Strategic Plan Review

2024 Strategic Plan Launch and Review

In January, 2024, Durham Regional Police Service launched its 2024-2027 Strategic Plan. The plan was built around the input of thousands of Durham Region community members and DRPS members. It factored in important issues identified by the Durham Region’s Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan, including criminal involvement, experiences of racism, homelessness and basic needs, mental health, substance use, and victimization. It is through the Strategic Plan that DRPS identifies its priorities and directs resources accordingly. In furtherance of trust, transparency, and accountability, progress towards the Plan’s goals and objectives is assessed using success measures outlined in the Plan. DRPS publicly presents these success measures to the Durham Regional Police Service Board twice a year (March and September) and in this Annual Report. Throughout 2024, DRPS made strides towards the Plan’s goals and objectives. There are areas where success measures have demonstrated the need for continuous improvement. The highlights of DRPS’ 2024 performance are documented below and all the success measure data can be downloaded here.

GOAL

BE A LEADER IN INNOVATIVE AND MODERNIZED POLICING

The Durham Regional Police Service continues to strive to be a leader in innovative and modernized policing by not only adapting and responding to changes in our communities through technological advancements and evidence-based decision-making, but also by ensuring our internal structures, member skills, and activities match our communities’ needs.

Objective 1: Align core organizational structure and activities with principles of evidence-based, ethical decision-making

DRPS values providing ethical service to Durham Region residents and visitors. One way of assessing DRPS’ performance in this area is through the number of substantiated public complaints. There were no substantiated public complaints in 2024. This is down from 4 in 2023. In an effort towards using evidence to effectively direct resources and activities, DRPS conducted a span of control analysis and a deployment process analysis. These data-informed projects resulted in recommendations to increase frontline supervision and to use technology, specifically a dashboard, to track community concerns and deploy resources accordingly.

Objective 2: Adapt and respond to changing community needs and emerging crime trends by modernizing key processes and adopting innovative technologies

Since 2021, auto thefts have surged in Durham Region; from 2021 to 2023, auto thefts increased in the Region by 115%. At the end of 2023, DRPS launched Project Attire - a separate unit - to address auto theft. Coinciding with this Project, there was a 14.5% reduction in auto thefts from 2023 to 2024. This is an example of DRPS directing resources to respond to changing community needs and crime trends. Mental health crises are another community need that has emerged in recent history. DRPS continues to see year-over-year growth in the number of mental health apprehensions performed by officers under the Mental Health Act. In 2024, DRPS officers performed 3,366 apprehensions, which is up almost 15% from 2023. This suggests mental health concerns within the community are increasingly reaching crisis levels where police intervention is deemed necessary. This may be indicative of a need to consider and address gaps in existing social support systems.

Objective 3: Continue to develop a representative, empowered, adaptable, and highly-skilled workforce

DRPS continues to strive towards attracting a diverse and highly-skilled workforce. In 2024, DRPS participated in 33 formal community recruiting outreach engagements – an 83% increase from 2023. Over half of DRPS applicants for sworn positions (58%) in 2024 identified as racialized and/or Indigenous. This is up approximately 6% from 2023, but generally consistent with the past three years. DRPS continues to make efforts to attract women; in 2024, 15% of applicants for sworn positions were women, which is an 8% increase over 2023. Over quarter of the successful applicants (28%) in 2024, however, were women.

GOAL

HAVE STRONG STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS THAT ENHANCE COMMUNITY SAFETY

The Durham Regional Police Service recognizes that many realities that bring community members into contact with police services are connected to broader social issues. DRPS prioritizes working with community partners and organizations to ensure that community members receive the most appropriate response to their current situation, before, during, and after formal police intervention.

Objective 1: Develop and implement a strategic partnership plan to identify gaps and strengths in existing partnerships

DRPS is working to coordinate identifying the numerous relationships and partnerships that various units and divisions have with community partners.

Objective 2: Nurture a culture of collaboration and mutual appreciation, trust, and respect between members and community partners

Progress made towards this objective will be measured by the success indicators after the database of community partners has been established.

Objective 3: Track partnership activities to recognize impact and prevalence

The Mental Health Unit continues to provide support and assistance to individuals with mental health needs. In 2024, the Unit had 1,194 interactions with individuals requiring assistance.

GOAL

EARN THE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE OF MEMBERS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Every day the Durham Regional Police Service must continue to earn and build the trust and confidence of its members and its communities. This trust will be built through consistent action towards advancing public safety and ensuring members have resources and opportunities for success.

Objective 1: Actively work with communities to co-develop solutions to local concerns

DRPS continues prioritize building relationships with youth in Durham Region communities. This is demonstrated by the substantial increase in successful ProAction Cops and Kids initiatives DRPS members have launched. Exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels, DRPS had 37 successful ProAction Cops and Kids applications in 2024 – a 640% increase over 2023. This increase coincided with the establishment of a DRPS ProAction team and a Regional Coordinator. Public perceptions of DRPS suggests broader efforts to maintain and build police-community relationships have been positive. A representative survey conducted in Durham Region suggests almost two thirds (61%) of residents think the police in their community are doing an excellent or good job, which suggests public confidence. This increased by almost 3% from 2023 to 2024.

Objective 2: Improve road safety by focusing enforcement on driving behaviours that cause the greatest harm

The rate of injury collisions and fatal collisions per 1,000 registered vehicles both decreased from 2023 to 2024. In 2024, there were 2.81 injury collisions per 1,000 registered vehicles and .03 fatal collisions per 1,000 registered vehicles. The percentage of collisions involving aggressive driving also decreased in 2024. Approximately 1% of collisions involved aggressive driving in 2024 compared to almost 4% in 2023.

Objective 3: Provide the necessary and timely resources (financial, physical, and human) for members to effectively maintain the safety of the community

The proportion of emergency calls for service responded to within 8 minutes (an industry standard) has been declining. In 2024, 45% of these calls were responded to within 8 minutes, which represents a 9% reduction from 2023 when almost half of the calls were responded to within that timeframe. Coinciding with the growing response times has been an increase in the time spent on calls co-occurring with the increasing complexity of crime. In 2019, the median time at scene for emergency calls was approximately 1 hour and 7 minutes, which increased by 90% to 2 hours and 8 minutes in 2024 – one full hour. The increasing time on scene has negative implications for the Service’s response times as fewer resources are available to respond to other calls for service. DRPS also experienced an increase in the number of overtime hours for frontline officers in 2024. In 2024, 106, 010 overtime hours were generated, which is 35% higher than 2023. This is suggestive of operational pressures, staffing issues, and/or increases in workload demands.

Objective 4: Encourage and support personal and professional development and training opportunities for all members to promote member knowledge, skill development, and professionalism

DRPS launched the Women’s Internal Support Network in 2024. This support network actively brings female members together to facilitate professional development, mentorship, and building connections. It provides opportunities for knowledge exchange and professional growth.

Objective 5: Support the health and well-being of members and foster an inclusive workplace to enable members to be as effective and productive as possible

Across Ontario, police have some of the highest number of workers’ compensation claims relative to other industries. DRPS’ Member Wellness, Engagement and Support Unit continues to support members’ health and well-being. The percentage of sworn members off work due to on-duty injuries, however, remains a concern. A snapshot of members off work taken in August, 2024 showed 6.5% of sworn officers were off work due to on duty injuries. This is 48% higher than a similar point in time in 2023. The proportion of civilians off work due to on duty injuries, however, decreased in 2024; 4% were off in 2024 compared to 5.2% in 2023 (a 23% decrease). For a full report on the Indicators of Success click here.

${prev-page}

${next-page}