For the first time in years, police officers will be visible in public board schools once again. “What that’s going to look like I’m not sure at this point but I’m looking to identify some officers here that will go and meet with those schools, and I want to get ahead of it,” said LaSalle Police Const. Chris Williams. The public board largely paused police programs during the pandemic, then extended that pause in 2022 to review their impact on students. “Over the course of time, certain boards felt … that they wanted to go in a different direction,” said Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie. A 2023 report recommended ending classroom-based police engagement citing findings that a majority of racialized and marginalized students who participated in the review felt unsafe with police in school. The report also recommended replacing the Grade 6 VIP program with programming that would allow community members to share their lived experiences. VIP stands for Values, Influences, and Peers. Its lessons cover topics including bullying, alcohol, drugs and the law. “What it does is it’s one of the first contacts and most students get to meet with the police officer and so, we want to always make sure that first introduction is always a very beneficial introduction so they’re not afraid to come up and speak to us with the VIP program,” said Windsor Police Const. Sean Patterson who oversee Camp Brombal. The camp gives Grade 6 kids an opportunity to connect with WPS officers in a positive way. “These kids also get to really enjoy themselves and be able to expand on all the courses and lessons they learned through the VIP program, especially the bullying and the drugs and alcohol and youth and law,” Patterson added. Last year, the province introduced Bill 33. “The direction of Bill 33 is that the government will continue to work with police services, with care groups, and school boards all across the province in order to bring back youth engagement programs that will support students and strengthen safety in schools,” Dowie explained. Bill 33 became law in November of 2025 and requires school boards to adopt School Resource Officer programs. The public board brought the mandate to the Dismantling Anti-Black Racism Committee. After a sit down with them, the board approached Windsor Police. The board says they are developing a plan to thoughtfully reimplement police programs in their schools in collaboration with local police service departments and the Dismantling Anti-Black Racism Committee. “It’s great news that we’re going to be reintroduced in some capacity to the public board,” Williams told CTV News. “I’m excited to see what that looks like and I’m excited to work with them when it comes to that time.” Board officials say there is not set time frame on solidifying the future partnerships.
