History

During hearings at the Task Force on Race Relations and Policing in 1988, many presenters expressed concern about the integrity of the process in which police conducted investigations involving other police officers or police services. Specifically, these concerns were voiced in response to the manner in which police shootings of criminal suspects were being handled. Prior to the formation of the SIU, police forces investigated themselves, or in some instances, another police force was assigned to conduct the investigation. There was a strongly expressed belief that such internal investigations lacked the necessary objectivity required of policing.

As a result of a recommendation made by the Task Force, a new Police Services Act which provides the legislative framework for policing in Ontario, received Royal Assent on June 28, 1990. Part VII, Section 113 of the PSA, which created the Special Investigations Unit, was proclaimed in force on August 8, 1990. It established the SIU as an independent arms-length agency of the government led by a Director and composed of civilian investigators.