Toronto, Canada – Mental health experts expect a police force reduction, reports to provoke real change and better police training.
A Shooting Incident
Toronto police officer James Forcillo allegedly shot 18-year-old Sammy Yatim on July 23, 2013. The fatality alarmed the entire nation as the video of the incident was posted online by a bystander. The incident triggered a rally and a widespread outrage. People showed an urgent care towards the incident, questioned about the police conduct, demanding for justice and change, that is police force reduction. The shooting was admitted honestly, although it was rare, said Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. The Toronto community was enraged by the police force, and Blair said it is the right time to seek for outside help.
Police Force Against the Mentally-illed
An independent review was commissioned by Blair. It focused on the police’s use-of-force against people who are mentally-ill as well as those emotionally-disturbed. The police policies and practice were examined. Blair assured that the examination would produce recommendations and would become a blueprint for the Toronto police. The recommendations will focus on how the police will deal with such serious and difficult situations in the future. Blair also stated that it was the right thing to do. It was a sort of an urgent care clinic for the police force to do better.
Police Force Reduction
After almost a year of research work and consultation, the report is scheduled to be released on July 26 of this year, 3 days short of Yatim’s death anniversary. Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci prepared the said report. The entire process costs nearly a million dollars, and contained 84 recommendations all in all. There is a cautious optimism among experts and other advocates that the report could provoke a real change, geared towards the police force reduction and improved police training.
Preventive Measures and Reinforcements
Attorney Peter Rosenthal, who had represented families of several police shooting victims, had criticized the police training in his proposals to Iacobucci. Similar to urgent care clinics, the police force should show sympathetic approach, an urgent care near me sort of negotiations. Police killing may be prevented through a verbal de-escalation, Rosenthal added. In one of his submissions, Rosenthal also emphasized on current trainings involving police on when to use lethal force on potential legal threats. Moreover, changes to the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) have been proposed in order to attend towards crises aside from the police. Mental health experts and other advocates also proposed that people with mental illness experiences should help in police trainings in order to help throughout the police force reduction program.
