Download SD61 school liaison officer presentations

This past school year, I heard that some parents were being told to file freedom of information requests if they wanted to see copies of presentations school liaison officers (SLOs) had given to students. While that likely wouldn’t be an acceptable response from anyone else presenting in schools, transparency is not the default response for local police.

I requested SLO records from VicPD, Saanich PD, Oak Bay PD, and West Shore RCMP, including presentations and speaking notes, as well as SLO policies, reports and statistics.

I’ve posted copies of the presentations and other documents below. Next time an SLO tells you to FOI something, maybe you can find it here instead!

I’ve also filed FOIs about police activities in schools in the past. I wrote that information up in 2019 and 2021, including a discussion of the origins of the program, arrests at SD61 schools, and examples of schools calling police on students under 10.

What’s in the new records

Most of the records below are presentations, some of which were written by other organizations. While there may be lots to say about their content, some of which is incorrect and harmful, at the highest level, I would suggest that better presentations on the same subjects could be delivered by people who are not police.

I’ve summarized some of the content from the non-presentation records below.

Saanich PD records (download below)

Before the minister of education fired the SD61 board in 2025, one of the trustees’ concerns about the SLO program was its lack of documentation. It’s telling, then, that Saanich PD says they have no specific SLO policies, or any reports about SLOs’ activities.

Saanich PD did release some statistics. They show that 46% of their SLO activities were at elementary schools, 19% at middle schools, and 35% at high schools. They also said SLOs’ biggest activity this past school year was “Other” (608 instances), followed by “Relationship building” (572 instances). They provided no further details about those categories.

Additionally, for all the fuss about the necessity of SLOs to curb gang activity, Saanich PD provided the following numbers:

·      165 activities (no gang indicators)

·      22 activities (suspected gang indicators)

·      0 activities (confirmed gang indicators)

They didn’t provide any additional description, but it seems like of 187 “activities,” zero had “confirmed gang indicators.”

Saanich PD also provided a document showing they ran optional evening workshops for children about “new driver safety,” “street smart and gang education,” and “relationship safety for youth.” They said they partnered with the company Safer Schools for the “street smart and gang education” workshop.

VicPD records (download below)

VicPD SLOs created weekly bullet point reports about their activities. They wrote about the presentations they gave, meetings they went to, and various redacted engagements with schools. Amongst other activities, it sounds like they sometimes hover around classrooms or at lunch and recess, and that they regularly walk around Christ Church Cathedral School to see if there are any homeless people to displace.

VicPD’s SLO report also said that a grade 8 class invited them to go camping at Sidney Spit, but it didn’t say if they accepted.

Oak Bay PD records (download below)

Oak Bay PD released its current SLO policy, which was written in 2002. The policy suggests that recruitment is part of their SLO procedures, with duties and activities that include “administers and marks tests, and selects students suitable for police based work experience programs (e.g. police camps, etc).”

A separate Oak Bay PD policy on “student interviews on school property,” last updated in 2005, says “If a young person must be interviewed (as opposed to interrogated) at school and there is no concern for legal consequences or retribution, a parent or guardian need not be in attendance or notified.” That’s in direct opposition to SD61’s regulation about police questioning students at schools. SD61’s regulation says parents or guardians should be present at police interviews and that no student should be interviewed without consultation and consent of a parent or guardian. If a parent or guardian can’t be contacted, and the police insist on interviewing the student at school, then SD61 says their parent or guardian must be notified as soon as possible after.

Oak Bay PD also released emails related to SLOs. According to one email, four weeks before the minister fired the SD61 trustees in 2025, then-VicPD chief Del Manak emailed the special advisor to outline several complaints, including that the board had invited the Human Rights Commissioner and Policing-Free Schools to give presentations. He said “I don’t see a productive path forward with Nicole Duncan as Board Chair.”

West Shore RCMP records

West Shore RCMP did not respond to an access to information request. I filed a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner, and I’ll update this post if I receive records.

Download records

Note that content in the records below may be incorrect or harmful. It’s useful to see what SLOs are telling students, but if you’re looking for general information about these topics, please look elsewhere.

VicPD SLO records

Saanich PD SLO records

Oak Bay PD SLO records

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