Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

officers against vulnerable citizens. However, my conclusion is not that the TPS culture
as a whole is either entirely heroic or entirely abusive. Cultural traits are more subtle.
20. In the paragraphs that follow, I set out my observations and understanding
regarding features of the general TPS culture that are relevant to the Review. I begin
with a discussion of selected positive elements of the culture, of which there are many. I
then move on to discuss some areas for improvement.
1. Selected positive elements of TPS culture
21. Mental health awareness: As discussed above, the TPS has undertaken a number
of initiatives in the past 20 years to focus on the proper police response to people in
crisis, including studies like the Use of Force Committee Final Report and this Review,
training initiatives and the introduction of the MCIT program. 1 It is apparent that
attitudes within the TPS relating to people in crisis have changed over time. People in
crisis are now a strong focus of police attention. The TPS has taken steps to try to dispel
stereotypes and misinformation about mental illness by, for example, integrating the
perspectives of people with lived experience of mental illness into the training program.
22. Both positive and negative reinforcement of this attitudinal shift can be found in
TPS governance documents. For example, the TPS has adopted a statement of seven
Core Values. One of the core values is Fairness, which is described as requiring TPS
members to treat everyone in an impartial, equitable, sensitive, and ethical manner.
Similarly the core value of Respect is defined in part as requiring TPS members to show
understanding of people’s differences. 2 The TPS Code of Conduct 3 confirms that it is
Discreditable Conduct (a form of misconduct that is subject to disciplinary sanction) for
a police officer to “fail to treat or protect a person equally without discrimination with
respect to police services because of that person’s…disability.” 4
23. Wellness: The Service’s internal culture of mental health wellness is reasonably
strong. Several individuals with whom the Review team met commented on the
significant improvements in the wellness culture over the past 15 years, as exemplified
by a number of initiatives that include the hiring of in-house police psychologists, the
requirement of mandatory meetings with the psychologists for some high-risk
personnel, and several other initiatives, which are discussed in more detail in Chapter 9
(The Mental Health of Police Personnel). There is more openness within the
organization today than there was previously, and members feel more comfortable
discussing mental health issues. This is an ongoing evolution, but some individuals
noted that there is still more room for improvement.
1
For a more detailed review of these initiatives, see Chapter 3 (Context).
2
Toronto Police Service, Service Governance Standards of Conduct (Toronto, ON: Toronto Police Service, 23 December 2013) at 7-
8 [TPS, Service Governance Standards]. See also Toronto Police Service, “Mission Statement” (2014), online: Toronto Police
Service .
3
Which is adopted from the Code of Conduct set out as a Schedule to O. Reg. 268/10 under the Police Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.
P.15.
4
TPS, Service Governance Standards, supra note 2 at 12.
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