Under scrutiny: How the SIU decides a police shooting is justified

AsOntario'sSpecial Investigations Unit investigates thefatal policeshooting of Anthony "Tony" Divers, it isfacing province-widescrutiny of theway it probesserious police incidentsand how it decideswhether such shootings arejustified.

Recent SIU reports exoneratingpolice shootings in Ontario, especially shootings of people of colour and people with mental illnesses,have led to protests, increasing criticism of the agency and calls for transparency.

That scrutiny and agitation has led to an independent review of all three branches of police oversight in the province, including whether or not information from SIU reports should be made public.

The SIUis investigating the Hamilton incident from last Friday when aHamilton police officer fatally shot a 36-year-old man before midnight.

How does the SIU decide whether the shooting's justified?

Based on decisions issued in recent police-involved shooting cases in Ontario, here are some of the questions the director considers in coming to a conclusion:

• When the officer fired, did he or she believe it to be necessary to ward off imminent danger?
• Was there a reasonable alternative, like pepper spray or a Taser?
• Are there reasonable grounds to hold the officer criminally liable for the use of lethal force?

Conclusions based on those questions are typically in the SIU director's announcement of whether or not the subject officer should be charged.

But it's not uncommon for SIU decisions to be contested by family members or others.

The SIU investigates incidentsinvolving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

Past decisions:'Justified in their use of lethal force'

In Toronto, the SIU found officers were justified in shooting a man named Andrew Loku last summer.

"I am satisfied that the subject officer fired his weapon believing it to be necessary to thwart an imminent hammer attack and that the officer's apprehensions in this regard were reasonable,"SIU director Tony Loparcosaid this March in a news release.

That decision angered activists in Toronto, who camped outside of police headquarters for weeks in protest earlier this year.Among the group's concerns were the fact that charges weren't laid against the officers involved, the officers' identities weren't disclosed and video footage wasn't made public.

In the most recent police shooting in Hamilton, in 2013, the SIU found that SteveMesic"was holding [a] shovel with both hands like a baseball bat over his right shoulder" when he was three to four metres away from two officers.

"In my view, the subject officers were justified in their use of lethal force in these circumstances," wrote theSIU'sdirector at the time,Ian Scott, noting that by the timeMesicwas on the same side of the fence as the officers, they could not use pepper spray because of the "imminent threat Mr.Mesicrepresented

The victim's family was not satisfied withthe SIU account of what happened and felt there were a lot of "discrepancies."

Reviewing the way police are held accountable in Ontario

In response to the uproar over the Loku decision, the Ministry of the Attorney General appointed a judge to oversee an independent review of police oversight in Ontario.

The ministry also released more excerpts from the SIU report justifying the decision, a rare event.

Justice Michael Tulloch will be in Hamilton for a public consultation as part of that review process on Nov. 8.

"We are aware that there are concerns about transparency and accountability in the current police oversight system, and that the time has come to look critically at how this system is working to serve the public interest," the statement from Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Independent Review Director, another oversight group, began a review of police use of forcewith those in distress and about 18 months after Sammy Yatim was shot and killed by police on a Toronto streetcar. That review is ongoing, an OIPRDspokespersomsaid Tuesday.

Tasers rolled out to all front-line officers

Mesic's family wondered at the time what would have happened if the officers involved in the confrontation that led to his death would have been outfitted with Tasers.

Hamilton is one of the first police services in the province to outfit all front line officers Tasers as a "less lethal" option, after the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services eased restrictions on who could use them in 2013.

Hamilton police use of Tasers was up significantly last year due in large part to 2015 being the first year that all frontline officers took Tasers out with them to their calls.

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca | @kellyrbennett