Those wishing to become police officers must meet certain eyesight requirements to be considered for candidacy.  Applicants should note that the Niagara Regional Police Service adheres to principles adopted by the Constable Selection System, including standards and timelines relevant to the currency of tests, and restrictions associated with repetition of tests -- including testing components associated with OACP certificate, visual acuity standards and surgery, and psychological testing.

A. UNCORRECTED VISUAL ACUITY

Standard: At least 20/40 (6/12) with both eyes open.

B. FARSIGHTEDNESS

Standard: The visual acuity score recorded above should worsen when +1.50 lenses are worn; no change from the uncorrected visual acuity when + 1.5 lenses are worn denotes unacceptable vision.

C. DEPTH PERCEPTION

Standard: Stereo acuity of 80 seconds of arc or better.

D. COLOUR VISION

Standard: Pass Farnsworth D-15 without corrective lenses.

Standard: In excess of 5 eso or 5 exo.

F. LATERAL PHORIA "NEAR"

Standard: In excess of 6 eso or 10 exo.

Standard: In the temporal plane, each eye individually should be able to see objects at 75o and less.

Standard: At least 20/20 (6/6) with both eyes open.

Candidates who had had radial keratotomy (RK), photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), or laser thermokeratoplasty (LTK) refractive surgery in order to meet the uncorrected visual acuity standard must provide documentation that the visual acuity and refraction have been stable after the last surgical procedure. The necessary documentation should be provided by their eye care provider and document:

• the uncorrected monocular acuities,
• corrected monocular visual acuities,
• and subjective refraction results

for two (2) examinations that are at least 30 days apart. The documentation should also state that all drugs related to the surgery have been discontinued for at least one (1) month.

If the refractive surgery was radical keratotomy, then the two measurements should be made at different times of day to verify that the diurnal variations are not significant. One assessment should be in the early morning and the other in the late afternoon.

The acuities must meet the standards at each visit and should be within +3 letters of each other. For example if the visual acuity was 6/9 at the one visit and the applicant read the 6/9 line of letter correctly plus three letters on the next smallest line at the next examination, then the acuity would be recorded at 6/9+3. In this example, the acuity would be considered to be stable.

The refraction result for each eye should be within +0.50 dioptre for the spherical component and +0.50 dioptre for the cylindrical component. The visual acuity and refraction tolerances reflect day-to-day variability.

In addition, the applicant must attest that glare is not an appreciable problem.

Standard: Not allowed.

Standard: Free from diseases that impair or will impair visual performance as indicated by the standards above.