Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

8,688. In 2010 and 2009 the number of apprehensions was lower, at 7,800 and 7,627
respectively.
84. In order to identify how many deaths per year involved what the TPS considered
to be an “emotionally disturbed person,” I requested that the TPS review its existing
data relating to cases between 2002 and 2012 in which the SIU invoked its mandate
because a person died during an encounter with the Toronto Police Service.
Determining whether a person qualifies as an EDP is not an exact science. The TPS
selected individuals for inclusion based on the following three criteria:
(a)
(b)
(c)
There was information in a report to the Toronto Police Services Board
that identified a mental health issue in connection with the encounter
(such as suicidal behaviour, self-harm, hearing voices, the existence of a
psychiatric condition, an apprehension under the Mental Health Act, etc.);
There was information in a report to the Board that, in connection with the
death, the TPS procedure titled “Emotionally Disturbed Persons” was
examined; or
An inquest was held and, in the Coroner’s verdict or in the
recommendations, it was identified that the individual had experienced
mental health issues.
85. Notably, these TPS criteria for selection are focused primarily on symptoms and
other evidence of mental illness, and may not capture certain other types of crisis that
an individual may experience, such as an emotional crisis or a crisis induced by drugs or
alcohol. It should be noted, too, that in some of the more recent cases involving a death
during an encounter with the TPS, a report to the Board may not yet have been
delivered, or an inquest may not yet have been held. The numbers that follow must be
viewed with these limitations in mind.
86. Based on the criteria it used, the TPS has advised that the total number of people
it identified as an emotionally disturbed person who died between 2002 and 2012 as a
result of being shot by a TPS officer is five—one in each of the years 2004, 2008, 2010,
2011, and 2012.
87. The total number of people fatally shot by the TPS during the 2002-2012 time
period (including these five EDP deaths as well as other deaths) was 25, with the
number of deaths in any year ranging from one to five. Out of the 25, four were killed by
members of the Emergency Task Force (ETF), 20 were killed by front line police
officers, and one was killed by an officer from a specialized police unit other than the
ETF. In addition, during the 2002-2012 time period, 34 people were injured by police
firearms, two of which involved the ETF, 31 of which involved front line officers, and
one of which involved an officer from a specialized unit other than the ETF.
88. There were other EDP deaths in encounters with the TPS during the 2002-2012
time period—a total of 22 other deaths by the Service’s calculation, for a total of 27
deaths of people meeting the above TPS “emotionally disturbed person” criteria during
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