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Document
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MO-1422
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Institution/HIC
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Toronto Police Services Board
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Summary
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NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The Toronto Police Services Board (the Police) received a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ) for access to records containing "the names of those persons who have died between January 1, 1999 and August 31, 2000, without known next-of-kin, whose names have been made known to your organization. We also ask that you provide us with the place and date of death of the deceased and the name of the organization that contacted your organization regarding each matter." The Police determined that access to the information sought could not be provided because they do not maintain a listing of deceased persons without known next-of-kin. They explained to the appellant that "a manual search of the records concerning deceased persons is denied pursuant to section 1, Regulation 823, of the . . . Act in that such a search would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution." The Police also indicated to the appellant by telephone that there were approximately 5,000 deaths during the time period he had requested, and a manual search through individual files would be required to obtain the information to respond to the request. The appellant appealed this decision, stating that he believes that incoming and outgoing telephone calls to and from the Police are recorded on a computer system and stored. He believes that it would be a simple matter to search for calls made by the Police to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (the OPGT) to report deaths without known next-of-kin. Accordingly, he is of the view that the information he is seeking is retrievable from the existing electronic record-holdings maintained by the Police. During mediation, the Police clarified that only calls made to 911 and to the main switchboard are taped. Calls to and from direct lines through the Police Services are not recorded. I decided to seek representations from the Police initially. The Police responded by providing me with submissions on the issues raised in the Notice of Inquiry. The Police consented to sharing these representations with the appellant in their entirety. The appellant also made submissions, which were in turn shared with the Police, who then provided me with additional reply representations. DISCUSSION: IS THE INFORMATION SOUGHT CAPABLE OF BEING PRODUCED FROM MACHINE READABLE RECORDS? The Police have provided me with submissions outlining the capabilities of its computerized filing system. They indicate that: Although the names, places and dates of death of persons whose demise required the attendance of the Toronto Police are computerized, the information primarily sought by the appellant (that is, whether a next-of-kin was identified for a deceased person) is not capable of being produced from a machine readable record. The computerized reports concerning sudden deaths contain no specific field to capture whether or not a next-of-kin of a deceased person was known. A person involved in a sudden death occurrence - but not their relationship to the deceased - would only be noted in the computerized entry in those instances where that person: (a) reported the sudden death; and/or (b) is listed as the complainant or a witness; and/or (c) is listed as a suspect in the death of the person. In order to determine the nature of the relationship, if any, which existed between any individual named in a computerized sudden death occurrence and the deceased, the "hard copy" of that occurrence must be manually retrieved and studied. . . . In order to create a responsive machine readable record from the already-existing police records, the data base itself would have to be altered to create a field to capture the fact that a next of kin was or was not known and such information added to each entry. Then each sudden death occurrence would have to be manually retrieved, searched for the information, and each entry modified to reflect the result. With respect to information relating to contact between the Police and the OPGT, the Police submit that they: . . . do not keep a list of those persons about whom the Public Guardian and Trustee has been notified. As detailed above, to maintain such a list would serve no institutional purpose, as such incidents are treated on a case by case basis and require careful individual investigation. Should the Police compile such a list for investigative purposes, it would constitute a breach of the . . . Act . . . . . . . [The Police] do not report all sudden death occurrences to the Public Guardian and Trustee - as is made clear by the Police Service procedures provided in our representations - only those sudden deaths for which a next of kin could not be identified are reported to the Public Guardian and Trustee. As detailed above, the Public Guardian and Trustee is the legally construed government authority for this purpose. The information is released to them pursuant to section 32 of the Act , and is done so by the officer at the time of the investigation. Toronto Police Service Procedure No. 09-01, which is referred to above, specifically directs officers to contact the OPGT in situations where: a relative cannot be located in the Province of Ontario known estate is valued at more than $5000.00 executor or administrator of the Will cannot be located executor named in the Will is a minor in doubt or when conditions are other than those listed above. The Police take the position that they have fulfilled their legal obligations when, having been unable to locate a next of kin, they notify the OPGT. However, they stress that no machine readable record exists which would identify those situations where the investigating officer has in fact made that notification. The Police rely on section 1 of Regulation 823, R.R.O. 1990, arguing that the creation of a record containing the information sought by the appellant is not possible using electronic means and that retrieving the information from the paper copies of sudden death
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Legislation
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Subject Index
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Published
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Apr 20, 2001
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Type
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Order
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© Copyright
2013
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. All Rights Reserved.
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