Calgary’s police chief announced on Monday there will be an independent review into officer-involved shootings in Calgary.
Speaking before Calgary city council, Chief Roger Chaffin said he wants the review to be conducted by someone outside of the City of Calgary and Calgary Police Service.
“If there are things in that review that will tell us we could do work better or differently then I’d be glad to read and try to stand those recommendations up,” Chaffin said. “If there’s things that we’re already doing that are working, that would also be good to for the public to hear that and for the service to hear that.”
There have been 10 officer-involved shootings in Calgary so far in 2016, five of which were fatal. There were three in 2015.
READ MORE: What we know about the 10 Calgary police-involved shootings in 2016
Chaffin has attributed the increase to a changing nature of crime in the city, citing the presence of meth and opioids on the Calgary streets as driving factors.
Doug King, professor in the Department of Justice Studies at Mount Royal University, said it’s very rare for a police service to decide to do an independent review.
“I think it’s extremely rare, but it’s also very important.”
WATCH: Mount Royal University department of justice studies professor Doug King joins Global Calgary to discuss the decision to have an independent review following a high number of officer-involved shootings in Calgary
King said it was reminiscent to when former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci issued a report on the Toronto Police Service, which was sparked by the killing of a teenager on an empty streetcar.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said an independent review is the right approach.
“You never know if the amount of shootings that we’ve had this year is a blip or something that is a longer-term trend, but either way it’s troubling.”
“As Toronto did, having a third-party take a look at some of the police procedures – to make sure that we are not inadvertently making the problem worse – I think is a very good idea.”
READ MORE: Justice minister on Calgary police shootings – Alberta watchdog could have ‘broader’ role
Details of the review, including who would conduct it and when, haven’t yet been determined.
“The person who is chosen to lead up this review has to be completely independent of the Calgary Police Service, and presumably of other police agencies in Canada,” King said. “The Toronto study set that example.”
“Calgary could learn a lot from mirroring the Toronto experience.”
“It’s only been two years since that study came out, but they’ve made significant strides.”
King added that he thinks 10 officer-involved shootings is a concerning number.
“The Toronto report made a very important statement that they are looking for zero deaths — that’s zero deaths in any engagement that a police officer has with a member of the public.”
A provincial watchdog does review officer-involved shootings in Alberta. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) determines if officers acted appropriately and whether or not any wrongdoing took place.
WATCH: An independent review into officer-involved shootings in Calgary is going ahead. Doug Vaessen has details
With files from Gary Bobrovitz
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