The Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) today released its interim systemic review report on police interactions with people in crisis and use of force.
“The interim report documents the recommendations that have been made by Ontario coroner’s inquests into the deaths of people in crisis during interactions with police, and by Justice Iacobucci in his report Police Encounters with People in Crisis.The work that has already been done to study and understand police interactions with people in crisis, combined with this interim report, provides me with a critical tool and a foundation for the work my review will do in the weeks and months ahead.”
– Gerry McNeilly, Independent Police Review Director
Since announcing the systemic review, the OIPRD has received and reviewed written submissions from stakeholders, held a series of round tables with mental health experts and community organizations and reviewed dozens of reports on the relationship between the police and the mental health community.
In the upcoming weeks, the OIPRD will be auditing the police services involved in the deaths that generated the coroner’s inquests examined in the report and will be evaluating the extent to which recommendations have been adopted and implemented by these police services. The audit will also analyze what is working well and what requires improvement. The OIPRD’s systemic review will work in conjunction with an advisory panel of experts from the justice, mental health and academic fields to identify best practices and any additional recommendations to be made. Ultimately, the OIPRD will issue a final report intended to help ensure better outcomes in police interactions with people in crisis.
