News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Woman’s Self-Harm in Sioux Lookout OPP Custody
Case Number: 24-PCI-504
The Special Investigations Unit found no reasonable grounds to believe an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the self-inflicted injury suffered by an 18-year-old woman in Sioux Lookout.
On November 24, 2024, the woman was arrested for breach of the peace and taken to the detachment where during a strip search, she accessed a razor blade from her mouth and harmed herself.
Director Joseph Martino was unable to reasonably conclude her injury was because of any transgression by her custodians of the standard of care prescribed by the criminal law. The woman had been briefly searched at the scene of her arrest, and was in the midst of a strip search when she retrieved the blade from her mouth. He concluded that the officer quickly noticed something was amiss and acted with dispatch to intervene.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, 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
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES