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:

• The name of, and any information identifying, a subject official, witness official, civilian witness or affected person.
• Information that may result in the identity of a person who reported that they were sexually assaulted being revealed in connection with the sexual assault.
• Information that, in the opinion of the SIU Director, could lead to a risk of serious harm to a person.
• Information that discloses investigative techniques or procedures.
• Information, the release of which is prohibited or restricted by law.
• Information in which a person’s privacy interest in not having the information published clearly outweighs the public interest in having the information published.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act

Pursuant to section 14 (i.e., law enforcement), certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Confidential investigative techniques and procedures used by law enforcement agencies; and
• Information that could reasonably be expected to interfere with a law enforcement matter or an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding.

Pursuant to section 21 (i.e., personal privacy), protected personal information is not included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• The names of persons, including civilian witnesses, and subject and witness officials;
• Location information;
• Witness statements and evidence gathered in the course of the investigation provided to the SIU in confidence; and
• Other identifiers which are likely to reveal personal information about individuals involved in the investigation.

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004

Pursuant to this legislation, any information related to the personal health of identifiable individuals is not included.

Other proceedings, processes, and investigations

Information may also have been excluded from this report because its release could undermine the integrity of other proceedings involving the same incident, such as criminal proceedings, coroner’s inquests, other public proceedings and/or other law enforcement investigations.

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 serious injury of an 18-year-old woman (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU[1]

On February 13, 2025, at 1:32 p.m., the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On February 13, 2025, at approximately 12:00 p.m., the NAPS arrested a woman – the Complainant – and lodged her at a detachment in the NAPS Central Region. The Complainant was subsequently observed in her cell to be in medical distress with cuts to her wrists. She was taken to a nursing station and treated.

The Team

Date and time team dispatched: 2025/02/13 at 1:50 p.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 2025/02/14 at 3:13 p.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 3

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 0

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”):

18-year-old female; interviewed; medical records obtained and reviewed

The Complainant was interviewed on February 18, 2025.

Witness Officials (WO)

WO #1 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #2 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #3 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #4 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

The witness officials were interviewed between March 17 and 18, 2025.

The Scene

The events in question transpired in a NAPS detachment in the NAPS Central Region.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence[2]

NAPS Detachment Video Recordings

On February 13, 2025, starting at about 12:41 p.m., the Complainant was escorted into the police station booking area. WO #2 checked the inside of the Complainant’s mouth with a flashlight. She was then escorted into a cell where she was observed shaking out her clothing under the direction of WO #2. The cell door was secured, and the Complainant was seated on the concrete bed. The Complainant unfolded a blanket and covered her entire body and head area. She positioned herself in the corner of the bed against two walls, and movement was observed underneath the blanket.

Starting at about 12:51 p.m., the Complainant revealed her left arm from under the blanket. It appeared to be covered with blood. She immediately concealed herself again under the blanket. She then stood up and removed the blanket from her body and threw it on the cell floor. The white blanket and concrete bed had blood on them. She subsequently sat in the corner of the cell and covered her body with the blanket.

Starting at about 12:56 p.m., WO #2 was observed looking into the cell. He opened the cell door and entered with WO #1. The blanket was removed from the Complainant. She, and the area around her, were searched. She was handcuffed with her hands behind the back and walked out of the cell. It appeared she had cuts and blood on both her arms.

Starting at about 12:59 p.m., the Complainant was escorted out of the station and put in the back seat of a police vehicle, after which it departed from the sally port.

NAPS Body-worn Camera (BWC) Video Recordings

On February 12, 2025, starting at about 9:09 a.m., WO #2 and WO #3 picked up the Complainant at her residence. The Complainant was searched, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a police vehicle. WO #2 asked the Complainant, “Did you actually swallow a blade?” She responded, “Yeah, I did.” They arrived at the nursing station and all three proceeded inside.

Starting at about 11:12 a.m., WO #3, WO #2 and the Complainant exited a building where the Complainant was making a court appearance. She was searched outside of the police vehicle. The inside of her mouth was checked with the use of a flashlight.

Starting at about 10:52 p.m., WO #2 stated this was the fourth time dealing with the Complainant on that day. During another search, the Complainant was asked by WO #4 if she had any razor blades. The Complainant did not respond. She was placed in the back of a police truck and taken to the nursing station. Again, the Complainant was searched by WO #2; he used a flashlight and a tongue depressor to search inside her mouth with two nurses present.

On February 13, 2025, at 12:28 p.m., the nurse advised WO #2 that she saw the Complainant “flick” something from one side of her mouth to the other with her tongue. The Complainant was searched again. WO #2 checked inside the Complainant’s mouth using a flashlight and did not find anything. She was put into a cell at the detachment.

NAPS Communications Recordings

On February 12, 2025, starting at about 10:06 p.m., a crisis response operator called the OPP, as she was still speaking to the Complainant, and said that the Complainant was at home and was going to swallow razor blades. The police dispatcher informed the officers in the area.

Starting at about 10:46 p.m., OPP received a call from an unidentified female who reported that the Complainant was suicidal.

On February 13, 2025, starting at about 5:25 p.m., a police dispatcher contacted WO #2 and asked if she could clear the call regarding the Complainant. WO #2 said that she had swallowed the razor blade, and it showed up in the X-ray. The nursing station had medically discharged the Complainant and the police had her in custody.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Upon request, the SIU obtained the following records from the NAPS between February 18 and 19, 2025:

• Computer-aided Dispatch Report
• Occurrence Report
• Supplementary Reports
• Communications recordings
• List of involved officers and their notes
• BWC footage
• Video recordings from the NAPS detachment

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained the Complainant’s medical records from the nursing station on February 21, 2025.

The evidence collected by the SIU, including interviews with the Complainant and several of her police custodians, and video footage that captured the incident in part, gives rise to the following scenario.

The Complainant was arrested by NAPS officers in the early afternoon of February 13, 2025, for criminal harassment and failure to comply with a release order. Because of her history with the service – one in which she had repeatedly harmed herself with razor blades – she was transported to a nursing station to be checked and searched before her lodgment in police cells at a detachment in the NAPS Central Region. While at the nursing station, one of the arresting officers – WO #2 – used a flashlight and tongue depressor to check the Complainant’s mouth for any foreign object, but found nothing.

At the detachment, the Complainant was searched again, including her mouth, with negative results, after which she was placed in a cell. Within several minutes, WO #2, while conducting a physical check of her cell, discovered the Complainant with cuts to her wrists. The Complainant had retrieved a pencil sharpener-type blade from her mouth, used it to cut herself, and swallowed it.

The Complainant was provided first-aid and taken to the nursing station.

Section 215, Criminal Code - Failure to Provide Necessaries

215 (1) Every one is under a legal duty

(c) to provide necessaries of life to a person under his charge if that person

(i) is unable, by reason of detention, age, illness, mental disorder or other cause, to withdraw himself from that charge, and

(ii) is unable to provide himself with necessaries of life.

(2) Every person commits an offence who, being under a legal duty within the meaning of subsection (1), fails without lawful excuse to perform that duty, if

(b) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(c), the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently.

Sections 219 and 221, Criminal Code - Criminal Negligence Causing Bodily Harm

219 (1) Every one is criminally negligent who

(a) in doing anything, or

(b) in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,

shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.

(2) For the purposes of this section, duty means a duty imposed by law.

221 Every person who by criminal negligence causes bodily harm to another person is guilty of (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

The Complainant was seriously injured while in the custody of the NAPS on February 13, 2025. The SIU was notified of the incident and initiated an investigation. The investigation is now concluded. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any NAPS officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the matter.

The offences that arise for consideration are failure to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing bodily harm contrary to sections 215 and 221 of the Criminal Code, respectively. Both require something more than a simple want of care to give rise to liability. The former is predicated, in part, on conduct that amounts to a marked departure from the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the circumstances. The latter is premised on even more egregious conduct that demonstrates a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. It is not made out unless the neglect constitutes a marked and substantial departure from a reasonable standard of care. In the instant case, the question is whether there was any want of care on the part of the Complainant’s police custodians, sufficiently serious to attract criminal sanction, that endangered her life or contributed to her injury. In my view, there was not.

The officers involved in the Complainant’s arrest and custody were aware of her prior history of self-harm and the need to be vigilant in their search and supervision responsibilities. Shortly after her arrest, WO #2 took the Complainant to the nursing station to search her for objects potentially concealed on her person. The search included the Complainant’s mouth, where she was known to secrete razor blades. Despite the officer’s efforts, the Complainant was able to hide the blade inside her mouth. The same was true of the search at the detachment. Once lodged in a cell, it was only a matter of a few minutes before the Complainant accessed the blade and used it to harm herself. The officers on scene were quick to react, providing medical care and arranging for her transport to the nursing station. On this record, I am unable to reasonably conclude that any of the Complainant’s police custodians transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law.

For the foregoing reasons, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.

Date: June 11, 2025

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino

Director

Special Investigations Unit