2012-04-10
The final review of police actions at the G20 summit in Toronto will cost nearly twice as much as original estimates and could come months later than expected.
The civilian board that commissioned the report had hoped it would be ready late last month, 18 months after the process began. But an 11th-hour release of documents – provided by the RCMP in February – prompted reviewers to push that timeline back.
“Because new information became available, even though it was further down the road, we obviously had to look at it,” said Ryan Teschner, a lawyer for the Independent Civilian Review. “Unfortunately, timelines are not the same for everybody and we have to take a look at the information as it comes to us.”
Mr. Teschner said the review body would provide an updated timeline on the release of the report at the end of next week.
The review, led by retired judge John Morden, is primarily charged with examining actions by Toronto police, but it could also shed light on whether RCMP commanders were involved in making key decisions about how to police the summit.
The Toronto Police Services Board has already paid more than $940,000 for the independent review, and board chair Alok Mukherjee said he expects the price tag will climb to $1-million before the final report is complete.
“I know that Justice Morden is in the process, has begun to write his report,” Mr. Mukherjee said outside a Police Services Board meeting on Thursday. “I’m hoping that he will not need a lot of time to finish the writing because it would be good to have the report before we hit summer.”
More than 1,100 people were arrested during the G20 summit in Toronto. Some have filed lawsuits against police over their treatment, and a total of 121 police officers have been disciplined for not wearing badges to identify themselves.
The police board also passed a motion on Thursday recommending a formal study of the practice of racial profiling. The study would track information about the age and race of people who are stopped by officers over a six-month period.