How should police be policed? Oversight hearing in Hamilton Tuesday

Justice Michael Tulloch will be in Hamilton on Tuesday looking for public input on how police in Ontario should be policed.

All three agencies that oversee policing in the province are facing questions about how well they serve the public interest and about their transparency and accountability.

For Hamiltonians, the event comes at a time when citizens are watching the outcomes of several notable investigations.

Tulloch is holding similar events in other parts of the province as part of his overall review. A particular part of Tulloch's examination will be whether or not information from SIU reports should be made public.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit is facing province-wide scrutiny of the way it probes serious police incidents and how it decides whether such shootings are justified.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Independent Review Director, another oversight group that investigates complaints from the public, has begun a review of police use of force with those in distress.

And the Ontario Civilian Police Commission hears matters like appeals of police disciplinary decisions and oversees other policing issues in the province in accordance with the Police Services Act.

The tour came about in response to the uproar over the SIU finding officers were justified in shooting a man named Andrew Loku last summer. The Ministry of the Attorney General appointed Justice Tullock to oversee an independent review of police oversight in Ontario.

​"We are aware that there are concerns about transparency and accountability in the current police oversight system, and that the time has come to look critically at how this system is working to serve the public interest," the statement from Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur said.

Hamilton event

In Hamilton, the public meeting happens at 6 p.m., with a "light dinner" available beginning at 5 p.m. The event will also be live-streamed. It is being held at the central branch of the Hamilton Public Library,  55 York Blvd.

Normal SIU practice is to issue a news release summarizing a case, and not the full report, when an officer is either cleared or charged with an offence following incidents involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

Among the local cases and issues that may come up on Tuesday:

Family members and the public are still awaiting the SIU decision in the fatal police shooting of Anthony "Tony" Divers.

Marlene Thomas, a longtime anti-racism activist in Hamilton, said she hopes to hear about possible changes that will address systemic racism in policing. She said she wants to see more regulation of police – "those who are supposed to 'protect'," she said.

She said the people who are affected most include black men, Indigenous people and any "racialized" person.

Evelyn Myrie, another long-time activist in Hamilton, said she expects to hear questions about how independent the SIU is from police.

"The findings of the SIU over the years have really seemingly been in support of police action," she said. "The question is is that the best approach? Does there need to be a review of that?"