Toronto inquest jury to consider how police deal with the mentally ill
Posted Jan 21, 2014 05:26:24 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Closing arguments are set to wrap up today at an inquest examining the police shooting deaths of three mentally ill people in Toronto.
Reyal Jardine-Douglas, Sylvia Klibingaitis and Michael Eligon were all gunned down after approaching police with knives or scissors in separate but similar situations.
The inquest heard that when an officer is faced with an individual advancing with a sharp object, their response is based on the person’s behaviour and not their mental state.
The jury was urged Monday to recommend that officers consider the mental state of a person in crisis and make every attempt to de-escalate the situation.
Some 220 possible recommendations were outlined at the inquest which has been running since October, but the victims’ families argue police thinking has to change.
The province’s police watchdog cleared authorities of wrongdoing in all three cases and all the officers involved in the fatal shootings told the inquest they felt they had no choice but to pull the trigger.
(The Canadian Press)
