While this is accurate, civilian police oversight bodies are, however, required to answer a broader and more fundamental question on an ongoing basis: Is the policing provided to our community adequate and effective?

The answer to this is layered.

What vs. How

Under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA), police service boards have a legislated duty to ensure the provision of adequate and effective policing in their communities. The CSPA defines “adequate and effective policing” as the delivery of core policing functions in accordance with prescribed standards.  These functions include:

• Crime prevention
• Law enforcement
• Maintaining public peace
• Emergency response
• Assistance to victims of crime

That definition tells us what policing must cover. The Board’s governance role is around determining how policing functions are delivered to meet the distinct needs of the community within its jurisdiction.

A Safer City, Now

The London Police Service Board (the “Board”) made a commitment to London for a Safer City, Now. Adequately ensuring a safer city is a moving target shaped by a community’s evolving needs, demographics, risk environment, and expectations of public safety. A city growing in population, experiencing new crime patterns, or facing shifting demands on its public safety systems requires ongoing reassessment

The Board approaches this through a mandated governance quality assurance cycle.  This is a structured, ongoing process of assessing, establishing direction, ensuring resources, monitoring, and adjusting. At each stage, the Board is asking whether the policing services provided by the London Police Service (the “Service”) remain adequate, effective, and responsive to what Londoners actually need.

How is adequate and effective policing assessed by the London Police Service Board?

To assess adequacy and effectiveness, the Board considers a range of factors, including:

• Community needs and expectations: local conditions, demographics, community input, and identified public safety concerns.
• Risk and threat environment: crime trends, emerging threats, and factors affecting community safety.
• Service demand and complexity: calls for service, response times, and pressures on service delivery.
• Capacity and sustainability: workforce capacity, specialized capabilities, and the long-term sustainability of financial and human resources.
• Performance and outcomes: indicators and evidence of progress against Board-established priorities.

The Board draws on reporting from the Chief, performance data, community engagement results, findings from external oversight bodies, and information about policing costs and resource use. The goal is not to manage day-to-day operations, as that is the Chief’s responsibility, but to exercise informed governance oversight of whether policing services are delivering for London.

What Happens When Something Is Missing?

Where the Board identifies a performance gap, an emerging risk, or a change in community needs, it adjusts its governance direction. That might mean revising Board policies, revisiting resource allocations, or establishing new priorities for the Service.

The Board receives information and then uses it to make governance decisions that shape how policing is delivered. This is what it means to engage in active civilian oversight.

Why Should it Matter to You?

Adequate and effective policing is the assurance that when you need police services, they will be there, resourced, trained, and capable of responding to the realities of your community. The Board’s job is to ensure that assurance holds as London changes and grows.

If you have thoughts on what adequate and effective policing means to you, we want to hear from you: lpsb@lpsb.ca

Sources

• Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, ss. 10, 11, 37(1)(a), 82
• Ontario Regulation 392/23, Adequate and Effective Policing
• LPSB-G-002, The Provision of Adequate and Effective Policing (Governance Quality Assurance Policy) (Currently in Draft Format)