Police Use of Force curriculum explained by Toronto officer who help create it
Posted Apr 8, 2015 12:12:25 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Last Thursday Beau Baker was fatally shot by regional police.
This has many wondering if the Use of Force curriculum needs to be changed and more officer training required.
March Valois is a retired Toronto police officer and also helped write the Use of Force Curriculum for the province and tells the Eric Drozd Show police are trained to respond to these incidents based on behaviour of the individual.
“Situations change by the second and officers need to react accordingly and make split second decisions. So depending on the behaviour pattern that the individual is showing, that will dictate how the officer is going to respond.”
Valois adds officers are taught to continue shooting until the threat stops but adds police are also trained to be accountable for every shot that is fired.
The day before Baker was fatally shot, the Waterloo Regional Police Service Board released a report indicating a decrease of Use of Force over the last 5 years. Attributing the decline to good judgement by mature officers and appropriate techniques in circumstances that require use of force.
