Police Interviews of Students. Wherever possible, police will conduct interviews off school property. Except in exigent circumstances*, when the police interview students on school premises the following procedures will be followed in relation to police interviews of students: ▪ Police are required to conduct interviews related to criminal investigations of incidents that involve students as alleged perpetrators, victims, or witnesses. Any person who may have information related to the incident may be interviewed by police. ▪ Principals must make best efforts to contact parents/legal guardians as soon as possible before the interview and document such attempts. ▪ Where the parent/guardian refuses the request for an interview to commence at school, police will conduct the interview off school property. ▪ A parent/legal guardian*, third-party adult, or the principal, if no alternative is available, must be present when students under the age of 18 are being interviewed at school. ▪ Where a student aged 12 to 17 waives the right to have an adult present at the interview, the police and the principal must consider the most appropriate location for conducting the interview and take steps to ensure that the student’s rights are respected during the interview. ▪ School personnel shall assist police in making the required preparations (e.g. securing a quiet room and establishing a time for the interview). ▪ Police must consult with the principal to consider alternatives for conducting interviews at a location other than the school. ▪ When taking statements from accused youth, police will follow the Guide to Officers for Section 146 Youth Criminal Justice Act Statements (Appendix C). ▪ Police will act in a manner that respects the dignity of the student and minimizes disruption to the school when it is necessary to interview, search, or arrest a student at school during school hours.
Police Interviews of Students. Note: The Notification Flow Chart in Appendix C provides a summary of the steps detailed below. It is the responsibility of police to conduct interviews related to criminal investigations of incidents that involve students as alleged perpetrators, victims, or witnesses. If the police wish to question a student on school property, the police officers shall contact the principal of the school that the student is attending to advise the school administration of the nature of the visit and to request a meeting with the student. • The principal must make best efforts to contact the student’s parents/legal guardians as soon as possible before an interview and document such attempts. o Parents/legal guardians should not be contacted if the police determine that doing so may endanger the safety of the student or another person, or compromise the integrity of an investigation. o If the parents/legal guardians refuse to grant permission for the student to be interviewed by the police, the school administrator will request that the police conduct their interview off school property. The responsibility for parent/guardian notification resides with the police if the interview is to take place off school property. o The local CAS must be involved in a joint interview if the child is suspected to be in need of protection. o If the student is a Crown xxxx or xxxx of the local CAS, the legal guardian is considered to be the CAS. • Police need to act in a manner that respects the dignity of the student and minimizes disruption to the school when it is necessary to interview, search, or arrest a student at school during school hours. o the most appropriate time and place for a student interview must be considered o school personnel will assist police in making the required preparations including securing a quiet, private room to ensure confidentiality, and establishing a time for the interview • If the student is not in attendance at school on the day the police arrive, the school shall inform the police officer of the student’s proper date of birth, address, phone number, and the parent’s/legal guardian’s home and business phone numbers, in accordance with section 32(g) of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which is the authority for providing such personal information to law enforcement officials to aid an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding or from which a law enforcement proceeding is likely to result. I...
