Police board adopts detailed new oversight policies for IPV, sexual assault, vulnerable victims

The Kingston Police Service Board (KPSB) has approved a sweeping package of policies governing how the service responds to intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and crimes involving other vulnerable victims, with new requirements for victim support, specialized training, community partnerships, and regular reporting back to the board.

The KPSB approved the 11-policy package at its Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, meeting as part of its continuing review of policies under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act. Although the accompanying report describes the policies as administrative and governance-focused and says they do not change the board’s overall strategic direction, several of them set detailed expectations for how Kingston Police procedures address some of the most sensitive investigations officers handle.

The package covers elder and vulnerable adult abuse, homicide, missing persons, parental and non-parental child abductions, witness protection, the Ontario Sex Offender Registry, child abuse and neglect, child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSAM), criminal harassment, intimate partner violence (IPV), and sexual assault.

Board Chair Gregory Ridge singled out five of those policies during Thursday’s meeting — child abuse and neglect, child sexual abuse and exploitation material, criminal harassment, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault — saying they had received particular attention during the review.

Ridge said policy analysts examined relevant legislation and practices at 14 Ontario police service boards, and shared drafts with local service agencies, policy experts, and survivors with lived experience.

“All these crimes are abhorrent,” Ridge said, before placing particular emphasis on intimate partner violence and the need for a police response that recognizes both immediate danger and the longer-term challenges survivors can face.

The board’s new Intimate Partner Violence Incidents Policy describes the required response as “coordinated, victim-centred, risk-informed, and community-based.”

It directs the chief to maintain procedures that offer victims and survivors assistance as soon as possible and, where appropriate, refer them to emergency services, health care providers, victim support agencies, and social service organizations.

It also calls for one or more local IPV review committees involving police and community partners including the Crown, probation and parole, the Victim/Witness Assistance Program, Victim Services of Kingston and Frontenac, Family and Child Services, women’s shelters, and other service providers.

Police procedures must address everything from dispatch and initial response to evidence preservation, high-risk cases, repeat offenders, children at risk, safety planning, and victim assistance.

The policy also specifies the use of a risk-indicators tool and requires procedures for laying charges where reasonable grounds exist, including breaches of bail conditions, probation, parole, or restraining orders.

The chief will be required to provide the board with an annual report summarizing the service’s IPV procedures, compliance, training, monitoring, and evaluation; issues considered by the review committee; and any systemic problems, resource pressures, training needs, or procedural gaps requiring board attention.

Chief Adam MacIntosh told the board the service is also updating its own operational procedures to reflect the policies.

“When we start to look at impacts in society, intimate partner violence certainly ranks very high,” MacIntosh said, adding that Kingston Police remains committed to improving investigative responses and support in that area. 

The new sexual assault policy similarly places a strong emphasis on trauma-informed policing and outside scrutiny.

It requires Kingston Police to maintain relationships with hospitals, community agencies, sexual assault treatment and crisis services, and other justice sector partners.

The policy also calls for a Sexual Assault Advisory Committee made up of community stakeholders, victim and survivor advocacy agencies, police, service providers, and survivors of sexual violence.

Perhaps most notably, it requires a Victim Advocate Case Review process allowing community partners to independently examine sexual assault cases classified as unfounded, subject to privacy, confidentiality, and legal restrictions.

Training for investigators is to include victims’ assistance, sexual violence and consent, gender-based violence and power, rape myths and gender bias, trauma-informed policing, and the ways sexual violence can affect vulnerable and marginalized communities differently.

The chief must also report annually on the number of sexual assault cases reported to Kingston Police, training provided to members, issues raised by the advisory committee, and findings from advocate case reviews, including any systemic or procedural concerns.

Other policies in the package establish additional reporting and accountability requirements.

The child abuse and neglect policy requires police to work with Family and Child Services, the Crown, school boards, hospitals, and other providers, and requires annual reporting on investigations, Children’s Aid Society referrals, protocols, partnerships, and training.

The child sexual abuse and exploitation material policy requires investigators to have appropriate expertise and access to information technology support, provides for cooperation with the Ontario Provincial Police Internet Child Exploitation strategy, and directs the service to provide psychological supports to members exposed to disturbing material as part of their work.

The board approved the full package without opposition.

Ridge said the policy review remains a larger work in progress. At the meeting, he reported that 19 policies were approved that day, and about 21 remained outstanding as the board continues bringing its governance framework into compliance with the Community Safety and Policing Act and provincial policing standards. 

The Kingston Police Service Board meets regularly on the fourth Thursday of each month (unless stated otherwise in the agenda), beginning at 12 noon in the William Hackett Boardroom at Kingston Police Headquarters, 705 Division Street.

Michelle Dorey-Forestell, LJI Reporter, The Kingstonist