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A report, titled A Matter of Life and Death: Investigation into the direction provided by the
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to Ontarios police services for de-
escalation of conflict situations will be presented this morning by the Ombudsman of Ontario.

The Premier of the province is to hold her weekly press conference this afternoon. It is expected
that reporters will ask questions about the report.

As a junior policy analyst in the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services you
have been asked to prepare a 700 words summary of the report for the Premier to inform her of
the major items in the report. The Premier will not have time to read the entire report, only your
summary before she meets the press.

In writing the summary, be sure to do so in a format that can be read quickly.

The following is a summary of the Ombudsmans Report titled A Matter of Life and Death,
which investigates the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The report
highlights the Ministrys history of inaction and failure to implement sufficient police services
training on de-escalations techniques when confronting situations involving conflict.

Event that Prompted the Report

Sammy Yatim (18 years old) was shot and killed by a member of the Toronto Police
Service on July 27, 2013. The officer was found guilty of attempted murder but not of
second-degree murder and manslaughter.
At the time of the incident, Yatim possessed a knife and was experiencing a crisis, a term
that the report does limit to persons with mental illness.
This case incited public concern regarding police use of lethal force in Ontario.

Issues
Sammy Yatims case is not unprecedented in the province of Ontario; the past 20 years
have seen more than 40 cases of people with mental illnesses who have lost their lives at
the hands of police officers with guns.
Despite copious amounts of recommendations (500+) from coroners inquests, there has
been a lack of substantive change.
The fundamental problem is that the mandatory training for Ontario police officers is
inadequately addressing de-escalation and communication techniques that are more
practical and valuable in situations with persons having a crisis.
Moreover, police culture preserves the idea that it is inevitable for an encounter with a
person experiencing a crisis due to mental illness to end in fatality.
This problem of police using lethal force in conflict situations without sufficient de-
escalation training falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Community Safety and
Correctional Services. However, there has been a lack of significant change on their part.

The Impact of these Fatalities

These fatalities have an affect not only on the victim but also on the officers involved,
their respective families and the community.
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Families of 13 victims over the years were interviewed and expressed a concerted lack of
faith in the police service and their duty to protect.

Responsibility
The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is responsible for the
numerous regional and municipal police services across the province of Ontario.
Under the Police Services Act, the Ministry is given the ability to set standards regarding
the development, maintenance and guidelines of police services.

Budget
The Ministry has a budget of $2.3 billion. Last year, $1 billion was allocated to the
Ontario Provincial Police and $255 million to public safety.

The Ministry Needs to Make Changes: The Need for Standardized Training
Training at the Ontario Police College, overseen by a division of the Ministry, is
undergone by all Ontario police.
Training on the use of force and firearms are mandatory, nevertheless, there is
considerable discretion afforded to the regional and municipal services regarding training
approaches, of which the Ministry does not keep track of.
While this grants police services the opportunity to be flexible and tailor training to their
locality, it detracts from consistency regarding expectation of treatment and the use of
force across Ontario police services.
Standardized de-escalation training would provide consistency province-wide in the
interest of the public. The Ministry has acted on this principle of consistency regarding
separate matters in the past, but has done little to proactively address standard police
training in de-escalation.

The Ministrys Inadequate Response

The only significant change implemented by the Ministry of Community Safety and
Correctional Services following the death of Sammy Yatim was the provision of Tasers
for all officers.
However, Tasers are also a tool that also enables force.
This approach does nothing to address the necessary training on how to effectively
communicate during these situations or how to de-escalate them.

Recommendations Proposed by the Ombudsman

The Ombudsman proposed several recommendations to the Ministry pertaining to all
areas of concern.
The first recommendation is directed at the ministrys leadership regarding the deaths of
civilians in crisis at the hands of police.
The following recommendations addressed the need for regulation of de-escalation
techniques, introducing an improved use-of-force model (visual aid that guides modes of
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action available to officers in situations that have the potential to become violent) for the
Ontario public and police and providing responses to previous coroners jury
recommendations.
Moreover, he recommends ameliorating training surrounding de-escalation and mental
illness within the police service, changing police culture and perceptions concerning
mental illness, and reporting back to the Ombudsmans Office regarding implementation
of the recommendations.

The Ministrys Lackluster Response to the Ombudsmans Recommendations

The Ombudsman expressed dissatisfaction with the response of the Ministry.
According to the Ombudsman, the Ministrys response failed to express any commitment
to accepting or implementing the recommendations.
The Ministry has created and continues a legacy of inaction concerning the fatal police
shootings of persons experiencing crises.