Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

20. The guiding principles of the CEW Operator Training Course recognize that
CEWs are weapons that must not be used casually. Those guiding principles include the
following:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
the decision to use force at all is a fundamental decision that must be
made before deciding which force option to use;
a CEW should be used as weapon of need, not a tool of convenience;
officers should not over-rely on CEWs where more effective and less risky
alternatives are available; and
a CEW is just one of several tools available and one part of the overall use
of force procedure. 30
2. TPS procedures
21. The TPS currently issues CEWs to front line supervisors and specialty teams such
as the Emergency Task Force (ETF). Since the MCSCS authorized expanding access to
CEWs to all officers in 2013, the Service has not expanded access to CEWs to primary
response units or the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) since the MCSCS
authorized further access in 2013. However, in November 2013, Chief Blair proposed to
the Toronto Police Services Board that the Service purchase additional CEWs in order to
expand deployment to two constables from each division and four officers from the
Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) Rapid Response Team. Such an
expansion would have resulted in three sergeants and two constables on every shift
having access to a CEW. The Toronto Police Services Board directed the Chief not to
proceed with the proposed expansion at that time. 31
22. The TPS procedure on CEWs identifies the device as a legitimate use-of-force
option to gain control of an assaultive subject. A CEW may be used when a subject
exhibits threatening behaviour and the officer believes he or she intends to carry out the
threat, where a person presents an imminent risk of serious bodily harm or death, or
where a person threatens or attempts suicide. 32
23. The TPS procedure permits the use of CEWs in probe or drive stun mode. 33 The
procedure also considers the un-holstering or pointing of a CEW to be a form of use,
called demonstrated force presence. The TPS procedure does not address the
authorization of, or restrictions on, repeated applications of a CEW on a person. The
decision regarding multiple applications is made by officers on a case-by-case basis. The
TPS calls paramedics to conduct medical assessments and remove probes after a CEW is
discharged.
30
Chief Blair, Expanded Deployment, supra note 28 at 4.
31
Ibid.
32
Toronto Police Service, Procedure 15-09 “Conducted Energy Weapon” (Toronto, ON: Toronto Police Service, 2012) at 4.
33
Ibid.
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