Director's Report Details

The Special Investigations Unit is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving an official where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person or an allegation of sexual assault. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019 (SIU Act), officials are defined as police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act. The SIU’s jurisdiction covers more than 50 municipal, regional and provincial police services across Ontario.

Under the SIU Act, the Director of the SIU must determine based on the evidence gathered in an investigation whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence was committed. If such grounds exist, the Director has the authority to lay a criminal charge against the official. Alternatively, in cases where no reasonable grounds exist, the Director cannot lay charges. Where no charges are laid, a report of the investigation is prepared and released publicly, except in the case of reports dealing with allegations of sexual assault, in which case the SIU Director may consult with the affected person and exercise a discretion to not publicly release the report having regard to the affected person’s privacy interests.

Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019

Pursuant to section 34, certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following: 

Pursuant to section 15 of the SIU Act, the SIU may investigate the conduct of officials, be they police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission or peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

A person sustains a “serious injury” for purposes of the SIU’s jurisdiction if they: sustain an injury as a result of which they are admitted to hospital; suffer a fracture to the skull, or to a limb, rib or vertebra; suffer burns to a significant proportion of their body; lose any portion of their body; or, as a result of an injury, experience a loss of vision or hearing.

In addition, a “serious injury” means any other injury sustained by a person that is likely to interfere with the person’s health or comfort and is not transient or trifling in nature.

This report relates to the SIU’s investigation into the death of a 38-year-old man (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU
 

On June 20, 2021, the Niagara Parks Police Service (NPPS) notified the SIU of an incident regarding a suicidal man near Niagara Falls. Two NPPS Provincial Offences Officers were the first to respond, and began speaking to a man. As two NPPS officers in full police uniform arrived, the man walked to the edge, jumped in the water, and was swept over the falls.

The Team
 

Date and time team dispatched: 06/21/2021 at 11:52 a.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 06/21/2021 at 12:17 p.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 4

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 1

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”):

38-year-old male, deceased

Civilian Witnesses
 

CW #1 Next-of-kin

CW #2 Next-of-kin

Subject Officials
 

SO Interviewed, but declined to submit notes, as is the subject official’s legal right.

The subject official was interviewed on July 5, 2021.

Witness Officials
 

WO Not interviewed, but notes received and reviewed

Service Employee Witnesses
 

SEW #1 Interviewed

SEW #2 Interviewed

The service employee witnesses were interviewed on June 24, 2021.

The Scene 
 

The scene was Niagara Falls.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence [1]
 

NPPS operated four surveillance cameras, and the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) had one mounted on a building called the real-time operations centre.

NPPS cameras captured the event beginning at 2:17:01 p.m., at which time the SO and the WO were seen at the Table Rock Centre walking south across the front of the building. SEW #1, wearing a yellow jacket, could be seen walking south along the river barrier towards SEW #2, who was standing with her back to the barrier wall.

At 2:17:15 p.m., the SO and the WO were still approaching, walking south on the path directly in front of the building.

At 2:17:26 p.m., the WO started to run towards where SEW #1 had gone off camera.

At 2:17:28 p.m., the Complainant was observed running north on the grass median on the east side of the stone barrier (river side of barrier). The Complainant took five running steps before he ran off the edge of the riverbank and fell face first toward the Niagara River.

At 2:17:30 p.m., the four NPPS members could all be seen on the west side of the barrier moving north.

At 2:17:36 p.m., the Complainant could be seen floating with his head above the water towards the falls. The NPPS members were following along on the west side of the barrier.

At 2:17:40 p.m., the Complainant was pushed against a stone wall on the west bank of the river. He stood up and attempted to grab hold of the wall before being swept away by the strong current towards the falls.

At 2:17:51 p.m., the Complainant reached the brink of the falls and went off camera.

The real-time operations centre camera showed that at 2:18:21 p.m., the SO, the WO and SEW #1 were running north along the west side of the stone barrier and looking over the barrier and down to the river.

At 2:18:33 p.m., the Complainant could be seen in the river at the brink of the falls, and then going over the falls and down into the cascading water.

Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) Report
 

On June 23, 2021, at 12:11 p.m., a copy of the CAD Report was received in disclosure. There were two NRPS CAD reports received. NRPS was the host agency for the dispatch and CAD systems utilized by the NPPS.

NRPS had received a call for a possible suicidal male who was thought to be in the area of Niagara Falls at 2:06 p.m., on June 20, 2021. This information was broadcast to all NRPS and NPPS members.

At 2:17:30 p.m., SEW #1 advised dispatch that they believed they had spotted the suicidal man at the barrier near the brink of the falls.

At 2:19:30 p.m., the SO advised that a man had jumped into the river and gone over the falls after seeing NPPS members.

At 2:21:29 p.m., the NRPS real-time operations centre confirmed that a man had gone over the falls (via video monitoring).

At 2:23:30 p.m., the SO broadcast that he had witnesses with him. SEW #1 and SEW #2 were standing by at the top of the falls looking to see if the man emerged in the river below.

Searches were conducted by NPPS and NRPS members along the riverbank below and using a boat to search the river below the falls. A call was also made to the Maid of the Mist tour boats on the United States side of the river to be on the look-out for the man during their trips on the river.

At 4:05 p.m., the man in the first incident was located alive and well by a NRPS officer.

Materials Obtained from Police Service
 

The SIU obtained and reviewed the following records from the NPPS and from the NRPS:

• Notes of SEWs and WO;
• NPPS Civilian Witness list;
• NRPS Call Hardcopy (x2);
• Surveillance camera video recordings;
• NRPS Incident Report;
• Supplemental Reports; and
• Witness Statements.

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained and reviewed the following records from the following other sources:

• DNA results from the Centre of Forensic Sciences; and
• Preliminary Autopsy Findings from the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service.

The material events in question are clear on the evidence collected by the SIU and may be briefly summarized.

In the afternoon of June 20, 2021, the Complainant found himself in Niagara Falls. He was sitting on the land side of a stone wall that bordered the Niagara River, just south of the waterfall. In the opinion of some of the witnesses, the Complainant appeared depressed.

At about the same time, the NPPS were on the look-out for a suicidal male who was thought to be in the area. SEW #1 and SEW #2 were on patrol when they came across the Complainant and believed he might be the male in question. SEW #2 asked the Complainant how he was doing, and he responded positively. SEW #2 radioed her communications centre suggesting the Complainant was the person they were looking for.

The SO and his partner on the day, the WO, heard the radio broadcast. They were nearby and decided to make their way to the location. As the officers approached the scene, the Complainant climbed over the railing of the fence and landed on the riverbank on a patch of grass. Seeing this, the SO and the WO ran toward where the Complainant had climbed the fence, yelling, “Don’t do it!”

The Complainant ran across the narrow patch of grass and entered the water of the fast flowing river. Within seconds, he was falling down the waterfall. The time was 2:17 p.m.

Cause of Death

The pathologist at autopsy was of the preliminary view that the Complainant’s death was attributable to “drowning in a man with blunt injuries”.

On June 20, 2021, the Complainant was swept down the waterfall at Niagara Falls. His body was recovered washed up at the Queenston Docks six days later. As the Complainant had briefly interacted with an officer of the NPPS before he entered the water, the SIU was notified and initiated an investigation. The SO was identified as the subject official. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s death.

There is nothing in the evidence gathered by the SIU to suggest that the SO, or any of the NPPS personnel who briefly dealt with the Complainant, failed to exercise a reasonable level of care, or otherwise caused or contributed to the Complainant’s death. SEW #1 and SEW #2 were pleasant in their interaction with the Complainant, and he was pleasant in return. The SO and the WO were still metres away from the Complainant when he quickly climbed over the fence and entered the water. There was simply no opportunity in any of this for the officers to have prevented the Complainant acting as he did. Nor was there any opportunity for them to have saved the Complainant going over the falls once he was in the water.

It would appear that the Complainant was despondent and intent on taking his life on the day in question. The information received by the SIU suggested that the date of the Complainant’s death may have been of particular significance to him. Be that as it may, as I am satisfied that the SO comported himself throughout this tragic event with due care and regard for the Complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.


Date: October 18, 2021


Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino
Director
Special Investigations Unit