London police charged $130 for crime stats that 3 other forces gave for free. CBC News asks why
CBC
A London deputy police chief says it's standard protocol to have media outlets pay to access crime statistics despite other services in Ontario providing the same information for free.
CBC News asked the London Police Service (LPS) for information on March 13 to provide the public context for a series of stories. The information requested was:
For each request, the LPS told CBC News to file a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which comes with an initial $5 application fee. The request took 12 days to process.
The police said the data was available to purchase on April 22 for $130.
For years, the communication team at the LPS has told media outlets requesting statistics that its business analytics unit handles the requests, and an FOI is required. Requests can cost hundreds of dollars, fees for the time it takes administrators to compile the data. A request can also be denied.
CBC News decided to challenge the practice at LPS. It requested the same information about motor vehicle collisions and vehicle thefts from three other Ontario police forces.
Waterloo Regional Police Service, Windsor Police Service, Peel Regional Police all provided CBC News the data for free, and within a few days.
"It's a very difficult situation when a media outlet is trying to do a story that might have, not just community impact, but provincial impact or national impact," said Western University professor and media critic Romayne Smith-Fullerton.
"They can easily gather information from some police forces that feel a public obligation, whereas the London police force feels a different obligation and is allowed to proceed in that way. We need legislation that makes it clearer that what's good for one is good for all," Smith-Fullerton said.
Deputy Chief Paul Bastien said there's been a policy in place since 2022 at the LPS that says all requests for data are to be channelled to the business analytics unit.
"What you're experiencing is potentially an overly blunt response to a situation about two years ago where we disclosed inaccurate information through our media office," said Bastien when asked what made LPS different from its counterparts.
"There was information released and ultimately reported on that was inaccurate and had caused us to kind of walk things back."
Bastien would not say what the situation was about that caused police to change how it makes information available to the media.
Through the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), individuals have the right to request access to general records from local government institutions, including police services.
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