Liberals urged to act on inquest findings
Critics say nothing has changed months after probe into shooting by Toronto cop
Community activists are pleading with Queen’s Park to act upon the recommendations from the coroner’s inquest into the death of Andrew Loku.
Three months after jurors handed down 39 recommendations to prevent another similar tragedy, Loku’s supporters insist nothing has changed.
“Although lip service has been paid to some of them, none of them have been implemented,” lawyer Howard Morton said Tuesday at a news conference by Across Boundaries mental health clinic.
But Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister MarieFrance Lalonde insisted some changes will be coming as part of policing reforms later this fall.
“I know that police officers are increasingly interacting with vulnerable individuals, often with complex mental health issues. This is why we need to modernize the police service training,” Lalonde said.
Loku, a 45-year-old father of five from South Sudan was shot and killed by Toronto police Const. Andrew Doyle after midnight on July 5, 2015 in an apartment near Eglinton Ave. W. and Caledonia Rd.
Doyle told the inquest he fired as the hammer-wielding man was charging toward him in the hallway of the Gilbert Ave. building leased by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit did not lay criminal charges against the officer, determining the use of force was justified.
That sparked protests by Black Lives Matter Toronto and forced the province to appoint Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch to conduct a sweeping review of police oversight bodies.
On June 30, the coroner’s jury recommended annual anti-Black racism and mental-health training for police and Tasers for all front-line officers, among dozens of other changes. About 41 organizations and individuals have collectively written to Premier Kathleen Wynne demanding those recommendations be implemented.
“This province has a long history of non-responsiveness to inquest jury recommendations,” wrote Aseefa Sarang, executive director of Across Boundaries.
“A lack of meaningful response to the Loku recommendations by the government and all responsible agencies quite simply will not be tolerated,” Sarang added. NDP MPP Peter Tabuns (TorontoDanforth) said “the time of talk and good intentions is over.”
“The people of this province don’t need another coroner’s inquest gathering dust on someone’s desk,” Tabuns said.
Lalonde emphasized reforms are forthcoming. “Our government is very committed to making sure that people with mental-health issues get access to the services they need,” the minister said.
“Through the Strategy for a Safer Ontario (initiative), we will be improving the de-escalation training for all new recruits and existing officers across the province, incorporating use-of-force and de-escalation into our upcoming legislation to ensure police can fully respond to individuals in crisis,” she said.
“We will establish the most appropriate model for police interaction with persons who are in crisis. We will be bringing legislation this fall.”