York Regional Police

A list of chiefs of the York Regional Police since its creation in 1971:

• Bruce Allan Crawford 1971-1987, former Metropolitan Toronto Police officer, former Chief of the Toronto Harbour Commission Police
• Donald Hillock 1987-1992, former Aurora Township Police officer
• Bryan Cousineau 1992-1997, retired former Whitchurch Township Police officer; charged with breach of trust during his time as chief
• Peter Scott 1997-1998, acting chief after the retirement of Bryan Cousineau and former Metro Toronto Police Deputy Chief
• Julian Fantino 1998-2000, former senior Metro Toronto Police officer, chief of the London Police, later as Toronto Police chief, provincial commissioner of emergency management (assistant deputy minister) and former Commissioner of the OPP
• Robert Middaugh 2000-December 12, 2002, 34-year career police officer; former deputy chief in Halton, chief in Hamilton-Wentworth
• Armand P. La Barge December 12, 2002-December 2010, former York Regional Police Deputy Chief and career officer with the force
• Eric Jolliffe December 13, 2010 – May 1, 2020
• Jim MacSween May 1, 2020 – Present[5]

York Regional Police 2 District Headquarters

The York Regional Police are divided into five geographical districts:

• 1 District - 429 Harry Walker Parkway South, Newmarket[6] serving:
  • Newmarket
  • Aurora
  • East Gwillimbury
  • King
• 2 District - 171 Major Mackenzie Drive West, Richmond Hill serving:
  • Richmond Hill (including Oak Ridges, a separate urban section of Richmond Hill)
  • Thornhill (sections of Markham and Vaughan flanking Yonge Street)
• 3 District - 3527 Baseline Road, Sutton serving:
  • Georgina
  • Lake Simcoe (patrolled by the Marine Unit)
• 4 District - 2700 Rutherford Road, Vaughan serving:
  • Vaughan (except Thornhill)
• 5 District - 8700 McCowan Road, Markham serving:
  • Markham (except Thornhill)
  • Whitchurch-Stouffville

Each district is headed by a superintendent and inspector.

The exterior of the York Regional Police Community Resource Centre

• Whitchurch-Stouffville Community Substation, 111 Sandiford Dr, Whitchurch-Stouffville

The York Regional Police provide a substation to the community of Whitchurch-Stouffville. Numerous personnel work out of this substation to provide a police presence for the community.[7] This community substation is supplied under the host of 5 District (Markham) resources.

• King City Community Substation, 2585 King Rd, King

Shared with the King Township municipal offices, York Regional Police deploys personnel from the King City Community Substation to provide rapid and fluid policing services to the residents of King Township. The substation is supplied under the host of 1 District (Newmarket) resources.

• Community Safety Village of York Region, Bruce's Mill Conservation Area, 3291 Stouffville Rd, Whitchurch-Stouffville

York Regional Police's Community Safety Village is a resource used by the service to teach young children about fire, traffic and personal safety. The resource includes a 10,000 square foot replica town with crosswalks, functioning traffic lighting and signals. Usually the resource is utilized by local schools, however, several family events are held at the location yearly.[8]

• Community Resource Centre (collision reporting and customer service), 10720 Yonge St, Richmond Hill

This site hosts the service's Collision Reporting Centre for collisions that occur of the southern municipalities in the region. It also offers services that include Police Information Checks, Criminal Record Checks and several other services.[9]

• Administrative Centre, 240 Prospect Street, Newmarket

The former headquarters for 1 District is currently under renovations to become an administration building.[6] The building will host certain bureaus and their respective units that are currently operated out of Headquarters.

The marine unit consists of 11 full-time members and patrols the southern shoreline of Lake Simcoe and other York Region waterways. It is responsible for approximately 350 square kilometers of Lake Simcoe and can service the entire lake if required. The unit has seven vessels at their disposal and are deployed from the Marine Unit Headquarters located at 57 Lorne St., in Jackson's Point, Georgina.[10]

Emergency support is a 23-member unit with an emergency response unit and explosive disposal unit.

• St. Edward's Crown
• Ribbon containing the words York Regional Police
• the escutcheon contains:
  • The "deer stricken by an arrow" represents the original state of the country
  • The "sheaf of wheat" represents the first progress in agriculture
  • The "tree with an axe" represents the first act of improvement
  • The "steam boat" represents the high state of technological advancement at the time[23]

The day-to-day and regional operations are commanded by senior officers:

• Superintendent
• Inspector

On-road enforcement and emergency response is supervised by:

• Staff sergeant (field command)
• Sergeant (district/area supervisors)

Investigations are divided into crimes against persons and crimes against property. These investigations are conducted by:

• Detective sergeant (equivalent to staff sergeant)[24]
• Detective (equivalent to sergeant)[24]
• Detective constable

• Constable - first class (4+ years), second class (3+ years), third class (2+ years), fourth class (1+ years), probationary (less than 1 year)

• Cadet
• Special constable (court security officers) - special constables are sworn-in pursuant to section 53 of the Police Services Act which confers peace officer status. Special constables have the powers of police officers to enforce federal statutes and various provincial statutes while in the execution of their duties.
• Station duty officers
• Police communicators
• Auxiliary constables (approximately 140 members since 2016) pursuant to section 52 of the Police Services Act, a chief of police can appoint auxiliary constables to act as volunteers. An auxiliary constable is not a peace officer but has the authority of a police officer only if he or she is accompanied or supervised by a police officer and is authorized to perform police duties by the chief of police.
• Fleet assistant - deal with maintenance of YRP vehicles

Communications is the branch of the York Regional Police responsible for receiving all 911 and non-emergency police calls. Under the supervision of information services, police communicators are on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The communications staff are non-sworn members of the York Regional Police, though the bureau is under the direction of an Inspector and a Staff sergeant.

On January 1, 2002, the traffic bureau was split into two separate entities, a traffic enforcement unit and a technical collision investigation unit (TCIU). The TCIU was made up of six officers on two separate shifts supervised by one supervisor.

In 2004, the technical collision investigation unit was renamed the "collision reconstruction unit". The unit had eight members made up of investigators and collision reconstructionists. The unit was still working with two shifts and each shift had a supervisor.

At present the collision reconstruction unit is made up of 10 officers. Two teams of four investigators and collision reconstructionists and a supervisor. The team members specialize in investigative techniques and collision reconstruction.

On December 15, 2003, York Regional Police's collision reconstruction unit investigated a collision on Rutherford Road west of Pine Valley Drive in the City of Vaughan that killed former NHL Chicago Black Hawks player Keith Magnuson. Rob Ramage, another former NHL player, was arrested and charged with impaired operation causing death and bodily harm, dangerous operation causing death and bodily harm, as well as over 80mgs. At the trial in the fall of 2007, Ramage was convicted of all the counts except the over 80mgs. In January 2008, Ramage was sentenced to four years in prison. He appealed his conviction and sentence. On July 12, 2010, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and sentence.

The members of the unit have received training in collision reconstruction, marine reconstruction and other related fields in Ontario as well as in the US

The enforcement unit is responsible for enforcement of all traffic laws. Officers from the enforcement unit perform breath tests and test drivers for sobriety utilizing standardized field sobriety testing and drug recognition experts. The York Regional Police's traffic bureau has trained over 100 frontline officers in the SFST battery and 15 officers trained as DREs

Officers from the enforcement unit utilize various speed measuring devices from hand-held radars and lasers to moving radar units in their police vehicles. Speed enforcement is conducted throughout the region. Special computerized ticket writing units are utilized in police vehicles to ensure there are no human errors.

The enforcement unit also instituted a prohibited driver program where officers investigate persons convicted of criminal driving offences whereby their driving privileges are revoked. Members use unmarked vehicles and conduct surveillance on suspects' home and court to catch violators.

The enforcement unit is known to have ticket quotas and unnecessarily handing out tickets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, York Regional Police officers wrote out tickets for expired licence plate stickers, despite the fact that the provincial government had extended the validity of these stickers indefinitely.[27][28]

The York Regional Police Pipes and Drums is a pipe band affiliated with the police service. Founded in 1988, it consists of serving members of the police force and the public.[32] The band represents the police force at a variety of events where appropriate, including parades and community functions. The band also competes in local pipe band competitions in grade 4.[33]