A naloxone anti-overdose kitJonathan Hayward/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario government has no plans to follow in B.C.'s footsteps and spare police officers who administer naloxone from being scrutinized by the province's law enforcement watchdog despite concerns from several police services.
Under current regulations, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is mandated to investigate a police officer who is involved in a death, injury or assault of a member of the public. That includes unsuccessful life-saving measures such as using naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Earlier this month, the province announced it would pay to equip front-line officers with naloxone across Ontario. But at least three large forces have been hesitant to embrace the measure. They have several concerns, but a major one is the requirement that the SIU investigate officers in cases where the naloxone is not successful.
"Why would I put my own people at further risk of liability and criminal investigation when we're not health-care workers?" said Al Frederick, Chief of the Windsor Police Service, which has resisted giving officers naloxone, although that is under review after the government's recent announcement.
While the government funding would lift a burden for Chief Frederick in equipping his officers with the kit that contains the drug, money is only one consideration. The Chief said he wants SIU to say "emphatically" that it will not subject its officers to investigations for administering naloxone, as its B.C. counterpart did.
British Columbia's Independent Investigations Office (IIO) has changed its mandate to exempt officers who were involved in unsuccessful life-saving measures. The move came after the IIO investigated – and cleared – an officer who administered naloxone to a person who overdosed and was later declared dead.
Ontario has made no such changes, and is sticking strictly to the mandate of the SIU.
"The SIU investigates all deaths and serious injuries in cases involving the police," Yanni Dagonas, a spokesperson for the Ontario Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said in a statement. "That includes cases where the extent of alleged involvement was the administration of Naloxone. The SIU would investigate even if the drug was not administered, but the police were otherwise present or involved in the lead-up to death or serious injury."
But the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), an organization that has lobbied the government on behalf of Ontario's police services for officers to have access to naloxone kits, says the message that the immobility of the SIU's mandate sends to police officers is a problem.
"What we don't want is a government oversight agency having any negative effect on the police officer reacting appropriately and quickly in an emergency situation," said Joe Couto, government and media relations director for the OACP.
"We made it very clear to the Attorney-General we think that's a bad move on the SIU's part because it may have a detrimental effect on the message it sends to our officers," he said.
The OACP conducted a study of 35 police forces and found that naloxone kits were used 45 times since January, with 43 people successfully revived from overdoses. The SIU was unable to confirm whether the officers involved in the two unsuccessful cases were investigated.
For the Hamilton Police Service, which does not supply its officers with naloxone, liability is a major concern. Deputy Chief Dan Kinsella said the SIU's stand must be cleared up to "make sure our officers are protected as well."
The Police Services Board, the municipal body that governs the Hamilton police, has asked Deputy Chief Kinsella to review the service's policy on naloxone. Windsor and Toronto are also taking another look at the issue.
Some police forces have criticized the SIU for the length of time it takes to look into cases.
"In Ontario, the SIU investigations often drag out for over a year, and that's unnecessary on the officer," said Chief Frederick.
While the provincial government has said that the SIU will still investigate every case of an officer involved in a death or serious injury, it is attempting to alleviate the time concerns.
As part of the Safer Ontario Act, which was tabled in November this year, the SIU investigations would be shortened to 120 days. If the case is not resolved in the allotted time, the director of the SIU must make a public statement on the status of the case, provided it does not interfere with the investigation.
But shorter timelines are little consolation to Chief Frederick. He says only a full exclusion from SIU probes in cases where life-saving measures are involved would ease his mind.