Report urges more training in de-escalation tactics to reduce police use of force
A year-long review into sometimes lethal use of force by Calgary police recommends more understanding around mental health, an emphasis on de-escalation training and reforming provincial legislation.
The nearly 400-page report authored by retired Court of Queen’s Bench justice Neil Wittmann was released Tuesday, reviewing use of force incidents by the 2,000 frontline members of the department, zeroing in on 21 shootings by police over a six-year period. The report offered 65 recommendations in eight categories to better deal with potentially dangerous situations in the future.
Wittmann, Alberta’s former chief justice, said Calgary police need more robust and frequent training on skills to defuse potentially dangerous situations, although they already show a strong culture of restraint.
“One of the use-of-force experts told me point blank, ‘You know, the Calgary police could basically shoot someone once a week,’ ” Wittmann said.
“But they don’t. And the reason they don’t is they ’ve already incorporated de-escalation strategies and tactics into their repertoire, notwithstanding the fact formal training has yet to occur.”
As part of the review, Wittmann interviewed 190 subjects, including frontline officers, family members of those impacted by use-of-force incidents, government officials, law enforcement oversight agencies and the judicial service.
He said while Calgary police understand the grave responsibility they have when making life and death decisions during escalating incidents, there’s still more that can be done to potentially save lives that might otherwise be lost to a service pistol drawn too quickly.
Key to that, Wittmann said, is ensuring regular in-service training on methods to de-escalate dangerous encounters, as well as ways to deal with those suffering from mental breaks or struggling with addiction.
The review found mental health concerns or drug use was at the centre of half of the 21 police shootings over the last six years.
Of the remainder, alcohol was a factor in three cases, stolen vehicles used as a potential weapon in five, and another four who were attempting “suicide by cop.”
“One of the most difficult areas I had to deal with was the interaction of the people with mental health issues and police officers,” Wittman said, noting he would like to see Calgary police adopt a model used by Memphis, Tenn., law enforcement, which has built a crisis intervention team into frontline units.
Wittmann’s review of the last five years of use-of-force incidents found that Calgary officers pointed their firearms on 156 occasions and opened fire 23 times.
In total, there were 3,254 incidents between 2012 and 2017 that required a formal police report, making up about 0.12 per cent of public contacts by police.
Police Chief Roger Chaffin said the review, initially given a $500,000 budget, reinforces work already underway on the force to emphasize the need to find peaceful resolutions to conflicts.
“Sanctity of life is the overarching principle of policing. Our goal, obviously, is not to end people’s lives,” he said.
“Most of those situations happen organically. They happen in front of an officer and in that moment and in those seconds where you’re left to defend yourself or defend somebody else. The decisions on how to act are with the officer in that small moment of time.”
While the former judge put some onus on the force to improve its training, recruitment, culture and strategic management, Wittmann also said those whose role it is to provide oversight to police need to ensure they improve their response times to reviewing incidents.
A review by Wittmann of the latest 10 Calgary police files reviewed by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team found it took an average of 14 months between the incident and the agency’s final report. In the case of a fatality inquiry, the average length of time took three years.
“The aftermath of use of force and that include lethal force to me is lacking in terms of timing,” he said, noting the 36-month turnaround for fatality inquiries is particularly troubling.
“I think that’s unacceptable and I’ve recommended the province insert some timelines to get these things done quicker.”
Between 2008 and 2017, ASIRT probed 459 files looking into the conduct of police officers across Alberta. Of those, 106 (23.1 per cent) involved Calgary police officers, of which seven resulted in recommendations for charges.
Wittmann’s 65 recommendations have been split into eight categories including: Provincial oversight; Officer recruitment; Officer education and training; Use of force; Responding to useof-force incidents; Mental health, substance abuse and police interactions; Police culture; Strategic management.
Among the dozens of recommendations is a call to update the Police Act, which governs Alberta’s law enforcement agencies, mirroring a call made by a number of Calgary city councillors this week.
Brian Thiessen, chair of the Calgary police commission, which provides civilian oversight for the force, said updating the Police Act is critical and there have already been positive signs from provincial officials that they’re on the same page.
“For the province, it’s a large undertaking at a time where they’re very busy, but they ’re hearing loud and clear from policing organizations, chiefs and commission oversight bodies that Police Act reform is imperative,” he said.
“I hear nothing but a receptive voice from the province on the issue.”