TORONTO, Ont. – Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin blasts the Ontario Provincial Police and the province for widespread unwillingness to provide support to police officers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, saying recommendations outlined were met with indifference.

He said he provided the OPP and the government with a list of recommendations five weeks ago and characterized the response as a “bureaucratic brush-off.”

It was only when they saw the final report last week that they wrote letters indicating that they would respond after further review, he said.

Marin said the OPP and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services have been “reluctant” to address PTSD.

In his report called In the Line of Duty, released Wednesday, he makes 34 recommendations — with 28 directed at the OPP — that outline the need to battle the police culture that expects officers to be strong, develop provincial programs to prevent and deal with operational stress injuries and increase psychological services.

“My recommendations call on the OPP to do the very basic things that police services have been doing for years,” he said.

According to the report, 23 active and retired OPP members have committed suicide since 1989 — that is two more than were killed in the line of duty during the same period. There have been five OPP suicides in the last 18 months.

“They are police officers who’ve put their well-being on the line for the people of this province and were injured in the line of duty,” Marin said. “But because their injuries are mostly invisible, their stories are rarely talked about.”

Marin said the report “tells the stories of dozens of courageous police officers from across Ontario.”

These officers, Marin said, battle depression, anxiety, nightmares, addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In addition, he said, “they battle the culture that tells them that they should suck it up and be strong.”

On top of that, Marin said, the officers deal with an outdated bureaucratic structure that does not keep up with statistics of how many officers are dealing with such conditions.

“To call the way they deal with operational stress injury as a shoestring operation would be insulting to shoestrings,” he said.

Marin said the OPP has only one psychologist for its entire force of 6,152 uniformed officers.

In response to the report, the OPP said it will review the recommendations to take actions.

“The OPP is committed to supporting its workforce and this includes addressing operational stress injuries,” OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis said.

“I am proud of the efforts of our employees to deliver programs and resources relating to wellness, stress management, and critical or traumatic incidents. But I also acknowledge that, while we continue to make significant progress in this area, we can still do better — and we will.”

Ian Davidson, deputy minister of Community Safety, said the ministry will report back to the Ombudsman’s office on a quarterly basis.

“I remain disappointed in what still looks to me like a bureaucratic brush-off,” Marin said in regards to the response.

“To me, when I talk about brush-off, I mean simply they are dealing with it as a PR challenge as opposed to trying to solve an issue,” he said.

Over 18 months, 190 interviews were conducted for the report.

Marin reviewed best practices of police forces countrywide and in the United States for the report.
OPP Inthelineoffire