Guelph, Waterloo region police set to use dashboard to monitor people out on bail for firearms charges
It's one more tool available to the police 'to ensure public safety,' spokesperson says
Both Guelph and Waterloo region police have confirmed they are among six Ontario police services signed up to use a new provincial tool aimed at monitoring and sharing information about individuals on bail for firearms-related offences.
The Ontario government announced the rollout of the Provincial Bail Compliance Dashboard on Wednesday.
After a person is granted bail, their bail conditions will be uploaded on the dashboard, giving officers on patrol information like their address, the charges they're facing and surety information. Officers can then use this information to conduct bail checks.
"The Guelph Police Service has embraced this new provincial initiative to better protect the City of Guelph from those considered a potential risk to community safety," deputy Police Chief Daryl Goetz said in a news release on Thursday.
Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) "was recently approved to use this tool and is in the process of launching it," Const. Brad Hickey told CBC News in an email on Thursday.
Guelph police spokesperson Scott Tracey said the dashboard — which is managed by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) — provides some key advantages.
"What this does is it makes us aware, say a person is charged by Toronto police or Peel police, but they live in Guelph, or they're on bail with the condition that they reside at an address in Guelph, it makes us aware of that individual," Tracey told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.
"So, we can do compliance checks, which simply involves visiting the address, speaking to the person in question, just ensuring that they're complying with their bail conditions.
"And likewise, if someone from Guelph is, for example, arrested in Brampton, they would be on the bail compliance tool for Peel police and then Peel police would be able to see that a charged person from Guelph is residing in their area and then they can do the compliance checks in person in Brampton," Tracey added.
Province's attempt to address flawed bail system: McGregor
In addition to the Guelph Police Service, WRPS and the OPP, police services for Toronto, York and Peel regions have signed on to use the tool.
Graham McGregor, associate minister of auto theft and bail reform, made the announcement about the new tool on Wednesday.
McGregor said he's challenging all police services in the province to sign up to the tool by the end of the year, adding that the dashboard is the province's attempt to address a flawed bail system.
The dashboard is part of $112 million in spending the government is putting toward strengthening bail enforcement and monitoring for violent offenders, announced in April 2023.
Tracey said the new dashboard is "one more tool" available to the police "to ensure public safety."
He said if someone is released on firearms charges, which are "very serious" there's an interest that those people are properly monitored.
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With files from Rochelle Raveendran