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Independent Review of the Use of Lethal Force by the

Toronto Police Service

About the

Independent Review

As publicly announced by Chief of Police Bill Blair of the Toronto Police Service on August 30, 2013, the Honourable Frank Iacobucci has been engaged to conduct an independent review of the use of lethal force by the Toronto Police Service, with a particular focus on police encounters with persons who are or may be emotionally disturbed, mentally disturbed or cognitively impaired.

A copy of the Mandate and Terms of Reference for the Independent Review can be found here

The end result of the review will be a report setting out recommendations that will be used as a blueprint for the Toronto Police Service (TPS) in dealing with this serious and difficult issue in the future. The report will be made public.

Toronto Police Service (TPS)

The hallmark of the review is intended to be its independence. Mr. Iacobucci has been asked to conduct an independent and objective review, to the extent relevant to the mandate, of the following topics:

TPS policies, procedures and practices
TPS training, and training at the Ontario Police College
Equipment used by TPS
Psychological assessments and other evaluation of TPS police officers and officer candidates
Supervision and oversight
The role of the Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCIT) currently employed by the TPS

The role of the TPS Emergency Task Force
Best practices and precedents from major police forces internationally (in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other jurisdictions)
Available studies, data and research
Such other related matters as may reasonably be determined to fall within the scope of the independent review

The review will be forward looking.

Advisory Panel

The review will be forward looking. Although the review was commissioned in light of the fatal shooting of Sammy Yatim, the review is not an examination of the conduct of the police officers in the Yatim case or any other specific case. Nor will the review make any findings of civil, criminal or disciplinary liability against any person, agency or organization.

A three-member Advisory Panel has been appointed to assist the Independent Review. The Advisory Panel members are forensic psychiatrist Dr. John Bradford, criminal defence lawyer Paul Copeland, and former RCMP Commissioner Norman Inkster. Biographical information for the Advisory Panel members can be found here.

Independent Review

Members of the public and stakeholder groups with an interest in the subject matter of the Independent Review are invited to make focused submissions regarding the topics that fall within the mandate and terms of reference of the review. Please see the Public Input page for details and submission deadlines.