The law that governs policing in Ontario is set for a dramatic transformation next month, as a series of changes that passed five years ago come into effect.
The Community Safety and Policing Act now has an implementation date of April 1st.
The new act is huge but new rules allowing police chiefs to suspend officers without pay in some circumstances are among those likely to draw the most public attention.
Under the old Police Services Act, the only circumstance in which a police officer wouldn’t get paid while suspended is if they were both convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment.
The new law goes further and also lets chiefs suspend without pay if an officer is in custody or on bail with certain conditions, or if the officer is charged with a serious off-duty offence that could also lead to their firing.
CANADIAN PRESS