Ontario’s chance to fix police oversight
The history of police relations with racialized groups in Ontario is a tale of mistrust, missed opportunities and hollow responses that resolved little. The stalemate is on the verge of ending. A revolutionary report on police accountability by Justice Michael Tulloch could be the transformational document a generation of advocates have been waiting for.
Well before organizations such as Black Lives Matter took up the fight, the Black Action Defence Committee, Dudley Laws, Charles Roach and other activists were crying out for effective police oversight. From that era to this, their core demands have not changed: accountability and transparency.
More often than not, advocates were met with either a kneejerk defence of the police, or by challenges to the legitimacy of those calling for change. Equally predictable, timid politicians have responded in piecemeal fashion with a patchwork of oversight legislation that has allowed the Special Investigations Unit to operate under a cloak of secrecy and nondisclosure.
Half-measures have not satisfied racialized communities who distrust their police. When potential misconduct is hidden behind an opaque wall of nondisclosure, distrust and fear are bound to fester. Sooner or later, a major overhaul of police oversight mechanisms was inevitable. The Tulloch report — comprehensive, visionary and highly credible — marks the first step toward regaining the public’s confidence in our police.
In signalling that his government is broadly receptive to the report, Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi has sparked high expectations. The time for half-measures is long past.
Justice Tulloch’s Independent Police Oversight Review was launched on an implicit understanding that, historically, marginalized and mentally ill citizens are those most likely to come into deadly contact with police. Moreover, statistics show that only 3 per cent of cases investigated by the SIU over its 25-year history resulted in criminal charges, a staggeringly low number.
While the review did not recommend the release of names of officers who are investigated but not criminally charged, it did urge the release of extensive evidence that is uncovered in these investigations as well as the reasons the evidence was deemed insufficient to support criminal charges.
Taken as a whole, this set of recommendations would uphold the presumption of innocence while still giving the public the information and evidence it needs to assess the efficacy of the police oversight process. Naqvi has wisely agreed to release old and forthcoming SIU reports.
The province should go further down this path by following Tulloch’s recommendation to expand the SIU’s mandate beyond crimes that result in “serious injury or death.” It must be empowered to investigate offences such as breach of trust, fraud, perjury, obstructing justice and systemic racism or discrimination.
Another area that cries out for legislative change is the historical refusal of some police officers to participate in SIU investigations. The report recognizes that officers often fail to meet their legal obligations due to loopholes and ambiguity in current legislation surrounding their duty to co-operate.
The answer is to implement Tulloch’s recommendation that legislation be amended to require police to immediately disclose to the SIU all evidence in their possession. Failing to co-operate would be a provincial offence that carries a potential jail sentence.
The SIU should also be required to conclude investigations within 120 days; a deadline that will ensure timely justice and closure for those directly affected.
Doubtless, the province will face pressure to maintain the status quo. Police unions have often shown a flair for mobilizing public fear to stall reforms.
Aligned on the other side, however, is a steadily growing opposition toward police use of force, a reality Tulloch tapped into fully. Should his report succeed where numerous others have failed, it will be in no small part due to his unique qualifications to lead such a review.
Born in Jamaica, Justice Tulloch arrived in Canada to quickly discover the challenges of a being a new immigrant to this country. He worked as a defence lawyer and as a Crown prosecutor before being appointed as a judge. Tulloch’s origins, coupled with his cultural and legal experience, permit him to speak both for, and to, members of racialized groups who believe the legal system is loaded against them.
This review took Tulloch to all corners of the province. He listened intently to a wide spectrum of voices, assembling a remarkable report that brings the province to the brink of true reform.
It will now be up to another immigrant who also shares Tulloch’s goal for racial justice — Attorney General Yasir Naqvi — to provide the final push forward.