Premier Doug Ford says the province is investing 112-million-dollars in the creation of bail compliance teams.
Ford says the dedicated teams will be established across the province to tackle violent crime.
The government is also going to roll out a new bail monitoring system in addition to expanding the provincial police squad responsible for tracking down those who skip out on bail.
Specifics of the investment include:
- The creation of a new Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension Grant
- $24 million will be made available over three years to help the OPP and municipal and First Nations police services establish dedicated bail compliance teams. Teams will also assist prosecutors with gathering evidence and assessing public safety risk during the bail hearing stage.
- Grant funding may also be used to acquire bail compliance technology or support a network that police services could use to share bail offender information.
- Expansion of the OPP Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad
- $48 million to create a dedicated Bail Compliance Unit within the OPP’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad. This new dedicated, provincewide, Bail Compliance Unit will apprehend high-risk provincial offenders who have broken their bail conditions or are unlawfully at large.
- Establishment of Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams
- $26 million to create Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams within the courts system to ensure that there are dedicated prosecutors and subject matter experts to prepare for and properly conduct the often lengthy and complex bail hearings.
- Rollout of the Bail Compliance Dashboard
- A new provincewide bail monitoring system to allow police services to monitor high-risk offenders with the most accurate data possible.
