Where families need change most
Police involvement does not occur in isolation. It can affect safety, parenting, housing, employment, immigration status, mental health, child-welfare involvement and access to justice.
Police and Families Canada focuses on the points where policing and public institutions can either protect families or deepen the harm they are already experiencing.
Domestic violence and coercive control
Families affected by abuse need timely protection, informed risk assessment and access to meaningful support.
We support responses that recognize physical violence, threats, coercive control, financial abuse, stalking, harassment and technology-facilitated abuse. We also advocate for careful investigation, appropriate safeguards and services that do not leave survivors to navigate multiple systems alone.
Children affected by police involvement
Children may experience fear, separation, instability and long-term emotional consequences when a parent is arrested, removed from the home or subjected to restrictive conditions.
We advocate for child-sensitive practices that consider:
- what children are told;
- how they are interviewed;
- whether they are unnecessarily exposed to conflict;
- how parental contact is addressed;
- whether their daily routines can be preserved; and
- what support is available after police involvement.
Unnecessary and disproportionate intervention
Police action can be essential where there is immediate danger. It can also become unnecessarily broad, punitive or disruptive where less harmful alternatives would address the risk.
We advocate for proportionate decision-making, de-escalation and appropriate use of community, health, legal and social-service responses.