Police shootings in Ontario: how social, psychological and situational factors lead to pulling the trigger

Police use of deadly force has long been a source of public and governmental concern. This thesis examines the social, psychological and situational factors associated with police shootings in Ontario during the period from January 2004 to December 2012. Police firearm discharge data from Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is examined from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. An examination of the data reveals that police responding to domestic violence calls led to the largest proportion of police shootings, followed by robberies. The majority of police shooting victims were male and armed with edged weapons. Mentally ill individuals showed a significantly higher risk of being killed in police shootings than non-mentally ill individuals. This thesis discusses the implications of these findings for police training and policy. More resources should be made available towards de-escalation and mental health training for police officers. Non-lethal weapons such as Tasers should be deployed to more frontline officers to provide alternatives to deadly force. The implications of these findings for Ontario’s civilian police oversight agency are also discussed. The Special Investigations Unit should make more of its findings available to the public, such as ethnographic data.