SIU Responds To Ontario Ombudsman, Reveals Changes One Year After Scathing Report

One year after Ontario’s ombudsman issued a scathing report on the inner workings of the SIU, the civilian agency says it is making changes.

Ian Scott, director of the Special Investigations Unit, claims 19 of the 25 recommendations aimed at his agency have been or will be implemented in 2009.

“Building on the work done by my predecessor, James Cornish, and with the support of the Ministry of the Attorney General and the efforts of the skilled women and men of the office, I am confident that our progress since the release of the Ombudsman’s report has strengthened the ability of the SIU to fulfill its important public interest mandate,” he wrote in a press release.

In September 2008, Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin called the SIU a “toothless tiger and muzzled watchdog.”

The agency was created to monitor and investigate police behaviour. Its mandate is to look into any incidents that result in a serious injury or death arising out of police activity,

At the time, Marin said “endemic” delays and an internal culture influenced heavily by ex-police police officers on staff were a detriment to any investigation.

“The SIU is practically pathological in its avoidance of public controversy and consistently goes for the path of least resistance,” the report reads.

Marin also noted that public perception of the SIU is not necessarily one of impartiality. Scott responded to those allegations on Monday.  

“”While I am confident in the professionalism and impartiality of the Unit’s work, I appreciate that perceptions are important and that is why we have taken significant steps on this front as well,” he said.  

The province is now conducting a second investigation, following up on whether the SIU has made the necessary changes.

File photo.


On Monday, Scott released highlights of the Unit’s progress:

  • A more formal process to monitor, record and deal with instances of police non-compliance with regulatory requirements (Ombudsman recommendations 1-3)
  • A reformed dispatch procedure and the use of BlackBerrys by investigative staff to facilitate a continuous call-out of investigators in order to improve response times to scenes (Ombudsman recommendation 4)
  • News releases issued in more cases with more detail in an effort to improve responsiveness to the public and affected persons (Ombudsman recommendation 21)
  • Funding for an outreach coordinator secured and the position filled in May 2009
  • Persons without police backgrounds now represented within investigative management under the auspices of the recently implemented Acting Investigative Supervisor program
  • Two new investigative trainee positions created and filled by  investigators without police background

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