Legal and policing experts weigh in on significance of sentence,
No longer ‘business as usual’ in criminal justice system for police officers, say experts
Toronto police Const. James Forcillo “failed to follow his training.” The shots he fired after Sammy Yatim was already on the ground were “unreasonable, unnecessary and excessive.” The officer misused his firearm — despite “crystal clear” training.
With his strongly worded denunciation of the conduct that led to Forcillo’s conviction for attempted murder in Yatim’s death, Ontario Court Justice Edward Then sent a crystal clear message of his own in a Toronto courtroom Thursday: police officers must only use lethal force as a last resort.
It is a point that has been made ad nauseam, over decades, in countless coroner’s inquests, presentations to police boards and reviews of use of force.
But legal and policing experts say the comments made in Then’s sentencing decision — which criticized Forcillo for incorrectly assessing the threat Yatim posed, failing to attempt to verbally de-escalate, and more — send a powerful signal.
“All police services in Canada are on notice that there will be real consequences in the criminal justice system for inadequate training or failing to follow training,” said David Tanovich, a professor of law at the University of Windsor.
“It is no longer business as usual in our criminal justice system for police officers.”
The timing of Then’s sentencing decision — the judge sent Forcillo to jail for six years, a ruling now being appealed by Forcillo’s lawyers — also gives it power, coming at a time when public trust in policing is low, said Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who studies policing and criminal justice.
“It was a strong decision, and that’s exactly what’s needed right now,” he said. “To ensure trust in the system, officers have to be held accountable.”
Forcillo, 33, shot and killed Sammy Yatim while the 18-year-old was alone on a Toronto streetcar, armed with a small knife. The officer fired his gun in two distinct bursts: in the first round he shot three times, then five seconds later he shot six more times, as Yatim lay on the floor of the streetcar.
In January, a jury acquitted Forcillo of second-degree murder for the first volley but convicted Forcillo of attempted murder for the second set of shots.
During the four-month trial, court heard from Toronto police Deputy Chief Mike Federico, who detailed what officers are taught when encountering people armed with weapons, particularly those in mental or emotional distress.
Federico said officers learn the “guiding principle is the preservation of life,” and that in order for use of lethal force to be justified, the threat posed must be imminent, not potential.
In his lengthy decision, Then detailed the ways Forcillo failed to follow his training — including by misinterpreting the threat Yatim posed. Forcillo testified that he shot the second volley because Yatim was still armed with a knife, but Then ruled that the mere presence of the knife constitutes only a potential threat.
Then also criticized Forcillo for failing to communicate with Yatim before he shot the second volley.
Calls for police to use verbal deescalation — attempts to calm an agitated person by speaking calmly to them — have been made at repeated coroner’s inquests for decades. Mental health advocates say the tactic can be particularly effective when the person is experiencing a mental health crisis.
Terry Coleman, a police training ex- pert and a former Moose Jaw police chief, said he hopes the message about the importance of police officers using alternatives to lethal force whenever possible resonates even more coming from a judge.
“What I think, and I hope, it will do is get the attention of police officers — not just across this country but farther yet — that you’ve got to be careful,” Coleman said.
But he added that major changes are already being made by police services across Canada, including in Toronto, which now provides additional training on verbal de-escalation and alternatives to use of force.
Those changes were made as a result of a report by former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci, who was commissioned to review Toronto police interactions with people in crisis following Yatim’s death.
Once the appeal process is done, Coleman said its possible police services may create a training scenario that is similar to the circumstances surrounding Yatim’s death — specifically, where a scenario where someone is armed with a knife, but injured and lying on their back. He has yet to see a police force use this scenario.