Chief's Advisory Committees
The Chief’s Advisory Committees bring community voices and lived experiences directly into conversations with police leadership. Their advice helps identify concerns, strengthen relationships and improve how Hamilton Police Service serves our diverse communities.
2SLGBTQIA Advisory Committee
The 2SLGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee provides advice directly to the Chief of Police on issues affecting Hamilton’s 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Members identify community concerns, strengthen relationships and help improve police services to support equitable and inclusive policing across Hamilton.
Committee members reflect the diversity and intersecting identities of Hamilton’s 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. This includes Indigenous people, newcomers, people of different faiths, non-binary people, older adults, persons with disabilities and racialized individuals.
Circle of Beads
Circle of Beads brings together representatives from Indigenous groups to meet with the Chief of Police and discuss concerns affecting Indigenous community members. The committee provides a forum for open dialogue and collaboration to address issues and strengthen relationships between police and Indigenous communities.
Women’s Chief’s Advisory Committee
Coordinated by Victim Services and the Investigative Services Division, the group brings together community organizations that support women in Hamilton. Members meet quarterly with the Chief of Police and senior police leaders to discuss concerns, provide advice on police responses and investigations, and identify ways to strengthen mutual support and collaboration.
To learn more about the Chief's Advisory Committees, email edi@hamiltonpolice.ca.
Community Relations
The Community Relations Office connects Hamilton Police Service with the city’s diverse communities, including Indigenous peoples, faith communities, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and newcomers.
Through ongoing dialogue, education and outreach, the office builds relationships, shares information and creates opportunities for communities and police to learn from one another.
The office also works closely with the Hate Crime Unit to raise awareness of hate incidents and support prevention through education.
These partnerships help build trust and contribute to a safer, more inclusive Hamilton.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Hamilton Police Service is committed to building a more inclusive and equitable future for its members and the community through its ongoing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives.
In 2021, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), the Service engaged membership in a Diversity Census and Inclusion Survey – the “Diversity Meter.” The first EDI Strategy, which was titled From Strategy to Action: Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Hamilton Police Service (2021-2025), was created based on the results from CCDI and HPS membership feedback.
In 2025, Hamilton Police Service partnered with Diversio, which acquired CCDI Consulting in May 2024, to conduct another membership survey to compare and contrast the results with those recorded in 2021. The findings, data, and feedback gathered by Diversio provided the foundation for the next EDI Strategy (2026-2030).
Beyond the Foundation: Sustaining a Culture of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Hamilton Police Service overviews the strategic plan for the Hamilton Police Service (HPS) from 2026-2030. This strategy builds upon the previous strategy to establish a subsequent, more specialized phase. While the first EDI strategy focused on awareness and infrastructure, the second EDI strategy focuses on integration and accountability, gathering data to identify potential gaps in training, policies, and procedures.
A key element of the EDI Strategy is to strengthen community trust by demonstrating that there is a permanent commitment to EDI best practices, principles, and initiatives, especially when focusing on service delivery and transparency. Establishing another five-year EDI Strategy ensures that EDI remains a priority and remains focused and committed to progress and growth as an organization
This strategy includes a background, vision, mission, guiding principles for best practice, four areas of focus, nine priorities, and 25 strategic calls to action. The guiding principles that will inform best practices in EDI implementation are equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, human rights, collective responsibility, and continuous improvement.
Through this EDI Strategy, Hamilton Police Service will make positive changes to be a workplace that is more equitable, diverse and inclusive, ensuring everyone inside and outside the organization receives fair treatment and opportunities. These changes include updating training, policies and procedures, as well as establishing inclusive community collaboration opportunities and improving wraparound service delivery to all members of the community.
Click here for the full Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Hate Crime Case Review Team
The Hate Crime Case Review Team (HCCRT) brings community members and Hamilton Police personnel together to review hate occurrence reports and identify opportunities to improve how police respond to hate. The team brings diverse perspectives and experiences to this work, supporting accountability and stronger relationships with communities affected by hate.
Membership
The team consists of 20 members, including 14 community members, three Hamilton Police civilian staff and three sworn officers. HCCRT members represent 2SLGBTQIA+, Black, Indigenous, Jewish, Muslim, and South Asian communities.
Training and Preparation
Members help shape the team’s work, including developing its Terms of Reference. Training and orientation cover racism and oppression, the emotional impact of reviewing traumatic material, the case review checklist, and police policies and procedures for hate occurrences. Presentations from the Crown, the Hate Crime Unit and staff familiar with the police records management system also support the review process.
Case Review and Recommendations
The team’s mandate is to review approximately 124 hate occurrence cases from 2019 to 2022 over a term of approximately 24 months. The planned sample was selected to provide a 95 per cent confidence level.
At the end of its term, the team will produce a final report with recommendations to help Hamilton Police strengthen its response to hate occurrences and better serve affected communities, focusing on and improving investigations, policies, procedures, training, and wraparound support to victims of hate.
Contact hatecrime@hamiltonpolice.ca to learn more about the HCCRT.
Military Veteran Wellness Program (MVWP)
The Military Veteran Wellness Program (MVWP) is a collaborative initiative that enhances support for military Veterans and equips law enforcement with the tools to better assist them.
Developed by the Toronto Police Service in partnership with the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans Affairs Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion, Operational Stress Injury Social Support, and others, the MVWP launched in 2022 and was officially adopted by the Hamilton Police Service in 2024.
All sworn Hamilton Police Service members receive specialized MVWP training to:
- Understand the unique experiences and needs of Veterans
- Connect Veterans with social services and mental health resources
- Make timely referrals for comprehensive care and support
Our goal is to protect those who protected us by supporting the dignity, well-being, and success of every Veteran in our community.
For more information, contact MVWP Service Program Director D/Cst. Dan Jaworski at 905-546-3884 or DJaworski@hamiltonpolice.ca.
Race and Identity-Based Data
What is Race and Identity Based Data (RIBD)?
Hamilton Police Service is committed to the promotion of equity, fairness and non-discriminatory policing in Hamilton.
In 2020, Ontario's Ministry of the Solicitor General directed police to record the race of individuals in use-of-force incidents. This revealed a higher incident rate in communities such as Black, South East Asian, and Middle Eastern compared to benchmark populations. We're implementing a strategy for Race and Identity Based Data Collection (RIBD) in line with the 2017 Anti-Racism Act (ARA). This will help us understand and address racial disparities.
To assist police services in this work, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police brought a group of experts together including police leaders, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, academic experts and individuals with lived experience to create a framework.
We are now developing our own Hamilton Police RIBD strategy using this framework. Our goal is to ensure fair service to everyone in our community.
Follow our progress as we expand the types of data the Service collects and analyzes, continue to engage with members and communities, and co-develop and implement actions in response.
Community Advisory Panel
The Community Advisory Panel (CAP) plays a vital role in the Race and Identity-Based Data Strategy. Comprising 10 diverse residents, particularly from Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities, as well as a youth representative, the CAP brings together experience in community organizing, academia and social services
Engagement with the CAP provides a valuable platform for hearing diverse community perspectives and incorporating these voices into the RBDC Strategy. Panel members contribute their understanding of systemic racism and their experience in research, analytics, advocacy, and frontline work.
Working with the CAP is crucial for maintaining transparency and accountability throughout the data analysis process, sharing findings with community members, and designing and implementing action plans.
Applications for the next Community Advisory Panel have closed, and the selection process is underway. New panel members will be introduced once the process is complete.
Between June 2024 and May 2026, CAP members met more than 50 times independently and alongside Hamilton Police Service members. Throughout the process, panel members reviewed policies and research, discussed analytical approaches, participated in use of force training, contributed to community engagement materials, and engaged in conversations with Hamilton residents.
The CAP provided 12 recommendations aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability, and equity in policing practices in Hamilton.
View the CAP presentation to the Hamilton Police Service Board here.
Read the report here.
What is the purpose behind this work? Why are Hamilton Police collecting this data?
Hamilton Police, like all Services, are required to collect and report use of force incidents by perceived race under O.Reg 267/18 to support the goals of the Anti-Racism Act. Our data collection strategy focuses on understanding how police and community interactions affect racial disparities. By identifying the causes of these imbalances, we aim to address and reduce systemic issues.
Why is this work important?
We cannot fully understand or change what we do not measure. Our Race and Identity-Based Data (RIBD) Strategy will provide us with the ability to identify and address systemic racism in our policies and practices. It will also allow us to identify ways we can better support our members in their delivery of fair and equitable service.
What are some important facts we should know?
The Use of Force findings confirm that Black, Indigenous, and racialized people are over-represented in use-of-force incidents.
The RIBD strategy is meant to address issues of systemic racism and will not be used to further stigmatize communities. Instead, our analysis will help us adjust our policies and practices to eliminate systemic bias and identify areas where we can do better.
We are committed to continued engagement with our members and communities as we expand the types of data we collect and analyze and co-develop actions in response.
What is systemic racism?
Systemic racism occurs when institutions or systems create or maintain racial inequity often as a result of hidden institutional biases in policies, practices, and procedures that privilege some groups and disadvantage others. It is the “normal ways of doing things” that are often unintended or unconscious and that have a negative impact on racialized people. That includes when members of Indigenous, Black, and racialized groups are singled out for greater scrutiny or different treatment.
Are there legal requirements for Hamilton Police to collect, analyze and report race-based data?
Yes, the Province’s Anti-Racism Act requires the public sector to collect race data. For policing, all services across Ontario must collect race data in all use-of-force reports. The Province’s Anti-Racism Data Standards guides the collection, management and analysis of race-based data.
Why do Hamilton Police collect data on an officer’s perception of race?
The Ministry of the Solicitor General mandates collecting information to understand systemic racial bias and systemic racism in policing by collecting officer perception of an individual’s race based on what they can observe about the individual with whom they are interacting.
Perception is important to understand unconscious biases, assumptions and other internal thought processes that may impact decision-making. This will help us to make improvements to our policies, procedures, practices and training.
How do you ensure the data is entered properly and accurately?
Police officers receive training on the proper use of the Hamilton Police Service internal records management system and reports. Additionally, interaction reports go through several internal checkpoints to ensure the data is recorded correctly and in accordance with legislation. Intentionally falsifying police records constitutes as misconduct.
What if how the officer perceives race is different from how someone self-identifies?
Perceived race is an important measurement to help us understand if we treat people fairly, regardless of how we perceive their race. The current legislation mandates the collection of perceived race and not self-identified race for use of force reporting.
Perceived race and self-identified race are two different things, although they may closely intersect for most people. Collecting self-identified race may complement understandings of what drives disparity within our community.
What is a racial disparity? What is a disproportionality?
Disproportionality is a measure of a racial group’s presence in an interaction and compares it to that group’s presence in the reference population. Disparity measures a racial group’s difference in outcomes by comparing it to the outcomes of another group.
Will communities be engaged and involved in the RIBD Strategy?
Yes. Community partnerships and collaboration are necessary to the success of the RIBD Strategy. We need to embed community perspectives and be informed by lived experiences in order for changes to stick and have real impact on the ground.
What is the Community Advisory Panel?
The RIBD Community Advisory Panel is a volunteer group of 8-10 citizens who will advise the Hamilton Police Service on creating the RIBD strategy.
The CAP will have representation from individuals with lived experience, passionate about data, social justice and community service. Specifically, the group will advise on the strategies to approach race and identity-based data collection, contextualization, and action planning.
They will be instrumental in shaping the terms of reference, strategizing, and determining the path forward.
How will you determine what data will be collected?
In 2020, the Ministry of the Solicitor General required police services to track the perceived race of individuals involved in UOF encounters with police. This data is reported annually through Hamilton Police Services Board meetings.
The CAP will work with the Service to determine what additional data should be collected.
How were front line officers engaged in the process?
Front line experiences and perspectives are necessary for the analyses to be meaningful, accurate, and useful. Engaging with Hamilton Police members is also a priority to ensure that changes have real and sustained impacts. We will be engaging with sworn and civilian members from all ranks and units in several ways, including Lunch and Learns, training and presentations.
How are Hamilton Police protecting personal privacy and confidentiality of individuals about whom the data is collected?
The protection of personal privacy and confidentiality is critically important to the Service’s RIBD Strategy. This means that prior to conducting analyses, the data containing race and identity data is made de-identified by removing any personal identifiers, such as occurrence numbers, names, birthdates, badge numbers and other information so that the data cannot be used to directly identify any individual member of the public or officer (i.e., anonymized data).
Data containing race and identity-based data are securely stored and access is restricted to designated staff with responsibilities to produce, manage, maintain and analyze the data under the Strategy.
The Service regularly engages with Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, reviews guidance documents and orders to ensure our practices are in accordance with the best approaches to access, privacy and confidentiality. These best practices are embedded within policies.
Are Hamilton Police using race and identity-based data to identify individual officers?
The purpose of the RIBD Strategy is to identify and address systemic racial bias in our policies and practices. The analytical framework developed for the purpose of measuring systemic racism does not lend itself to identifying individual racism.
Submissions of Use of Force forms are reviewed by the Use of Force Sergeant and evaluated to ensure individual incidents meet Professional Standards. The Service has accountability measures in place to address individual racism, which is identified as misconduct.
How is HPS analyzing the data it collects under the RIBD Strategy?
To be transparent, fair and accountable for its analyses, the Service is approaching data analyses in several ways. First, the Service will continue consulting with communities, stakeholders, subject matter experts and internal members to develop an analysis framework that is guiding how we are looking at the data in a principled and open way that reflects understanding of community and policing contexts.
Secondly, a Community Advisory Panel (CAP) will be established to advise the Service on the collection, analyses and interpretation of results. This panel is comprised of diverse members of impacted communities with lived experiences and subject matter experts in community and research.
Will the public have access to race and identity-based data?
Yes. The Service is committed to transparency and accountability while protecting personal privacy and ensuring information security in compliance with privacy laws. The Strategy will provide publically available de-identified analytical datasets identified through the RIBD strategy. The Service will consider and balance the public interest in access to open data and protection of personal privacy to prevent any individuals from being identified in the data.
Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, individuals continue to have access to their own personal information, including any race and identity based data, by submitting a request to the Access and Privacy Section.