For the first time in 25 years changes have been made to the Ontario Police Act.

The Safer Ontario Act was passed in the legislature last week.

North Bay Police Chief Shawn Devine says he didn’t get everything he wanted.

” I would have liked to seen stronger language regarding suspension without pay. That is something my predecessor Paul Cook worked on quite extensively trying to effect change in that area,” he says.

Devine says overall though there are things to like.

“I think it’s a move forward. It’s not perfect though and there is going to be a lot of work to do as the definitions and interpretations roll out over the next number of years,” he says.

Devine says the legislation extends the power of overseeing agencies and they will need more staffing because the workload will increase.

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