Key recommendations from report into Toronto police’s use of lethal force

TORONTO – Former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci released a report on his review into the Toronto Police Service’s use of lethal force on Thursday. The document makes 84 recommendations. Among its key suggestions, the report recommended that Toronto Police consider doing the following:

— Create a comprehensive police and mental health oversight body in the form of a standing inter-disciplinary committee.

— More proactively and comprehensively educate officers on mental health issues and available resources, including giving every officer a point of contact in the mental health system.

— Consider conducting a pilot project to assess the potential for expanding conducted energy weapon access within the force.

— Advocate for an interprovincial study of the medical effects of conducted energy weapon use.

— Issue body-worn cameras to all officers who may encounter people in crisis to ensure greater accountability and transparency.

— Consider whether officers would benefit from tools such as a quick reference checklist for dealing with those in crisis.

— Notify Mobile Crisis Intervention Team units — which pair a mental-health nurse with a specially trained officer — for every call involving a person in crisis, and consider expanding the role of the MCITs.

— Develop a pilot Crisis Intervention Team program to complement the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team program with the aim of providing a specialized response to those in crisis around the clock.

— Make it mandatory for new constables to complete a Mental Health First Aid course.

— When hiring, give preference to applicants who have engaged in significant community service, have been involved with the mental health community and have completed higher education.

— Place more emphasis on communication and de-escalation skills when training recruits.

— Develop an early intervention process for identifying behaviour by officers that may indicate a significant weakness in responding to mental health calls.

— Create incentives for officers to put mental health training into practice in situations involving people in crisis.

— Collaborate with researchers to develop a system for collecting and analysing data on the effectiveness of training related to people in crisis and its impact on actual encounters.

— Conduct a follow-up review in five years to assess the degree of success achieved in minimizing the use of lethal force in encounters between Toronto police and people in crisis.