Joe Fiorito on police shootings,

St. Anne’s is an Anglican church near the corner of Dufferin St. and Dundas. The congregation is small but the parish is active in all the good ways: it tends to those on the margins; it shares its space with a theatre group; lately, people from St. Anne’s have taken seats on the local community policing committee.

But when Sammy Yatim was shot to death, there was deep concern and discomfort among those at the table with police on the liaison committee. And yes, there were questions in the neighbourhood: How do we make sense of this? Where do we live, that such things happen? How are we different, before and after the shooting? What to do now?

There is a play, Vincent, about the shooting by police of a man with a history of mental health problems; the play was written 10 years ago; it has been performed internationally; it is based on the death of a man from the neighbourhood.

And so, in the wake of the shooting of Sammy, there was a public reading of the play at the church; local cops were invited to come, as was Deputy Chief Mike Federico. He was joined by Jennifer Chambers of the Empowerment Council, a group which represents consumer-survivors of the mental health system.

And in the audience there were some 40 parishioners and people who live in the neighbourhood. The idea was to do a read-through of the play, and then discuss the broader issues of policing and mental health. A thumbnail sketch: The evening was homely in all the good ways: politeness in the air, along with the smell of coffee; trays of cupcakes and cookies; a kind of friendly nervousness.

The play has three characters: Vincent’s brother, his mother, and the officer who shot him. And on stage, a vase of sunflowers, representing Vincent.

The arc of the story is familiar to all of us in Toronto: a boy’s struggle with schizophrenia; the inability of his family to cope; and a confrontation with police, ending in a fatal shooting.

After the reading, there were comments by the principal guests. Not, I remind you, about Sammy; the issue is before the courts. Federico said, “There are issues in the play that cut across society. It’s not a policing issue, it’s a community issue. The solutions don’t lie solely with police.”

He is partly right. Chambers said, “In the play, there is a suggestion that medication is a magic bullet.” It is not.

And then, questions. Someone asked what has changed since the Vincent shooting. Not a lot, as it turns out. But Federico said the police have tried to build partnerships in the community. And Chambers said she speaks to police recruits about mental health issues and concerns, as part of their training.

Federico also said, “The Mental Health Act says we apprehend, or we do nothing; no police officer finds the latter satisfying.”

I bit my lip: Had one police officer in particular chosen to do nothing, Sammy Yatim might still be alive today.

Someone asked how many encounters police have every year with those who have mental illness; the answer is shocking. Federico said, “Police have 3.6 million encounters of all types every year; 20,000 of those involve someone who is disturbed; 8,000 result in an apprehension under the Mental Health Act.”

In other words, there are 22 apprehensions a day, or nearly one an hour, every day, all year long. Federico also said that only a few of these incidents capture the attention of the media, and that can distort the overall picture.

I bit my lip again. We do not distort. We report. But then he said something that nearly made me stand up and applaud.

“Supportive housing is a cornerstone; people need to feel safe, they need an address, a place to go, they need life skills and family supports.”

Now hold that thought. Someone asked what sort of training police get to help them deal with confrontation. Federico said recruits are shown techniques to de-escalate, establish communication and give the person some space.

You may ask yourself if that is what happened the night Sammy was shot on the streetcar; the deputy chief could not possibly have commented.

But he said recruits got training in all their equipment, some of which is lethal; and afterward, they get two days’ training annually, some of which involves mental health issues. Chambers said, “We’re always petitioning the police about training.” More is better.

And so the evening closed. I am left with two thoughts: Why is the police union not demanding more and better training and supports to deal with mental health issues? And if the police are the inheritors of social policy, why are they not inserting themselves into the public debate at every opportunity, demanding better housing and more supports for those who need help? Joe Fiorito appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. jfiorito@thestar.ca