Public Safety Unit

Emergency Management

The mission of the Emergency Management section is to provide preparedness planning and training for actual or imminent emergencies. As a part of this process, the emergency management section collaborates with all levels of government and a range of non-governmental organizations for an effective and coordinated community response.

To learn about Run∙Hide∙Defend∙ -Surviving an Active Attacker incident, click here.

Demonstrations/Protests/Labour Disputes

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees certain rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly. The highly trained members of the Public Safety Unit will work with event organizers and other stakeholders to ensure a safe and peaceful environment for a demonstration, protest or labour dispute.     

All demonstration, protest and labour dispute planning should begin with submitting a Notice of Demonstration/Protest/Labour Dispute information form, which can be completed here. There is no cost associated to this service and no permit is required to host a demonstration/protest/labour dispute. Complete this form to notify York Regional Police at least one week in advance.

York Regional Police is committed to providing an unbiased approach to the preservation of peace and the prevention of crime(s) at any labour dispute. In the event an employer or union anticipates a labour disruption, the Public Safety Unit should be contacted to provide information on the role, responsibilities and response of the police to these incidents.

If you would like to learn more about how we maintain unbiased contact with unions and management throughout any labour disruption, please take the time to review our Labour Dispute pamphlet here.

Should you have questions about demonstrations, protests or labour disputes, please email demonstrations@yrp.ca.

Search and Rescue

The Search and Rescue Unit provides specialized support to frontline officers and investigative units. Search and Rescue members are trained to provide support in areas such as conducting systematic ground searches for lost or missing persons, evidence searches and canvasses.

Specialized equipment is utilized to provide additional support in the detection of a person or evidence.

To learn about the Project Lifesaver program, click here.

Crowd Management Unit

Maintaining the public peace is a critical police function. It is, however, oftentimes an area that proves to be challenging as police must balance discretion and the public's expectation in policing a broad range of public events.

The Crowd Management Unit attempts to manage public assemblies before, during and after the event for the purpose of maintaining lawful status through event planning, pre-event contact with event organizers, information gathering and mandatory training for our members.  

Special Events Section

The Special Events Section works in collaboration with all levels of government and non-governmental organizations to identity and assesses special events that may involve a police presence or potential police response.

The mission of the Special Events Section is to ensure that special events are safe and successful by providing a planned and coordinated response, while minimizing the impact on our communities and to our citizens.

If you are planning an event, your initial planning stages should include an application to the municipality. Please use the links below for more information on the application process for special events planning in a community within the Regional Municipality of York:

Town of Aurora

Town of East Gwillimbury

Town of Georgina

Township of King

City of Markham

Town of Newmarket

City of Richmond Hill

Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville

City of Vaughan