Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

20. The act of engaging in professional improvement does not, by itself, imply that
the organization is deficient or that the status quo reflects a failure. The purpose of this
Review is to review the current policies, procedures and practices within the TPS in
order to assess, from a policy perspective, whether improvements can be recommended.
My mandate does not include making judgments about the legal adequacy of these
policies, procedures and practices, or about whether the TPS meets any particular legal
standard. I have not made such judgments in this Report. Overall, as a result of this
Review, my assessment is that the Toronto Police Service is a progressive police force
with a genuine commitment to public service. Like all organizations, it is capable of
further improvement. The TPS is to be commended for seeking to do so.
21. To elaborate further, this Review is not concerned with the conduct of specific
police officers, nor is it concerned with specific incidents in which the TPS has used
lethal force. The Review makes no factual findings and reaches no conclusions about any
issue of criminal, civil or disciplinary liability; in fact, this is expressly prohibited by the
terms of my mandate. Although this Review arose following the shooting of Mr. Yatim, I
want to be very clear that the recommendations made in this Review are not a specific
response to that shooting or to any other individual incident. Nothing in this Report
should influence or is intended to influence the outcome of any court process or other
adjudicative proceedings.
2. Lethal force
22. The Review is focused on the use of lethal force. The Review is therefore
restricted to examining, seeking to prevent, and seeking to help manage those
circumstances in which a more serious use of force may be deployed or considered—
usually circumstances involving a weapon such as a gun or a conducted energy weapon
(CEW). It is important to be clear that this Review is not a comprehensive review of all
situations in which the TPS may use force. Rather, this is a focused review that is
concerned specifically with minimizing the use of deadly force in police encounters with
people in crisis.
23. A related limitation is that I concluded the Review should consider only direct
interactions between police and a member of the public, whether in the context of a
confrontation or incident to arrest. Although death or serious injury can also occur while
an individual is in custody, the Review did not examine the unique issues relating
specifically to in-custody deaths.
3. Persons who are or may be “emotionally disturbed, mentally
disturbed or cognitively impaired”
24. The mandate of the Review is to focus, in particular, on encounters by TPS
officers with persons who are or may be “emotionally disturbed, mentally disturbed or
cognitively impaired.”
25. Regulation 3/99 under the Ontario Police Services Act (Adequacy and
Effectiveness of Police Services) requires the Chief of Police to establish procedures and
processes in respect of “police response to persons who are emotionally disturbed or
Police Encounters With People in Crisis |47