Oversight report is due today
A much-anticipated report to be released today is expected to make sweeping recommendations for changes in the province’s three police oversight bodies. Aedan Helmer digs deeper into the background of the Tulloch Report
Q What agencies are under review, and who will implement the recommendations?
A The independent review examined Ontario’s three police oversight agencies: the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the Office of Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) and the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC).
The report has already been delivered to the attorneygeneral, including a number of recommendations for enhancing transparency and accountability of each of the agencies. Attorney-General Yasir Naqvi will attend a news conference in Toronto on Thursday afternoon to address the report’s findings.
Q Who conducted the review?
A The province appointed Justice Michael H. Tulloch, a judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal, to lead the independent review in April 2016. Tulloch was asked to make recommendations on ways to enhance the transparency and accountability of the province’s three police oversight bodies, while ensuring the agencies carry out their work as effectively as possible. The judge was asked to prioritize his recommendations on how information in SIU reports could be made public in the future, as well as whether past SIU reports should be made public.
Tulloch has been a sitting judge with the Ontario Court of Appeal since 2012, and was previously a judge with the Superior Court of Justice, to which he was appointed in 2003.
Q Why was the review ordered?
A The attorney-general’s office announced the review following the police shooting death of Toronto’s Andrew Loku, who was killed in July 2015. The SIU investigation concluded no charges were warranted for the police officer who shot the father of five, leading to a public outcry and large-scale protests, and leading activist groups such as Black Lives Matter to demand an overhaul of the agency.
The SIU was at the centre of the controversy. As part of Thursday’s public presentation, the attorney-general will release a part of the SIU report — the SIU director’s decision and analysis — prepared during the Andrew Loku investigation.
Q How was the review conducted?
Over seven months, Tulloch met with more than 1,500 people, held 17 public consultations — including one at Ottawa’s Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in October — and consulted with various stakeholders in more than 130 private meetings.
The review team consists of several notable legal minds, including senior counsels Jamie Klukach of the criminal branch of the Attorney-General’s Crown Law Office, Danielle Robitaille, a criminal lawyer with Henein Hutchison LLP, and Jodie-Lynn Waddilove, from the Aboriginal Justice division of the Attorney-General’s office.
Q How will the report relate to local cases involving the SIU?
A The Justice for Abdirahman Abdi Coalition was one entity that submitted a list of recommendations, following Abdi’s fatal arrest, which the SIU concluded warranted manslaughter charges against arresting officer Const. Daniel Montsion.
The activist group recommended 14 reforms, suggesting that the SIU be accountable to the Ontario legislature instead of solely to the attorney-general; clearly define rules regarding use of force; improve enforcement against officers and police chiefs who do not co-operate with or who obstruct an investigation; subject the SIU to an annual independent audit; instate a mandatory coroner’s inquest in the event of civilian death; and make public all SIU reports while maintaining privacy of involved parties and witnesses. The group also recommended improved data collection, including occurrence reports, a tracking database and the race and gender of both the subject officer and the civilian.