Police chief defends officers accused in SIU investigation

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Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders is rejecting the Special Investigation Units’ claim that a non-witness officer interfered with video footage of the shooting death of Andrew Loku.

SIU Director Tony Loparco wrote in a report, released on Friday, that he is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the shooting was legally justified and that there are therefore no grounds for proceeding with criminal charges against the subject officer, but raised concerns about a non-witness officer trying to access the video of the shooting.

“The issue of the police improperly accessing the video and concerns about ‘gaps’ in the video were brought up by residents at the building and members of the CMHA,” Loparco wrote. “Following the shooting, a non-witness officer saw fit to attempt to review and download the video recordings captured by cameras … where the shooting occurred.”

Saunders responded on Monday saying that he believes his officers were just in attempting to locate and secure the video.

“Our officers have a legal onus to fulfill this responsibility,” Saunders said. “This includes the necessity to secure video evidence.”


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According to Saunders, the officers were unable to secure or locate the video due to technical difficulties and they did not review or even download the video.

“An officer was posted to secure the scene until technical assistance could be contacted,” he said.

Loparco said he had not yet heard an adequate explanation for the officer’s conduct.

“I believe the SIU Director is using this opportunity to highlight his desire for a strong review of the regulations that govern his agency,” Saunders responded. “This is a review the TPS strongly supports.”

Andrew Loku, 45, was killed in July 2015.

Two Toronto Police officers encountered Loku in the third-floor hallway of an apartment at 502 Gilbert Ave. around midnight, armed with a hammer.

According to the SIU report, Loku was approaching police with the hammer, which contradicts what witnesses said at the scene. According to the report, Loku was “within two to three metres of the officer’s position” when he was shot. Loku was “eight to nine” metres away when police arrived at the scene.

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