TORONTO POLICE BOARD BACKS CHIEF ON RECORDS RETENTION

Despite a presentation from CCLA public safety project director Graeme Norton, the Toronto Police Services Board supported the record retention proposal of Chief Bill Blair. Under his proposal, records of non-conviction dispositions (including withdrawn charges, diversions, and acquittals) would be retained indefinitely unless the affected person requests their destruction. And, even if destruction is requested, such records could still be retained if they relate to an enumerated list of offences (including common assault) or if the police believe that it would be in the "public interest" to retain them. Such records would be accessible to law enforcement agencies and possibly to prospective employers.

Norton recommended that such records should be automatically destroyed unless certain exceptional circumstances were in existence. Moreover, he called for independent adjudication in the event that the police and the claimant were at loggerheads in a particular case.