Kingston Police release stats ahead of July Police Services Board meeting

Kingston Police published two reports on Thursday, Jul. 13, 2023, in advance of the July meeting of the Kingston Police Services Board.

The Quarterly Statistical Report (QSR) for April through June (the second quarter of 2023) and the Semi-Annual Report on Administration of Public Complaints (RAPC) are among the items on the agenda for the upcoming meeting, which takes place on Thursday, Jul. 20, 2023. Readers can find Kingstonist’s report on the QSR for the first quarter of 2023 here.

Both the QSR (Quarterly Statistical Report April to June Report Number 23-23) and the Semi-Annual RAPC (Report on Administration of Public Complaints January to June Report Number 23-25) indicate that they are “for information only.” 

According to the QSR, Kingston Police saw a significant rise in the number of calls for their service in the second quarter of 2023.

Between April and June 2023, there were 13,163 calls for police service; that is a 20.3 per cent increase in calls for service over their first quarter statistics and an increase of 11.9 per cent in calls for service over the same time period last year.

Crimes against other property, specifically thefts of property other than vehicles, accounted for one significant increase. There were 920 thefts reported in the second quarter of 2023, a more than 41 per cent increase over thefts reported in the first quarter, and a 14.8 per cent increase over thefts recorded in the same time period last year.

At the same time, however, thefts of vehicles decreased by 18 per cent from the first quarter this year, and decreased by 46 per cent compared to the same time period last year.

Sex offences remained the same in the first and second quarters, with 48 being reported each quarter. Unfortunately, that is a 45.5 percent increase in recorded sex offences over the same time period last year.

And while occurances of reported assault were up 21 per cent over those in the first quarter of this year, they number of assaults reported in the second quarter of 2023 (166) is lower than the number of reported assaults in the second quarter of 2022 (173) by four per cent.

Traffic offences under the Criminal Code of Canada increased by 28 per cent over the same time period last year, but remained consistent with the number reported in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the acting Chief’s report, “Caution should be exercised when interpreting these statistics. They represent a snapshot in time and are subject to change, as they relate to investigations that are ongoing. Through investigation, it may be determined that the classification must be recoded (for example, recoded from ‘Criminal Harassment’ to ‘Harassing Phone Calls’).”

The QSR also shared statistics “capturing all use-of-force options exercised by all responding officers.” The report notes that during most incidents more than one use of force option was used. The statistics refer to 24 incidents, for which 13 team and 13 individual reports were filed. For team reports, one report is filed for multiple officers. 

The QSR indicates that de-escalation was attempted in 17 incidents. For the nine incidents where de-escalation was not attempted, the report indicates that de-escalation was either “not possible due to immediate action being required or imminent threat” or simply not applicable (in cases involving the dispatch of an animal, immediate compliance, de-escalation employed by another officer, etc.). With the exception of three calls regarding injured animals, all incidents involved subjects who were assaultive and/or armed, or subjects suspected to be armed. 

With regard to the Semi-Annual Report on Administration of Public Complaints (RAPC), during the period of January 1 to June 30, 2023 there were 36 public complaints received by the Professional Standards Bureau. This number represents a 63.6 increase over the same reporting period in 2022, when there were 22 complaints. 

The complaints are recorded in a list detailing the Classification of Allegations. The classification (the primary substantive issue alleged in the complaint) of the complaints received between January 1 and June 30, 2023, is detailed below. 

• Discreditable Conduct: 8 
• Unnecessary Exercise of Authority/Use of Force: 0 
• Deceit/Breach of Confidence: 0 
• Neglect of Duty: 4 
• Insubordination: 0 
• Service/Policy: 2

The report states that 22 of the complaints were “screened out” by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) as being not in the public interest, frivolous, or over six months old. All but three of the total 36 complaints have been resolved; those other three remain under active investigation.

It should be noted that, according to the report, “if a complaint is screened out by the OIPRD, the complaint will still be reviewed, and may be investigated by the Kingston Police if deemed necessary.”

The report also states that all public complaint investigations from 2022 have been completed by the Kingston Police Professional Standards Bureau.

The Police Services Board will meet next on Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2023. Kingstonist will provide coverage of that meeting.

With files from Tori Stafford.