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G20 report slams police for 'excessive' force - Toronto →
By Dave Seglins for CBC News
- Toronto Police Service (TPS) planning for the entire G20 security operation was incomplete and inadequate.
- TPS did not have a great deal of experience in planning and executing operations of this magnitude.
- The operational plan did not include time for standard operations. As a result, once all the different services were deployed, there was no cohesive plan.
- TPS chose to use mostly “existing TPS policies and procedures” for the operational plan. This decision may have resulted from the short time available for planning, but it created a cumbersome system that officers on the ground were not able to follow.
- The electronic system to track officers on duty failed days before the G20 began, leaving the Major Incident Command Centre with no idea how many officers were working. No backup system was in place.
- Police officers were given the impression by those in command that the Public Works Protection Act gave them the authority to stop and search people throughout the downtown core, often nowhere near the fence around the interdiction zone.
- Communications between protesters and the police were inadequate and sometimes non-existent.
- Protesters were not the only ones who resorted to violence during the G20. Numerous police officers used excessive force when arresting individuals and seemed to send a message that violence would be met with violence. This reaction created a cycle of escalating responses from both sides.
- The detention centre where most arrestees were held was poorly planned, designed and operated.
