HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRPS-06-085 - Amendment to Chapter 101 of the Municipal Code - Authority-Staff-Provincial Offences Actl
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Corporate Services
REPORT
Report To: Finance and Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting: June 12, 2006
Submitted By: Shayne Turner, Interim General Manager of Corporate
Services
Prepared By: Shayne Turner, Director of By-law Enforcement
Grant Egerdeen, Supervisor of Corporate Security
Ward(s) Involved: All
Date of Report: June 7, 2006
Report No.: CRPS-06-085
Subject: AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 101 (AUTHORITY-STAFF-
PROVINCIALOFFENCES ACT)
RECOMMENDATION:
That a by-law be enacted to amend Schedule B of Chapter 101 (Authority-Staff-Provincial
Offences Act) of the City of Kitchener Municipal Code to authorize Corporate Security Officers
to issue Provincial Offence Notices for municipal by-laws.
BACKGROUND:
The Corporate Security section within Facilities Management has recently undergone a strategic
planning session. Several short and long term initiatives have been identified through this
process. This report serves to outline 1 initiative that can be implemented with relative ease
and is aimed at improving the effectiveness of Corporate Security's responses to certain
incidents.
REPORT:
Corporate Security are often called upon to respond to certain activities that may occur around
City Hall, most notably the Civic Square. These occurrences can involve activities that are
contrary to certain By-laws with the City's Municipal Code. Examples include dogs off leashes
and littering. In addition, Security staff also respond to a variety of incidents that may occur in
parkland areas such as Victoria Park (again for littering, etc.).
Currently, Security staff have the option of calling upon a By-law Enforcement Officer to respond
or to address the issue as an "unwanted or prohibited activity" which requires the officers to deal
with the issue through the Trespass to Property Act provisions.
Staff are proposing to amend the Municipal Code to authorize Security Officers to issue
Provincial Offence Notices (ie. tickets) in the same manner as the By-law Enforcement Division
staff can. This authority would be limited to certain by-laws (ie. relating to dogs, littering and
parkland) and would be primarily focused on the areas adjacent to City Hall, but could be
applied to other areas as may be deemed necessary. It should also be noted that the Security
Officers are already authorized to issue tickets for certain offences (ie. the City's Traffic and
Parking by-laws), so this initiative only serves to increase the effectiveness of their responses.
The focus of this initiative is to provide a more effective response and may serve to reduce the
involvement of other staff or agencies (ie. By-law Enforcement or the police) to resolve matters).
In many situations the mere possibility of staff being able to impose an immediate set fine will
serve as a deterrent and help to resolve an issue without any form of escalation.
It must be noted that this initiative will not result in ay significant change to the job duties of the
Security Officers, and their primary function will remain providing security services to the
Corporation in accordance with their mandate.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None identified at this time.
COMMUNICATIONS:
No Corporate Communications required.
CONCLUSION:
Staff are proposing to increase the authority of the Corporate Security Officers to enable them to
issue Provincial Offence Notices for violations of certain City by-laws, in addition to those they
currently are authorized for. This proposal will serve to increase the effectiveness of their
responses to certain activities within specific areas such as City Hall and the Civic Square.
Shayne Turner
Director of By-law Enforcement
Grant Egerdeen
Supervisor of Corporate Security