Police decry André Marin’s probe into use-of-force guideline

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Police decry André Marin’s probe into use-of-force guideline

Postby Thomas » Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:24 am

Police decry André Marin’s probe into use-of-force guidelines

Ontario’s Ombudsman is on a collision course with the province’s police officers for his decision to investigate guidelines on use of force in the immediate wake of the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim by Toronto police.

André Marin announced Thursday that he is reviewing the provincial government’s guidelines to police on de-escalating conflicts. The shooting of Mr. Yatim on July 27 – after the streetcar passengers he had threatened with a knife had cleared the car – is already the subject of probes by the Special Investigations Unit and Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. Police advocates are accusing the Ombudsman of undermining the fact-finding efforts already under way.

As former head of the SIU, Mr. Marin investigated several police shootings in the past, and this probe marks the latest chapter in a long, antagonistic relationship with Ontario police forces. Just before Thursday’s news conference a series of vitriolic tweets allegedly from a Durham Regional Police officer aimed at the Ombudsman was a further sign of the continuing animosity.

Mike McCormack, the president of the Toronto Police Association which represents officers, including those subject to investigation, accused Mr. Marin of “grandstanding.”

“I’m a little bit shocked that somebody such as the Ombudsman would not be respecting due process and waiting until he got all the facts and information and I think that the optics are terrible in the sense that his comments clearly do not indicate confidence in the SIU or the Toronto Police or the investigative process,” he said.

However, SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon noted the two investigations did not overlap or undermine each other. The agency’s investigation is into whether there was any criminal wrongdoing, while Mr. Marin’s probe will focus on the government’s direction to police forces.

Asked whether the SIU would have preferred for Mr. Marin to wait, she said: “We’re looking at two completely different things. It doesn’t really matter.”

While the Toronto police would only say that Mr. Marin is looking at the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and not the force, Alok Mukherjee, chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, welcomed the ombudsman’s investigation as an “useful exercise.”

Mr. Mukherjee was quick to point out that the Toronto police receive “very good training” and that he supports the use-of-force model that officers currently use.

“I have spoken with Mr. Marin that to look at provincial standards and guidelines is not a bad idea. It is a good idea,” he said.

While the ombudsman’s office has jurisdiction over the ministry and not police services, Mr. Marin is hoping police forces across the province will share information about their procedures to aid with his investigation, which he estimates will take six to 12 months to complete.

Mr. Marin did not say specifically what guidelines and procedures his office will review. The investigation will not look specifically at when and on whom tasers should be used, for example. (Mr. Yatim was tasered by an officer after he was shot, but that officer is not being investigated by the SIU.)

Rather, Mr. Marin said he wants to look at previous recommendations that have been made and whether they are being followed.

“It’s broad enough to include de-escalation of violence on the scene. It has no particular emphasis on tasering, but of course, tasering is an escalation,” Mr. Marin said.

Peter Brauti, the lawyer for Constable James Forcillo who is being investigated by the SIU in the shooting of Mr. Yatim, said that the broad and seemingly general purview of the ombudsman’s investigation is unhelpful.

“If the ombudsman got up and said ‘It would have been nice if tasers would be more readily available. So, I’m going to do a review of the availability of tasers to officers,’ that’s helpful. But to stand up and say, ‘Hey I’ve looked at some preliminary matters, I’m going to hold a review on policies and procedures,’ that’s not helpful,” Mr. Brauti said.

The coroner’s office has not yet called a public inquest into Mr. Yatim’s death. However, the office is looking into three similar cases between 2010 and 2012. Reyal Jardine-Douglas, Sylvia Klibingaitis and Michael Eligon died after police fired at them when they were carrying knives or scissors, and they were believed to be mentally ill at the time of the shootings. The inquest into their deaths is set to begin on Oct. 15.

Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said the government “will co-operate fully” with Mr. Marin. She noted that her officials are conducting a continuing use-of-force review.

Mr. Yatim’s parents welcomed Mr. Marin’s review, saying they hope that “further conflicts between interested parties” are avoided as the SIU probe continues.

“We are grateful that this investigation will further public dialogue on police procedures and acceptable de-escalation tactics, and that this inquiry will hopefully, finally, lead to the implementation, not just recommendation, of safe conflict resolution procedures,” they said in a statement.

Clayton Ruby, a prominent Toronto lawyer and civil-liberties advocate, lauded Mr. Marin for tackling the issue, saying the SIU and other police oversight bodies have a poor record.

“He’s saying this is a problem that no one is dealing with and I better do it,” he said. “I think if somebody else was dealing with this, he wouldn’t feel the need to do it.”

In a news conference Thursday, Mr. Marin lamented that there have been similar deaths in the past. “It seems to be like Groundhog Day – inquest after inquest, police shooting after police shooting,” Mr. Marin said.

Shortly before he announced the probe, Mr. Marin was attacked on Twitter as a “carded member of Al Qaida.” Mr. Marin then alleged the person behind the anonymous account, which was later deleted, to be Durham Regional Detective Constable Scott Dennis. Deputy Chief Paul Martin, who said the account appears to have been created with the officer’s work e-mail address, said the force is investigating.

With a report from Ajit Jain, Special to The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/tor ... e13657796/
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Re: Police decry André Marin’s probe into use-of-force guide

Postby Thomas » Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:54 am

Ontario ombudsman to probe police de-escalation guidelines in wake of shooting

TORONTO – Ontario’s ombudsman will probe what kind of direction the provincial government provides to police for defusing conflict situations in the wake of the fatal shooting of a Toronto teen.

The police shooting of Sammy Yatim, 18, raises the question of whether it’s time for Ontario to have consistent and uniform guidelines on how police should de-escalate situations before they lead to the use of force, watchdog Andre Marin said Thursday.

“Are we going to look at improving the police response to this?” he said.

“It seems to be like Groundhog Day. Inquest after inquest. Police shooting after police shooting.”

The province has the power to set standards for police training or procedures, he said, which was done in British Columbia following the death of Robert Dziekanski after he was stunned with a Taser by police.

Many coroner’s inquests into similar deaths over the past 20 years have made recommendations that are almost “carbon copied from each other,” he said, such as increasing police training.

“What’s happened to all these recommendations in 20 years? Have they been gathering dust in some bin somewhere?” he said.

“When you look closer, these police shootings bear remarkable similarity to each other.”

A coroner’s inquest into similar police-related deaths will also get underway this fall.

Two men and one woman died of gunshot wounds between 2010 and 2012 after approaching police with edged weapons, the deputy coroner said Thursday. All three may have been suffering from the effects of a mental disorder at the time.

Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur said all police officers in Ontario receive use of force training as recruits and on a yearly basis as part of their in-service training.

“The ministry is conducting an ongoing use of force review that is examining officer training, the equipment they use and how use of force incidents are reported, and we will be looking at this very closely when working with the ombudsman’s office,” she said in a statement.

Marin said he’s received more than 60 complaints, inquiries and submissions relating to the Yatim case. The investigation will take between six months to a year to complete.

Yatim was killed on an empty streetcar on July 27 in an incident that was captured on surveillance and cellphone videos, and sparked public outrage.

They show officers surrounding the streetcar and three shots being fired before Yatim is seen dropping to the floor. Seconds later six more shots can be heard, followed by the sound of a Taser.

Witnesses have told various media outlets that Yatim exposed himself and waved a knife around before the other streetcar passengers fled.

His death prompted hundreds of people to take to the streets calling for justice. More than 30,000 people have signed an online petition calling for criminal charges to be filed against the officer who fired the shots.

Shortly before announcing his investigation, Marin came under attack on Twitter, where he was called a “carded member of Al Qaida” among other insults. The same user also told Marin not to stick his nose in “business it doesn’t belong.”

The Twitter account was later deleted.

Marin called the tweets “deplorable” and said the tweeter was a Durham regional police officer. But that claim couldn’t be immediately verified. The ombudsman wouldn’t reveal how he’d identified the Twitter user, but said he would co-operate with a police investigation.

“Emotions run high when you talk about police oversight,” he said. “Now in this case, it’s a little higher than the normal temperature.”

Durham police deputy chief Paul Martin said on Twitter that investigators would like any information Marin has on the origin of the tweets.

“We are investigating the disturbing allegations made by the Ombudsman regarding a DRPS officer,” he tweeted.

Marin said he didn’t believe the attack was related to his office’s decision to launch an investigation.

“I’ve got thick skin,” he said. “Like I said, it’s part of the turf to deal with people who are upset. In this case, it’s beyond that.”

Marin said he’s even had death threats in the last few months.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of types of situations, so nothing really surprises me at this stage.”

The Special Investigations Unit — Ontario’s police watchdog — is looking into the Yatim shooting and will decide if the officer who fired the shots should face any criminal charges. Marin said his investigation won’t interfere in that work.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has also said his office is reviewing the incident.

Const. James Forcillo has been suspended and the Toronto Police Association president has urged the public not to jump to conclusions.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/08/08/onta ... -shooting/
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Re: Police decry André Marin’s probe into use-of-force guide

Postby Thomas » Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:20 am

Police use of force and a promising investigation

The decision by André Marin, the Ombudsman of Ontario, to investigate the provincial government’s guidelines on police use of force is welcome news. The investigation will not conflict with any other and can only serve to shed more light on an issue that is of growing concern to the public.

The issue is the use of deadly police force against the mentally ill or someone who may be in the throes of a personal crisis. The death of Sammy Yatim in Toronto last month was a tipping point. The 18-year-old teenager, who had no history of violence, died after a police fired nine shots at him while he was alone on a streetcar, wielding a knife and yelling at police officers who had their guns raised in his direction. The incident was captured on multiple video recordings, and it left many people concerned and angry over how quickly the police drew their weapons and why so many shots were fired.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit will decide whether the officer who fired his weapons was legally justified in doing so. As well, Toronto’s chief of police, William Blair, has vowed to hold an internal review of department procedures. Neither of those investigations, however, will examine the use-of-force guidelines that are the basis of police training in Canada.

The Ombudsman’s investigation will thus fill a needed gap. Police officers in Canada follow a use-of-force model that is designed to teach them to assess a situation and choose the path of engagement that will result in the least harm being done. At the same time, officers are trained to use their side arms the instant they feel a suspect is threatening their own safety.

According to a report prepared by a member of the Calgary Police Service, officers trained under the use-of-force model are supposed to assess the behaviour of a suspect and other situational factors, and then “marry these factors with their understanding of case law and societal expectations to formulate a considered analysis of the risk.” But too often, said the report, officers ignore the situational factors and “select a response based only upon the linear relationship to subject behaviour.”

Given that the provincial government is responsible for the Ontario Police College and the Ontario Provincial Police Academy, and thus for the basic training of police officers, it makes perfect sense for the Ombudsman to ask questions in the wake of the Sammy Yatim shooting.

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