SIU, Special Investigations Unit

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Director's Welcome Message

Welcome to the Special Investigations Unit’s website. When police officers are involved in incidents where someone has been seriously injured, dies or alleges sexual assault, the SIU has the statutory mandate to conduct independent investigations to determine whether a criminal offence took place. The effective fulfilment of this mandate, with all of its associated challenges, remains critical to fostering public confidence in policing in the province.

The SIU is the first of its kind in Canada and, Ontario remains one of the few places worldwide that has an independent civilian agency with the power to both investigate and charge police officers with a criminal offence. Since its inception in 1990, the SIU has taken great strides and as such has become a model of civilian oversight for other jurisdictions amid an international movement toward greater civilian accountability of police.  This is truly an accomplishment to take pride in. As Interim Director of the SIU, I look forward to continuing to build on the Unit’s successes and to promoting community confidence in Ontario's police services through highly professional and independent investigations.

This website has been designed to be interactive and to allow visitors easy and prompt access to information about the Unit’s mandate, investigative processes, news releases, and programs and services.  I hope you will find it to be an informative and valuable resource.  To provide your comments and feedback, please visit our Contact Us page. 

Sincerely,

Joseph Martino, 
Director

Special Investigations Unit