Judge withdraws from Toronto police use-of-force review

The retired judge appointed by Toronto's police chief to head a review of police use-of-force policies has announced he is stepping aside because of a potential conflict of interest.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair had appointed Dennis O'Connor earlier this month to conduct the review following the streetcar shooting of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim, as well as several other fatal police shootings in recent years.

The retired justice said in a statement on Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the formal review because of his current work with a law firm that acts for the insurers of the Toronto police in civil suits.

Some of those suits also include allegations of excessive and sometimes legal forces, the statement said.

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O'Connor said lawyers for some of the victims' families raised objections but neither he nor Blair considered his association with Border Ladner Gervais to have a direct bearing on any advice he would have provided.

The decision to withdraw from the review was intended to limit any distractions to the work of the review, O'Connor said.