CACP and CPA conclude national Roundtable on Officer Safety
CACP and CPA conclude national Roundtable on Officer Safety
September 29, 2026
CACP and CPA conclude national Roundtable on Officer Safety
OTTAWA, September 29, 2026 – The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Police Association concluded a two-day national Roundtable on Officer Safety today, bringing together police executives and association leaders from across Canada to identify practical steps that can improve the safety of officers serving communities across the country.
The Roundtable was deliberately designed to bring together a broad range of perspectives, from some of Canada’s largest police organizations to smaller municipal and regional services. Senior police executives and association leaders participated alongside those with direct experience of the pressures facing front-line officers in communities of very different sizes and circumstances.
“The public can’t be safe if police aren’t safe,” said CACP past President and OPP Commissioner, Thomas Carrique. “That is why this conversation matters. We brought together different perspectives from across the country to identify where the risks are, where the gaps are, and where practical action can make a difference. This is the beginning of that work, not the end of it.”
Participants identified several areas requiring continued attention, including better information sharing across police organizations, the increasing cost and complexity of delivering policing services, ensuring police resources remain focused on core public safety responsibilities, and communicating more effectively about the realities officers are encountering.
A recurring theme was the need for a more coordinated, strategic national approach to communications. Police leaders and associations need to do a better job of explaining the environment in which officers are working, ensuring front-line experience is reflected in public discussions, and speaking with greater consistency when national policing issues emerge.
Participants also stressed that officer safety cannot be addressed by policing alone, particularly where the risks officers face are shaped by decisions elsewhere in the justice, education, and health care systems.
The Roundtable heard repeated concern about the importance of confidence in the rule of law and meaningful accountability when serious offences occur, court orders are breached, or police officers are assaulted or deliberately targeted. Where repeat offending or repeated breaches do not result in effective intervention, officers can find themselves responding again to the same individuals, sometimes under increasingly dangerous circumstances.
“When an officer arrests someone for violent behaviour or for repeatedly breaching a court order, and that person is quickly back in circumstances that bring police into contact with them again, that is not an abstract justice-system problem,” said CPA President Tom Stamatakis. “It can mean another officer facing the same risk again. Accountability matters because officer safety depends, in part, on the entire system doing its job.”
Participants also discussed the broader impact on confidence in the justice system. When police officers and members of the public repeatedly see court orders ignored or serious offending met without meaningful consequence, it can erode confidence in enforcement, policing, and the rule of law itself.
The Roundtable welcomed the Council of the Federation’s recent call for strengthened measures to protect law enforcement, first responders, and other frontline workers, and its direction to provincial and territorial Justice and Public Safety Ministers to develop options for federal action. Participants saw that work as an important opportunity to continue the discussion with governments, justice-system partners, and other organizations whose involvement will be necessary to develop lasting solutions.
“There is no single solution to officer safety,” said Commissioner Carrique. “It requires better information, effective coordination, appropriate resources, strong leadership, and partners throughout the justice and health care systems who understand the role they play. One of the important outcomes of this Roundtable is recognizing where we need to broaden that conversation.”
The ideas and priorities identified over the two days will now be taken back to the CACP, CPA, and participating organizations for further consideration. The Roundtable was intended to begin a process, not conclude one, and the organizations involved will continue working to determine where practical recommendations and joint action can be advanced.
“We did not expect to solve these issues in two days,” said Stamatakis. “What mattered was getting people together, speaking candidly, and identifying where action is needed. The measure of this Roundtable will be what happens next.”
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For additional Information –
Michael Gendron
Communications Officer, Canadian Police Association
613-299-6516 / mgendron@cpa-acp.ca
Maeghan McGaraughty, M. Comm
Communications Specialist, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police
613-595-1101 / maeghan@cacp.ca
