Investing in Public Safety

With rising crime rates, we can’t afford to have a justice system where violent criminals are arrested one day and out on the streets the next.

If an individual is out on bail, they need to follow the rules. High risk, repeat offenders need to be kept in jail.

Along with every other province in the country, we called on the federal government to work with us to fix Canada’s bail system – while we are pleased that they are working with us, there is still more to do.

For our part, we are announcing $112 million in new funding to prevent violent offenders from endangering our communities. This funding includes:

The creation of a new Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension Grant

$24 million will be made available over three years to help the OPP and municipal and First Nations police services establish dedicated bail compliance teams. Teams will also assist prosecutors with gathering evidence and assessing public safety risk during the bail hearing stage.

Grant funding may also be used to acquire bail compliance technology or support a network that police services could use to share bail offender information.

Expansion of the OPP Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad

$48 million to create a dedicated Bail Compliance Unit within the OPP’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad. This new dedicated, province-wide, Bail Compliance Unit will apprehend high-risk provincial offenders who have broken their bail conditions or are unlawfully at large.  

Establishment of Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams

$26 million to create Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams within the courts system to ensure that there are dedicated prosecutors and subject matter experts to prepare for and properly conduct the often lengthy and complex bail hearings.

Rollout of the Bail Compliance Dashboard

A new province-wide bail monitoring system to allow police services to monitor high-risk offenders with the most accurate data possible.

We’ll do anything we can to keep our communities safe.

With these measures we’re giving our partners the tools they need to reduce violence and protect our communities, now and in the future.

Learn more: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002987/ontario-takes-action-on-high-risk-and-repeat-violent-offenders