Section 11 of Ontario Regulation 267/10 under the Police Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.15 provides that a Chief of Police shall cause an investigation to be conducted forthwith into any incident involving a police force with respect to which the S.I.U. has been notified, subject to the S.I.U.’s lead role in investigating the incident. The purpose of the investigation by the Chief of Police is to review the policies of, or services provided by, the police force in question, and the conduct of its police officers.
In light of the fatal shooting of Sammy Yatim, I have a responsibility to cause to be conducted the review required by Section 11 of O.Reg. 267/10.
I have concluded that it is appropriate for you to conduct this review on an independent basis.
The mandate of your independent review will be to review the policies, practices and procedures of, and the services provided by, the TPS with respect to the use of lethal force or potentially lethal force, in particular in connection with encounters with persons who are or may be emotionally disturbed, mentally disturbed or cognitively impaired.
The end result of the independent review will be a report setting out recommendations that will be used as a blueprint for the TPS in dealing with this serious and difficult issue in the future.
The report will be made public.
The hallmark of your review is intended to be its independence. You are asked to conduct an independent and objective review, to the extent relevant to the mandate, of the following:
- 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 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 you may reasonably determine fall within the scope of the independent review
As part of your review you are authorized to:
- Receive submissions and/or meet with stakeholder groups or individuals as you see fit
- Examine TPS use of force equipment
- Attend to observe TPS training
- Interview TPS personnel
- Consult with experts in the field of mental, emotional and cognitive disorders
- Consult with experts in the use of force, the selection and training of police, crisis intervention and all other matters that are the subject of the review
- Assemble and retain an advisory panel of experts
- Conduct research
- Make recommendations as you deem fit and proper based on the work performed and the information obtained
- Perform such other work as may be reasonably incidental to the independent review
The review will not examine the conduct of the police officers in the Yatim case. That investigation will be conducted by officers of the Toronto Police Service in the usual manner. Nor will the review make any findings of civil, criminal or disciplinary liability against any person, agency or organization.