A CRISIS ANALYSIS BY JACQUELINE BELLO

The Shooting of Sammy Yatim and the Toronto

Police

What happened?

On July 27, 2013 just after midnight an 18-year-old male named Sammy Yatim was shot by the Toronto Police on an empty streetcar in downtown Toronto.

Sammy was making threatening actions with a knife and exposing himself to other travelers on the streetcar.

After the car was emptied Sammy was shot nine times and then tasered by Const. James Forcillo.

A Crisis Arises

Several civilian videos of the standoff between Yatim and the police as well as the shooting were captured.

They quickly went viral on the internet.

The two to three minute videos make the shooting of Yatim seem unnecessary as the police do not appear to be in a dangerous situation.

The Responses

Police Response – a press conference was given by the Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. The Toronto Police also posted a statement on their Facebook.

Media Response – editorials took a negative outlook on the situation and were very negative and critical of the Toronto Police.

Stakeholder Response – Facebook and Twitter erupted with support for Yatim and heavily criticized the Toronto Police. The videos also serve as an activist stake hold response.

Recommendations

These are my recommendations for the Toronto Police

Release more statements and follow up on their side of the story.

Create a corrective action plan Fore example require all officers to go attend a training

session on police protocol.