CORNWALL, Ontario – The Cornwall Police Services Board received the quarterly report on service and conduct complaints against the Cornwall Police Service (CPS) at their meeting on Thursday, Nov. 4.
So far in 2021, the CPS has received 17 conduct complaints against it and its officers, two more than the previous year’s total.
“Although the numbers are a little higher, I don’t have any concerns at this point,” said Insp. Dave Michaud, who presented the report.
Michaud pointed out that the number of complaints was closer to the annual totals the CPS would receive in years prior to the pandemic, and that the pandemic may have been a factor in seeing a lower than average number of complaints in 2020.
Michaud noted that more reports this year were being sent by the public directly to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), the body which investigates complaints against Ontario police officers.
To date, of the 17 complaints filed against the CPS, the OIPRD had screened out 13. Three were found to be unsubstantiated, and one was resolved through a customer service intervention.
The most common complaint against CPS officers was related to Discreditable Conduct, followed by Excessive Use of Authority and Neglect of Duty.
This quarter, the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was investigating the CPS for two incidents, and had resolved one.
The SIU is an independent body that investigates police interactions with the public in which a death, injury or an allegation of sexual assault has occurred.
There have been a total of four SIU investigations into the CPS so far this year.
