Plan 2014-2031

· Guns and Gangs / D.A.R.T. Section.

BOARD PERFORMANCE

As noted earlier, the Policy & Governance Committee reviewed the Board’s achievements against its approved work plan for the year.

2013 Work Plan Achievements

The status of all 2013 Board work plan items at year-end are set out in Annex B. All tasks were completed with the exception of the following (item numbers correspond to the “Establishing Expectations” section of Annex B):

#4 – Develop a Crisis Communications Plan. This was not completed but has been added to the 2014 Work Plan.
#5 – Review existing communications policies, protocols and procedures. This is to be done in conjunction with the previous item and was not completed. It has been added to the 2014 Work Plan.

There were also some reports of a monitoring nature due in December 2013 that were not received due to the cancellation of the Board’s December meeting; these will be submitted to the Board in January 2014. In addition to the items identified in Annex B, the Board also undertook the important tasks of appointing a new Deputy Chief of Police, and collective bargaining with the Ottawa Police Association in 2013.

CONSULTATION

Consultation was not applicable.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no costs associated with this report.

CONCLUSION

This report meets the City of Ottawa Auditor General’s 2005 recommendation to report annually and publicly on the activities, training and performance of the Ottawa Police Services Board. Statistical information was collected throughout 2013 on the number of meetings and other functions attended by Board members and the hours spent at them, as well as training or educational opportunities in which Board members participated. The report also provides information on the Board’s performance in 2013.

In accordance with the Auditor General’s recommendation, it is recommended that this report be forwarded to City Council for information.

(Original signed by)

Wendy Fedec

Executive Director

Attach. (B)