News Release
Use of Force by Officers, Including ARWEN and CEW Discharges, Deemed to be Reasonably Necessary in Apprehension of Man in Georgetown
Case Number: 20-OFI-012
Other News Releases Related to Case 20-OFI-012
On the morning of January 22, 2020, Halton Regional Police Service officers were dispatched to an address in Georgetown to apprehend a 46-year-old man who, it had been reported, was in mental distress and had guns in the house. Over the course of the next several hours, police tried several options in order to engage the man and convince him to leave the residence without his firearms. When the man exited his home from the rear patio door, attempts were made to continue negotiations with the man. Finally, an officer discharged his Anti-Riot Weapon Enfield at the man multiple times, and another officer discharged his conducted energy weapon. The man was arrested and taken to hospital where it was discovered that he had sustained a fracture of one kneecap. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers involved in the arrest of the man committed a criminal offence in relation to his injury.
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