News Release
SIU Terminates Investigation into Incident between Man and Officers in Kitchener
Case Number: 17-OCI-354
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Tony Loparco, has terminated an investigation into an interaction that occurred between a 52-year-old man and officers with the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) in November 2017.
In the evening hours of Monday, November 27, 2017, WRPS officers arrested the man in the area of Charles Street East and Benton Street for public intoxication. The man was lodged in a cell, and released the following morning. The following day, Wednesday, the man informed the police service that he had sustained a serious injury. The police service then notified the SIU.
SIU investigators made extensive efforts to locate the man, who had no fixed address. The investigators attended addresses the man was known to frequent, contacted multiple police services and were in touch with a family member of the man. Calls and text messages to the man went unreturned.
Director Loparco said, “Despite the SIU’s best efforts, investigators have been unable to locate the man to speak with him. That being said, video evidence of the man’s interaction with officers shows no evidence of any criminal behaviour on the part of any officer, but in fact shows the officers treating him gently and with respect. As such, I have terminated this investigation.”
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations