Was justice served in Yatim case?
Re Justice is done in Yatim shooting, Editorial July 29 Toronto cop James Forcillo has rightly been convicted in the shooting of young Sammy Yatim. Disconcerting is the outrageous claim made by his defence lawyers that a cop should be given leniency. For being a cop.
The judge wisely countered that, if anything, police need to be held to a higher standard of both having the personality and training to better handle a potentially confrontational situation.
De-escalation techniques should be a first resort, instead of going in Wild West style with guns blazing. As evidenced by the YouTube footage that tragic summer night in 2013, police training deficiencies need to be addressed and corrected.
The ever-bombastic police union boss Mike McCormack, whose unwavering first allegiance is to “serve and protect” his own cops rather than our best interests, defended, and even worse, exonerated Forcillo of any wrongdoing. Chilling. We are not served having him as head of the powerful police union.
Finally, the trial and sentencing could only address Forcillo’s actions. That these other systemic travesties remain at large may well succeed in derailing justice.
Bottom line? Let’s see if Forcillo ever sets foot inside jail. Paul Coulter, Kincardine, Ont.
“For justice to be done, it must be seen to be done. . . . This does not look like ‘justice.’ ” KARIN BROTHERS TORONTO
Yes, he shot and killed an 18-year-old boy who presented no real threat to anyone. No question about that. But it was the Toronto Police Service that gave him the job and authorized him to carry a gun.
The problem is that Forcillo acted like a coward and panicked at the thought of a threat — even though there was no real threat to him. Because he panicked, he shot Sammy Yatim.
Then, while Yatim lay dying, Forcillo succumbed to what hunters call “buck fever” and kept shooting until his gun was empty. The court called that attempted murder, but it’s a wellknown problem when immature and/or untrained people use guns. As a coward, Forcillo is obviously not fit to be a policeman and, because he is subject to buck fever, he should never be allowed to own, carry or use a gun.
Still, in this case, the guilty party is the police service, which gave him a job he was not fit to hold and allowed him to carry a gun he was not fit to use.
Fire him and ban gun ownership — no question about that — but jail is excessive. He’s not a bad man — just not good enough for the job he held. Andy Turnbull, Toronto I must respectfully disagree with your editorial. Justice has not been done — it has merely been proposed. We will not know if justice is to be done until the case has wound itself through the variables of the appeals system, which could take several years.
Only if the sentence is upheld at the final step, which is no sure thing, will we truly know that justice has been done. Right now, while Forcillo walks the streets, we can only hope for the best. Robert Kent, Mississauga First, I want to extend my sincere sympathies to the traumatized and grief-stricken Yatim family whose 18-year-old son and brother Sammy was brutally and repeatedly shot by police officer James Forcillo and Tasered by Sgt. Dan Pravica in cold blood, at virtually point-blank range three years ago.
I strongly disagree with the decision of Justice Eileen Gillese who believes that Forcillo is no danger to the public and released him with a light punishment of house arrest until his November appeal.
Forcillo is dangerous and incompetent. The jury should have convicted him of murder, not attempted murder. There is no justice for the Yatim family and the public. However, there is just-us for Forcillo and many other police officers, their defence lawyers, the pro-police SIU and ill-informed judges who frequently make biased judgments and stick together like Krazy Glue.
There will be more Sammy Yatims, more Andrew Lokus, more Jermaine Carbys, more racist police shootings of young black, brown and red men until there are radical changes — long-term de-escalation training, systemic anti-racism education, and debunking of “mental illness” myths and stereotypes in all police colleges. Don Weitz, Toronto I am about to make a statement that I never thought I would say: I am beginning to understand why some people carry weapons. In a society where mental illness is still so misunderstood, misdiagnosed and mistreated; in a country where Quebec provincial officers avoid being investigated for sexual misconduct in Haiti by retiring (on full pension no less); on a continent where the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is legal to use evidence acquired illegally; and in a world where those individuals and corporations who cause economic tragedy are never brought to justice — it becomes understandable that both police and regular citizens are becoming increasingly confused about our responsibilities to each other.
If our political, economic, judicial and social leadership no longer understands that the foundation of a healthy liberal democracy is the principle of justice, what should the rest of us do? Barbara Boraks, executive director, Christian Jewish Dialogue of Toronto The image of Const. Forcillo striding toward the courthouse with his “Jesus” face on reminds me why this sentencing is so important. Especially in light of what is also happening in the U.S.
In spite of what the police department thinks — that Forcillo’s six-year sentence is excessive — it is exactly what is needed if there’s to be a shred of confidence left that the police are abiding by the same rules that everyone else obeys.
His stubborn refusal to acknowledge that he might have made an error despite all the video evidence, his complete lack of sympathy for the young life snuffed out by his mistake cannot be tolerated by either the city or the police force that he worked for.
Const. Forcillo, with his entitled attitude, is exactly the example of a kind of person who should never be hired as police officers. Weed these types out. M. Schooff, Orangeville, Ont. It is only fair that Const. Forcillo be punished for that overkill second volley of multiple rounds shot into a clearly neutralized Sammy Yatim. Yet, this kind of thing will just keep happening as long as police officers keep drawing their overly sensitive semi-automatic Glock pistols in high-octane situations.
It is to the credit of Metro’s finest that they rarely draw their guns, and even more rarely fire them. And Forcillo was known as someone who drew his gun more frequently than most cops do — 12 times over a 31⁄ 2- year period.
Yet, as we just saw in Miami, when a black therapist trying to protect his autistic patient was shot by a policeman, his all-toocommon question, “Why did you shoot me?” received the honest answer, “I don’t know.”
Many people believe that first-responding police officers ought not to have such overkill weapons at the ready, and there should be an inquiry into whether such military-grade pistols make a mockery of the concept, “Shoot to wound.” Too often the officer wants to fire a single round, but ends up firing half a dozen.
Here in Canada, we need not give the gun makers the undeserved benefit of the doubt. Trauma surgeons are tired of having to go on fishing expeditions for multiple rounds, especially when each hollow-point bullet is designed to cause maximum devastation. Ron Charach, Toronto The sentence is totally outrageous and diametrically opposite to the heinous crime committed by the unremorseful officer. Suited and booted, he exudes total defiance in taking an innocent life. He should have been given the maximum and the prosecutor should leave no stone unturned to ensure justice prevails. Raza Kara, Richmond Hill Charged, tried, convicted and sentenced for attempted murder and still James Forcillo remains a free man. For justice to seem like justice to us, the great unwashed, it must be seen to be done.
So far, in this case, there is no justice. Terry Kushnier, Scarborough For justice to be done, it must be seen to be done. Forcillo deserves more than one night in jail at this point. This does not look like “justice.” Karin Brothers, Toronto