The organization charged with investigating Ontario’s police had a record number of cases last year.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU), released its annual report yesterday, and it states the 382 cases opened in 2018 matches 2012 as the highest caseload in the unit’s history.
SIU investigations are called in incidents where there is a death or serious injury directly or indirectly involving police. The SIU also investigates allegations of sexual assault against police.
They operate under the motto “one law for all.”
SIU Director Tony Loparco, whose term ended March 31, 2018, said 2018 was a “demanding” year.
The unit closed 416 cases in 2018, laying charges in 15 cases against 17 officers. Once charges are laid, the case proceeds to court.
There were 229 cases closed after a full investigation found no reasonable grounds to lay charges, and 172 cases were terminated prior to completion of a full investigation where it was found the case did not fall within the SIU mandate of “serious injury” or evidence showed the injury was not directly or indirectly caused by the actions of a police officer.
Last year’s caseload included 58 sexual assault allegations, 37 custody deaths, six vehicular deaths and 18 ‘other’ deaths.
In Simcoe, there were 15 cases investigated by the SIU in 2018, five of them involved the Barrie Police Services, two involved Collingwood OPP, three involved the Orillia OPP, and one involved the South Simcoe Police Service (vehicle injury).
In Collingwood, there were investigations into two custody injuries.
One case - a 20-year-old woman who broke her ankle before police located her - was terminated on the grounds the injury was not caused by police actions.
In another case still under investigation, a man was injured after falling from an apartment window during a stand-off with police. He was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for his injuries.
In The Blue Mountains, one case in January, 2019, involved the death of a man involved in a stand-off at a home in Clarksburg with OPP from The Blue Mountains detachment.
According to the SIU report, the 58-year-old man was armed with a handgun, and threatened suicide. Police tactical teams surrounded the house and eventually found the man dead by suicide in the garage.
No charges were laid.
In Barrie, the SIU investigated three custody deaths, a firearm injury and a custody injury.
There were charges laid in the firearm injury case against Barrie Police Sergeant Michael Chytuk. According to the SIU, Chytuk fired his gun at a fleeing vehicle, injuring one of the occupants.
Two of the custody death cases were closed with no charges issued, the third is still under investigation, as is the custody injury case.
In a high-profile case involving the death of 32-year-old Olando Brown, the SIU was called in to investigate his death while in custody of the Barrie Police Service.
No charges were laid his death, which was caused by him swallowing two “golf ball-sized” baggies during a search. While the incident occurred on June 22, 2018, the SIU did not announce the results of its investigation until February, 2019.
The SIU also investigated one custody death at the OPP Barrie detachment, which was terminated without a full investigation. The situation involved an Oro-Medonte Township man who died by suicide. He was approached by officers the day before for a compliance check, and opted to “turn himself in” the following day.
The two cases involving Orillia OPP included a custody injury and a sexual assault allegation.
The sexual assault case was terminated after it was determined there was nothing for the SIU to investigate. Because it was a case of sexual assault allegation, the SIU does not post reports.
In the case of the custody injury, the SIU was called in to investigate after officers used physical force and a TASER to arrest a 28-year-old man at the Orillia OPP detachment. The allegations were the man sustained a fracture to his face (orbital bone) during the arrest, and that he was resisting arrest. No charges were laid in the case.
In Bradford, the investigation into a vehicle injury is ongoing. In that case, a vehicle fleeing police was involved in collision Highway 88 east of Highway 400.
In the SIU annual report, several cases are profiled including one in Ottawa that lead to sexual assault charges against a sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service. The case is still before the courts.
Attempted murder, aggravated assault, discharging a firearm with intent, and reckless endangerment charges were laid against a Waterloo Regional Police Service officer who allegedly discharged his firearm several times at a man police suspected of stealing a vehicle. The man was struck by one bullet. The case is still before the courts.
According to his report, Loparco said the SIU worked toward more transparency in 2018, issuing 518 news releases (an 86 per cent increase over 2017) and making changes to its website including a chart allowing the public to track the progress of all cases from beginning to end.
“The last five years have seen a desire to make the unit even stronger,” said Loparco.
In 2017, the Ontario government committed to releasing the SIU director’s reports to the public. Prior to that, they were only shared with the attorney general.
New legislation originally set to take effect on June 30, 2018 was put on hold by Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government days before it was set to become law. The legislation included governing legislation specifically for the SIU, where before it was under the Police Services Act. It also required an SIU investigation every time a police officer discharged a firearm at a person, regardless of whether there was serious injury or death.
“Staff spent the first half of the year preparing for the implementation of the legislation that ultimately did not get enacted,” said Loparco.
According to the director’s message, there are now more special investigative units being put in place across Canada. While Ontario’s SIU was the only one of its kind for about 20 years, there are now units in BC, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The full SIU annual report is available online here.
