Police Accountability in the City of Kingston

Since Mayor Noble took office in 2016, the City of Kingston has made significant incremental changes to policies and procedures around police accountability.

Over the past four years, we have:

- Equipped every officer with a body camera

- Adopted the Right to Know Act

- Instituted strategies to attract more diverse applicants to the police force, and hired bilingual officers

- Codified our commitment to not approach anyone based upon their immigration status

- Made the Police Commission meetings and process more accessible 

- Instituted the Peaceful Guardians Program 

- Approved the funding of implicit bias training for Police Board Commissioners, to begin in 2020

In June 2020, Mayor Noble pledged his support to continue these efforts and in the City of Kingston. He and the Common Council worked alongside community groups to pass legislation centered around police accountability that includes: 

- Transparent guidelines for the appointment process and composition of the Police Commission

- Creating training requirements for the Commissioners, and

- Improving upon the Commission’s complaint process

This legislation unanimously passed the Common Council on July 7. Mayor Noble signed the legislation into law on July 8. Read the full resolution HERE.  

Police accountability efforts are far from finished, and we know the work will only be complete when everyone in this City feels safe and protected. We are committed to doing the work toward building trust in the community, between law enforcement and all people of Kingston.