Ontario’s Ombudsman recently released a report called “A Matter of Life and Death”, examining the province’s police services and their Use of Force Model. The report was commissioned after Toronto Police shot and killed 18-year-old Sammy Yatim in 2013 and is the result of three years of research and investigation. Program Head of Justice Studies at the University of Guelph-Humber, Dr. Gary Ellis, was interviewed for the report, where he spoke about the need for a revised Use of Force Model and better police training.
What’s the context for this report?
Since I became a police officer in 1978, there’s always been concern about police use of force, especially when it comes to the shooting of visible minorities and people with mental health issues. There has always been a question of how we can do more and do better.
Recently though, we’ve had a number of high-profile police shootings across North America, and police are being questioned about how and why they’re using force.
What information did you contribute to the Ombudsman’s report?
My expertise now is in training, so I spoke to that. Police have worked very hard over the years to establish best practices with respect to use of force. It’s an ongoing process, but one area I’ve always been concerned with is Ontario’s Use of Force Model.
We train to this model, testify to this model, and police justify their actions according to this model, but it’s silent on tactical repositioning, disengagement, containment and so forth. Training covers these topics and instructors teach them, but you’re only as good as your foundational model. The RCMP uses a different model that includes tactical repositioning, and I suggested to the Ombudsman’s investigators that if the Use of Force Model is going to be relied upon, then it needs to be changed. It needs to properly reflect tactical repositioning and de-escalation.
A better model isn’t the be-all and end-all that will solve all of our problems, but we need to start with that and build from there.
How could de-escalation training and tactics prevent lethal use of force?
Whenever a police officer is encountering someone in a crisis, they’re trying to de-escalate the situation. If someone has a problem, you’re trying to create the space and time to deal with it.
Of course, these are often very dynamic and dangerous situations. When you’re facing a danger, you want to look at containment, keeping someone from hurting someone else. You also want disengagement, because as long as someone is contained, you can step back and wait for help instead of challenging them aggressively. When people are asking why police didn’t contain the situation or wait for help, these are very valid questions.
Often, if you were there with the police officer, you’d understand why they did what they did. We try to see things are very clear-cut, but an officer may be dealing with a situation that takes one second to unfold and requires months and years to judge what was right.
What do we teach about use of force in our Justice Studies program at UofGH?
The model we present in class includes tactical repositioning. Our students get hands-on, practical training to prepare them for these types of situations. We bring in RCMP trainers to work with our students in different scenario-based lessons to reflect dealing with people who are in crisis.
A student in our Justice Studies program will complete 40 different courses over their four years of study. In their first semester, every single course touches on this topic, and then in later semesters, many more do as well.
Learn more about Justice Studies at UofGH.