SIU says it needs more funding, warns of pitfalls of public reporting

By Jessica Smith Cross, The Canadian Press

An Ontario agency that investigates allegations of police wrongdoing says it needs significantly more funding to comply with recommendations made in a police oversight review.

Justice Michael Tulloch issued a report in April with 129 recommendations to reform Ontario’s police oversight bodies, including the Special Investigations Unit, which probes incidents involving police where there has been a death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

The SIU said at the time it needed to review the report before it could respond, and told The Canadian Press this week that it has already implemented some of the recommendations. Others, however — including completing its investigations more quickly and working better with racialized people — will require significantly more resources, the agency said.

Tulloch’s report expressed concerns about long delays in investigations and he recommended that the SIU complete its investigations and report to the public on the results within 120 days or, failing that, report to the public every 60 days after that until the investigation is completed.

Tulloch also wrote about a lack of trust in police oversight from indigenous, black and other racialized communities, and recommended the SIU develop mandatory cultural competency training and recruit indigenous people to key positions.

“With respect to these recommendations, we are already doing them to the degree we are able given the resources that are presently available to us,” the SIU said. “However, significantly greater resourcing would be required to fully meet the recommendations of Justice Tulloch.”

Many of Tulloch’s recommendations concerned what information the SIU should release to the public. In response, the Ontario government has promised to release the SIU’s reports in cases where no charges have been laid against police, and make public past reports on cases where police have killed someone. In all cases, personal information will be removed from the reports.

SIU director Tony Loparco warned in an annual report published this week that there could be negative consequences of public reporting.

Loparco wrote that while releasing those reports would allow the public to “appreciate the superior quality of SIU investigations,” doing so could damage criminal proceedings and civil litigation related to those cases.

He cautioned that reports contain personal and confidential information, and wrote that witnesses might be reluctant to come forward if they know the information they provide to the SIU will be made public.

“Fewer people coming forward would likely result in inadequate or incomplete investigations,” Loparco wrote. “This is why witnesses who participate in SIU investigations are assured by the SIU that the information they provide is confidential and will only be released with consent or as required by law, such as in a criminal proceeding or a coroner’s inquest.”

The SIU told The Canadian Press that Loparco wrote those comments months ago, before Tulloch’s report was made public, but he still stands by them.


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Review urges mandatory inquests when police kill someone through use of force


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