Use-of-force expert critical of police tactics during Sammy Yatim shooting

An Americanexpert in police use of force was critical of the way Toronto police officers handled their confrontation with Sammy Yatim, duringtestimonyWednesday afternoonat the murder trial ofConst. James Forcillo.

Robert Warshawtold the courtthe shooting ofYatim escalated "from Ato Zratherquickly," but saidForcillo had time to consider other options.

"Time was on his side. Time was the asset that OfficerForcillohadat his disposal," saidWarshaw.

Warshawis a former U.S. police chief and consults on police use-of-force for Americanfederal judges.

Forcillo, 32, is charged with second-degree murder and attempted murderin the shooting ofYatim, 18, aboard a streetcar in July of 2013.Yatimwas shot byForcilloas he stood alone on the emptystreetcar while holding a knife.

Yatimwas shot eight timesafter he refused orders by police to drop the knife.Police also shot him with a stun gun.

On Wednesday in court, the Crown played 50seconds of video for Warshaw, showing Forcillo arriving on the scene and shooting Sammy Yatim.

After viewing it,Warshaw told the court that Forcillo had many options at his disposal including:creating dialogue with Yatim, using pepper spray to disable Yatim, or waiting for the sergeant with a stun gun to arrive.

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Warshaw acknowledged that there was a risk to attempting otherde-escalationtechniques, buttestified that he didn't believe officers were at undue risk.

Warshaw told the court there was no tactical thinking on the scene from what he could see after reviewing the video.

Warshawsaidthat police yelling and using profanity is not good modern policing, saying it can elevate theanxiety of the person involved and also can elevatean officer's emotions.

Warshaw saidit's best that officers stay calm, since it is hard to "climb down"from yelling and profanity to de-escalate a situation.

In earlier testimony, Warshaw did say Toronto police training is "progressive and thoughtful,"especially when it comes to dealing with people in mental distress.

'We are dealing with someone's life'

"This is not a pride game or contest, we are dealing with someone's life," Warshaw told the court."If an officer is going to use maximum force in his approach, he has the responsibility to mix it up and use a variety of tools to de-escalate the situation so it doesn't have a violent outcome."

Warshaw told the court he has read through thetestimony by Toronto's Deputy Chief Michael Federico on the use of force.

Warshaw testified police officers should be trained in de-escalation as a natural offset to the use of deadly force.

He saidif a scenario can be cooled down it can preserve life.

The use of force model used by Toronto police also requires officers to be flexible and back down if force is no longer required.

His testimony continues Thursday.