New rules limit info
on mentally ill in police checks
The Canadian Press
Updated: Mon. Jul. 25 2011 6:36 PM ET
TORONTO — Mentally ill people in Ontario who have non-criminal contact with police may no longer have to worry about that information showing up in police records checks.
New guidelines put out Monday by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police are aimed at creating a province-wide standard on such incidents. The suggested guidelines would stop police services from including mental health-related interactions in the reports.
"What would go on now would be somebody who goes in and smashes up a store and has to be restrained and physically removed," said Susan Cardwell, a police records official with Durham regional police, who helped write the guidelines.
"As opposed to someone who is perhaps wandering on the street and has been stopped and spoken to by police (out) of concern for their health and safety."
Criminal convictions will still appear in a basic criminal records check report, while outstanding charges of violent or criminal behaviour will also show up in a police information check, which draws on a range of records kept by local police forces.
Previously, there were no uniform rules on what police forces in Ontario could put in a background check, which many employers and volunteer groups require before making hiring and staffing decisions, leaving background-check disclosure decisions up to each police service.
"Some services were giving basically everything out on the police record check," Cardwell said.
Before the new standards, records checks could have noted if police responded to a suicide attempt, or if they took someone to hospital during a mental health crisis, said the head of an advocacy group for schizophrenics.
Mary Alberti, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, said an employer may decide to pass someone over for a job after discovering in a police document that an applicant had a mental health issue, even if it was only temporary.
"When somebody has had that kind of (mental health crisis) situation they could be personally embarrassed that that would be disclosed," she said. "They might not pursue a volunteer opportunity or an employment opportunity."
"Any disadvantage that occurs to people who have a mental illness or an addictions problem will be minimized by this," said Dr. Rohan Ganguli, vice-president of clinical programs at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Police records of a person's mental health history should be kept just as private as if they were hospitalized for diabetes or heart disease, he added.
"Unfortunately ... mental health problems are not seen in quite the same light" and are stigmatized, he said.
The guidelines also call for organizations to make sure they aren't running afoul of human rights legislation and a Supreme Court of Canada ruling when they tell an applicant to hand over a records check.
Asking for one should only come during the final stages of hiring, before a final offer is made to the applicant, in order to prevent potential discrimination in the hiring process, the guidelines say.
Yet, Cardwell said, it's not unheard of for someone to be denied a job or volunteer position because of something -- anything -- showing up on a police records check.
The new regulations may provide a benchmark for what police include in the checks, but Cardwell says there is no clear benchmark followed by business and volunteer groups when it comes to asking them.
"Obviously, an organization that looks at the fact that there's any entry on a records check and denies that person (from) going any further isn't really doing their job."
It's now up to provincial and municipal forces in the province to implement the guidelines. Cardwell expects that most police services will make the privacy-boosting changes within three months.
The Canadian Press
Updated: Mon. Jul. 25 2011 6:36 PM ET
TORONTO — Mentally ill people in Ontario who have non-criminal contact with police may no longer have to worry about that information showing up in police records checks.
New guidelines put out Monday by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police are aimed at creating a province-wide standard on such incidents. The suggested guidelines would stop police services from including mental health-related interactions in the reports.
"What would go on now would be somebody who goes in and smashes up a store and has to be restrained and physically removed," said Susan Cardwell, a police records official with Durham regional police, who helped write the guidelines.
"As opposed to someone who is perhaps wandering on the street and has been stopped and spoken to by police (out) of concern for their health and safety."
Criminal convictions will still appear in a basic criminal records check report, while outstanding charges of violent or criminal behaviour will also show up in a police information check, which draws on a range of records kept by local police forces.
Previously, there were no uniform rules on what police forces in Ontario could put in a background check, which many employers and volunteer groups require before making hiring and staffing decisions, leaving background-check disclosure decisions up to each police service.
"Some services were giving basically everything out on the police record check," Cardwell said.
Before the new standards, records checks could have noted if police responded to a suicide attempt, or if they took someone to hospital during a mental health crisis, said the head of an advocacy group for schizophrenics.
Mary Alberti, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, said an employer may decide to pass someone over for a job after discovering in a police document that an applicant had a mental health issue, even if it was only temporary.
"When somebody has had that kind of (mental health crisis) situation they could be personally embarrassed that that would be disclosed," she said. "They might not pursue a volunteer opportunity or an employment opportunity."
"Any disadvantage that occurs to people who have a mental illness or an addictions problem will be minimized by this," said Dr. Rohan Ganguli, vice-president of clinical programs at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Police records of a person's mental health history should be kept just as private as if they were hospitalized for diabetes or heart disease, he added.
"Unfortunately ... mental health problems are not seen in quite the same light" and are stigmatized, he said.
The guidelines also call for organizations to make sure they aren't running afoul of human rights legislation and a Supreme Court of Canada ruling when they tell an applicant to hand over a records check.
Asking for one should only come during the final stages of hiring, before a final offer is made to the applicant, in order to prevent potential discrimination in the hiring process, the guidelines say.
Yet, Cardwell said, it's not unheard of for someone to be denied a job or volunteer position because of something -- anything -- showing up on a police records check.
The new regulations may provide a benchmark for what police include in the checks, but Cardwell says there is no clear benchmark followed by business and volunteer groups when it comes to asking them.
"Obviously, an organization that looks at the fact that there's any entry on a records check and denies that person (from) going any further isn't really doing their job."
It's now up to provincial and municipal forces in the province to implement the guidelines. Cardwell expects that most police services will make the privacy-boosting changes within three months.
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