This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Family members of a mentally ill man, who was killed by police, mentioned in their testimony at an inquest on Monday that police officers must be trained to respond according to a person’s mental state rather than their behaviour, especially when deciding whether to use force. Closing arguments were heard on Monday at the hearing of inquest into the deaths of Michael Eligon, Sylvia Klibingaitis and Reyal Jardine-Douglas began, all three of whom were suffering from mental illness, and were shot dead by Toronto police officers because they were holding sharp weapons.
According to one of the recommendations presented by the Eligon family, it was suggested that officers should be trained to be able to evaluate a person’s mental state when deciding how to respond to a sharp weapon threat. It was proposed that officers must be trained to use de-escalation techniques, like speaking softly and using the person’s name if it is known.
Counselor read out loud a list of recommendations made by Eligon’s family to the coroner, Michael Blain, which said that “if officers are dealing with a situation where the person is in crisis … they should try to reach the person verbally by offering help and understanding.” 29-year-old Eligon was shot dead in a subtle residential street on the morning of Feb. 3, 2012. He had recently escaped from nearby Toronto East General Hospital, where he was on an involuntary psychiatric stay, and was wearing only a hospital gown and carrying two pairs of scissors when police shot him.
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