CASJ’s suggested recommendations: Rein in the police

CASJ’s suggested recommendations: Rein in the police

(Suggested recommendations submitted to the Jury the Community Alliance for Social Justice’s legal counsels Kikelola Poach and Mike Leitold.)

Inquest into the Death of Jeffrey Michael Rich Reodica

Recommendations of the Community Alliance for Social Justice

1. When responding to 911 calls and/or when police identity needs to be communicated, non-uniformed police officers should take the following steps to ensure that their identity as police officers is effectively communicated:

(a) present both their police badge and identification (“warrant”) card to civilians;

(b) wear a standard issue nylon “raid” jacket marked “Police” in bold letters;

(c) activate the red “stop police” light available in unmarked police vehicles.

2. Municipal and provincial Policy and Procedure Manuals on policing should be amended to incorporate paragraph # 1 of these recommendations.

3. The Chief of Police should enforce sanctions against officers who fail to effectively communicate their identity as police officers in the manner prescribed above.

4. In situations where there is no imminent danger to public safety, non-uniformed police officers who are the first to arrive on scene should, wherever possible, call for back up from uniformed officers to respond to calls for service from the public.

5. Non-uniformed police officers should make all of their use of force equipment (including firearm, OC spray and baton) available to them where officer safety would not be compromised. The Chief of Police should enforce sanctions against all police officers who fail to comply with this requirement.

6. All front-line police officers should receive training in conflict de-escalation in responding to crisis situations. In particular, police officers should receive specific training in dealing with de-escalation of conflict with and between youth. Such training should be sensitive to the special concerns of racialized youth.

7. All front-line police officers should be trained in the Crisis Resolution Course or Module and receive annual updated training in this area. Effective police communications strategies with youth should be emphasized.

8. The Chief of Police should monitor the completion of Use of Force Reports (UFR), as mandated by the Regulations of the Ontario Police Services Act, and should impose sanctions against officers who fail to complete the UFR as per the Regulations.

9. All front-line police officers should be familiar with the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act as regards the use of discretion and extra-judicial means of resolving situations.

10. Police officers should be instructed regarding the importance of exercising their discretion in an impartial manner without differential treatment.

11. The Ministry of Education should develop a comprehensive program to assist students who are experiencing racist bullying. This program should include:

(a) School policies in place to address racist bullying including mandatory cataloguing of incidents;

(b) Teacher training programs that teach tolerance and teach non-violent problem solving strategies;

(c) Partnering with community organizations to undertake efforts like culturally sensitive crisis interventions, workshops, public forums and peer counselling;

(d) Developing curriculum and school programming to empower and educate youth on anti-racist perspectives that recognize the historical and social roots of racism;

(e) Being open to suggestions from youth to improve and build trust in institutional responses to youth violence;

(f) Fostering mentoring activities and support for youth empowerment initiatives to be developed by affected communities, to allow older youth to assist younger youth in cultivating dignity, confidence and self-respect in a culturally appropriate manner.

12. The City of Toronto should allocate resources to support youth empowerment initiatives designed by and for youth from the Filipino community. These initiatives would create a forum for youth to strategize and take action on grassroots anti-racist education and non-violent conflict resolution.

13. The Toronto Police Services Board and the Chief of Police in consultation with representative members of Toronto’s Filipino community and other diverse racial and ethnic communities should re-examine the role and effectiveness of Police-Community Relations Officers assigned to work in different ethnic communities. Such re-examination should determine whether Police-Community Relations Officers are adequately meeting the needs and addressing the concerns of the communities they serve.

14. The Toronto Police Service should take pro-active measures to ensure that its members proportionally reflect the diversity of the ethnic and racial backgrounds of the Toronto population.

15. Media releases by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) should accurately reflect any discoveries and/or facts of a scientific nature relating to the incident under investigation, including the findings of the responsible pathologists.

16. The Chief of Police should take steps to ensure that Toronto Police officers respect the protocols that prohibit its members from collecting evidence in all SIU investigations.

17. Parents or guardians of youth detained for the purposes of an interview by the SIU, as soon as practicable, should be notified of that fact.

18. The Office of the Chief Coroner, on or about the anniversary date of this inquest, should discover and make public the progress of the implementation of the recommendations made by this jury.

20.Media releases by the SIU should accurately reflect any discoveries and/or facts of a scientific nature relating to the incident under investigation, including the findings of the responsible pathologists.

21.The Toronto Police Services Board should direct that the Chief of Police take steps to ensure that Toronto Police officers respect the protocols that prohibit its members from collecting evidence in all SIU investigations.