Families deserve safety, fairness and a voice

Police involvement can have lasting consequences for parents, children and entire families. An intervention intended to protect someone may also lead to separation, criminal charges, restrictive conditions, child-welfare involvement, financial hardship and prolonged family-court proceedings.

These consequences can be necessary where someone faces genuine danger. They can also become disproportionate, poorly coordinated or harmful when institutions fail to consider the complete circumstances of a family.

Police and Families Canada exists to ensure that families are not forgotten when police, courts and public agencies make decisions that may permanently alter their lives.

We advocate for responses that protect people from abuse while also respecting due process, preserving healthy family relationships and minimizing unnecessary harm to children.

Better policing does not always mean more policing.

Family-centred policing means recognizing that every police decision involving a parent may also affect a child, a caregiver and an extended family.

It requires police and justice-system professionals to consider:

• whether police intervention is necessary and proportionate;
• whether safer community-based alternatives are available;
• how arrest, detention or no-contact conditions will affect children;
• whether family members understand what is happening and where to obtain help;
• whether allegations have been assessed fairly and carefully;
• how domestic violence, coercive control and child abuse may affect the family; and
• how police, family courts, criminal courts and child-protection agencies can avoid conflicting or unnecessarily harmful responses.

Family-centred policing does not excuse violence or minimize abuse. It demands effective protection, institutional accountability and careful decision-making.

Our work is intended to support:

• adults and children affected by domestic violence, family abuse, coercive control or child abuse;
• families harmed by unnecessary, disproportionate or poorly managed police intervention;
• parents and children navigating criminal, family and child-protection systems;
• survivors who feel ignored or inadequately protected;
• people affected by procedural unfairness or institutional failures; and
• professionals and community organizations working to improve family safety and justice.

We recognize that abuse can affect women, men, children and people of every background, identity and family structure.

Protect children 

Children should not become invisible casualties of police intervention, family conflict or institutional delay. Their safety, stability and long-term relationships must remain central.

Support people affected by abuse

Responses to domestic violence, coercive control and family abuse must be informed, effective and connected to meaningful legal and community support.

Reduce unnecessary harm

Police involvement should be necessary, proportionate and carefully considered. Where safe alternatives exist, families should have access to them.

Preserve due process

Serious allegations require serious investigation. Fairness, evidence and procedural safeguards protect both public confidence and legitimate survivors of abuse.

Demand accountability

Police services and justice institutions must acknowledge mistakes, respond transparently to complaints and learn from the experiences of affected families.

Advocate for reform

We promote better laws, policies, training and institutional coordination through research, public education, community engagement and legal and political advocacy.

Our Guiding Principles

Safety and justice must work together.

Children come first

Every institutional response should consider the immediate and long-term effect on children.

Abuse must be taken seriously

Domestic violence, coercive control, family abuse and child abuse require effective protection and informed intervention.

Police power must be accountable

The authority to arrest, remove, restrain or separate family members must be exercised carefully and transparently.

Due process protects everyone

Fair procedures help ensure that victims are believed through credible processes and that allegations are assessed responsibly.

Families need alternatives

Not every crisis requires a criminal justice response. Community, health, legal and social-service options should be available where appropriate.

Lived experience matters

People directly affected by police and justice-system involvement should help shape the policies intended to protect them.

Police and Families Canada will work to:

• publish accessible public-education resources;
• study the effect of police involvement on families and children;
• identify gaps in laws, policies and institutional practices;
• organize public meetings, consultations and educational events;
• build partnerships with families, survivors, lawyers, researchers and community organizations;
• make submissions to governments and public institutions;
• advocate for police accountability and justice-system reform; and
• help families identify appropriate legal and community resources.

At this stage, Police and Families Canada is building its volunteer network, research priorities and first public initiatives.

Police and Families Canada is not a police service, police association, government agency, law firm, crisis line or emergency-response organization.

We do not represent police institutions. We remain independent so that we can examine police practices honestly, support affected families and advocate for meaningful reform.

We do not provide individualized legal advice or emergency assistance.