News Release
No Grounds to Charge Peel Regional Police Officer in Relation to Man’s Fatal Jump from Balcony
Case Number: 16-OCD-238
The Acting Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against a Peel Regional Police officer in relation to the September 2016 death of a 34-year-old man. As a result of the man jumping over a balcony railing soon after police entered the apartment, none of the officers had the opportunity to communicate with the man, and at no point were any of the officers close enough to the man to prevent him from jumping.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):/en/directors_report_details.php?drid=
The Director’s Report was delivered to the Attorney General, as is required by law under the Police Services Act. The Attorney General has directed that the document be posted online.
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