Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

A. Mandate
Chapter 2. Mandate, Independence, Scope and Methodology
1. On August 28, 2013, I was asked by Chief of Police William Blair to undertake an
independent review of the use of lethal force by the Toronto Police Service (TPS). The
focus of the Review is on encounters between police and individuals identified in this
Report as “people in crisis.”
2. In light of the fatal shooting of Sammy Yatim on July 27, 2013, Chief Blair
concluded that he had a responsibility to cause a review to be conducted as required by
section 11 of Regulation 267/10 under the Ontario Police Services Act.
3. Section 11 of O. Reg. 267/10 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 Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has been notified, subject to the
SIU’s lead role in investigating the incident. The SIU is required to be notified when
there is an incident involving serious injury or death that may have resulted from
criminal offences committed by police officers.
4. 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 to review the conduct of its
police officers. All members of the police force are required to cooperate fully with the
Chief of Police’s investigation.
5. Chief Blair divided the review into two parts.
6. One part of the review was conducted by officers within the Professional
Standards unit of the TPS, who examined the conduct of the police officers involved on
the night that Mr. Yatim was killed. I was not involved in this part of the review.
7. This Report addresses the second part of the review.
8. My mandate was to conduct an independent review of “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.”
9. I was instructed by Chief Blair that the hallmark of my Review was intended to be
its independence, and that the end result of the Review was to be a report, to be made
public, setting out recommendations that will be used as a blueprint for the TPS in
dealing with this serious and difficult issue in the future.
10. My mandate has included reviewing the following topics:
(i)
TPS policies, procedures and practices;
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