Greater Sudbury Police Services Board

Mandate

The Greater Sudbury Police Services Board (GSPSB) is responsible for the provision of adequate and effective police services within the City of Greater Sudbury and provides governance and oversight to the Greater Sudbury Police Service.

Reporting Relationship

The Board is mandated under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA), and reports to the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

Membership

The Board is made up of five civilian members:

  • two Provincial appointees,
  • two Municipal Council appointees, and
  • one member of the community as appointed by Council.

Responsibilities

Under section 37(1) of the CSPA, the Board shall:

  • ensure that adequate and effective policing is provided in the area for which it has policing responsibility as required by section 10;
  • employ members of the police service;
  • appoint members of the police service as police officers;
  • recruit and appoint the chief of police and any deputy chief of police and determine their remuneration and working conditions, taking their submissions into account;
  • prepare and adopt a diversity plan to ensure that the members of the police service reflect the diversity of the area for which the board has policing responsibility;
  • monitor the chief of police’s performance;
  • conduct a review of the chief of police’s performance at least annually in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, if any;
  • monitor the chief of police’s decisions regarding the restrictions on secondary activities set out in section 89 and review the reports from the chief of police on those decisions;
  • monitor the chief of police’s handling of discipline within the police service;
  • ensure that any police facilities, including police lock-ups, used by the board comply with the prescribed standards, if any; and
  • perform such other duties as are assigned to it by or under this or any other Act, including any prescribed duties.

Time Commitment

  • The CSPA states that the Police Service Board must hold a minimum of four (4) meetings a year.
  • The GSPSB holds 7-10 regular meetings a year. They break for July and August.
  • There are typically two to three budget meetings in the fall outside of regular meetings
  • Special meetings are added as needed to discuss finance, human resources, and other matters
  • Meetings are scheduled for three hours and include an in-camera and public portion, once a month. The meeting time is agreed upon by the Board and can change depending on the schedules of who is one the Board. Currently they take place in the morning on the third Wednesday of the month
  • Events as scheduled (member awards, volunteer gala, member recognition, and more).
  • There are four conferences a year that the Board traditionally attends: the Police Association of Ontario Conference (usually in January or February), the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards conferences (spring and fall), and the Canadian Association of Police Governance conference (late summer/early fall). These are optional but are encouraged for networking.
  • If elected Chair, there are additional time commitments:
    • A review meeting with Board and Service staff prior to the scheduled Board meeting.
    • Special meetings as required with the Board staff and/or Chief.
    • The Chair is the direct manager of Board staff

Other

  • Board members must be reachable by phone and email.
  • Should members not have a phone or computer to facilitate Board work, these items will be provided to them by the Service.
  • If items are provided by the Service, they are bound by the usage terms of the Greater Sudbury Police Service.