On July 31, the OFL issued a media release calling the Yatim shooting the result of a “total breakdown in the policing system” and demanding an independent investigation into police training, policies and practices from the highest levels of decision-making right down to the front line response. The OFL statement asked why the recommendations of a ground-breaking 2002 report of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, which was co-sponsored by the Toronto Police Service, were never followed. The report, titled “Saving Lives: Alternatives to the Use of Lethal Force by Police,” contained recommendations covering everything from changing police attitudes to crisis containment and de-escalation of violent confrontations.
http://ofl.ca/sammy-yatim-2/
