News Release
No Basis to Charge Officer who Used Police Service Dog to Apprehend Man in Oshawa
Case Number: 19-OCI-268
On the evening of November 12, 2019, a 27-year-old man who was under police guard escaped from an Oshawa hospital. Based on information received, officers located the man at an apartment building. A police service dog was used in the man’s apprehension and inflicted several bite wounds to the man’s left leg. While the Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, says the officers may have been better advised to confront the man ahead of releasing the dog, Director Martino has determined there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
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