TORONTO – Ontario is changing its use-of-force guidelines for police in the wake of the shooting death of an 18-year-old by Toronto officers.
Madeleine Meilleur, minister of community safety and correctional services is scheduled to make an “important announcement” about use-of-force options available to police officers in Ontario during a press conference Tuesday morning.
Police use-of-force tactics have been under scrutiny after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim who was shot multiple times by a police officer, then tasered, while aboard a TTC streetcar on Dundas Street West.
The officer who allegedly shot Yatim has been charged with second-degree murder.
Rank-and-file police officers in Toronto only have access to pepper spray and batons as non-lethal weapons when on patrol. Only supervisors and Emergency Task Force officers can also carry conductive energy weapons – commonly referred to as Tasers.
Chris Menary, a security expert at the Menary Group, suggested in an interview with Global News in July that police officers of all ranks need more non-lethal options.
“All officers should be armed with these options. I don’t know why supervisors are the only ones,” Menary said. “You have to give them these options to deal with these threats that are coming up.”
Yatim’s death has sparked three investigations into police conduct. The Special Investigations Unit charged Constable James Forcillo with second degree murder in connection to Yatim’s death, Chief Bill Blair launched an investigation headed by former chief justice Dennis O’Connor and Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin has launched an investigation into de-escalation tactics used by police throughout Ontario.
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