Toronto police chief calls for calm in wake of death of woman who fell from balcony

By Canadian Press

TORONTO — The Toronto police chief called for calm Friday and promised to fast-track the use of body-worn cameras after the death of a 29-year-old woman who fell from a 24th-floor balcony while officers were in her home.

The death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet on Wednesday has sparked emotional questions and allegations from the woman’s family, local politicians, and on social media about the role of police officers in the incident.

“I request the public and communities wait for all of the facts regarding this case so that we can move forward once we establish exactly what happened that evening,” Chief Mark Saunders said at a news conference.

The Special Investigations Unit, the province’s independent police watchdog, has invoked its mandate and taken over the investigation.

Saunders said he is fast-tracking the implementation of body-worn cameras that he said could come to some front-line officers later this year.

“This is a textbook case as to why I’ve been advocating for body-worn cameras,” he said.

Saunders said police received three 9-1-1 calls about an alleged assault involving knives at Korchinski-Paquet’s apartment.

Officers arrived within four minutes of the call, he said. The family has alleged police were involved in her death.

Many others have taken to social media in anger and a protest is planned for Saturday.

The torrent of social media posts bothered Saunders.

“A lot of it is misinformation, a lot of it is lies,” he said. “I’m asking people to wait for the truth.”

On Thursday, Korchinski-Paquet’s mother said she wanted answers from police.

“I asked police yesterday if they could take my daughter to CAMH (the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), and my daughter ended up dead,” her mother, Claudette Beals-Clayton said. “So I don’t understand.”

The SIU said it has interviewed multiple witnesses — including four officers — in their investigation so far.

Saunders said paramedics were also at the scene.

SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon said that they’ve identified a subject officer in the investigation and will interview them later Friday.

“The scene was examined, and a canvass of the area was completed in an effort to locate witnesses and video footage,” Hudon said in a statement.  

“Investigators have spoken to several civilians who were able to shed some light on what transpired.”

Toronto police have been examining the use of body-worn cameras for years. The force conducted a year-long pilot project that ended in 2016 with the recommendation to move forward. 

But rolling it out would be expensive — upwards of $80 million over 10 years, the force said at the time. Police told The Canadian Press then that much of the costs related to data storage fees.

Saunders said Friday he’ll do as much as he can do to get those cameras out in the field this year.

Toronto’s police union expressed its concerns Friday about what it called unfounded allegations that officers pushed Korchinski-Paquet off her balcony.

“The comments posted on social media are opportunistic and sensationalize this tragic event with blatant disregard for evidence or fact,” read a statement from the Toronto Police Association.

“Comments made without facts are a disservice to the community and the police.”

The association and Toronto’s police board have asked that the SIU move as quickly as possible in their investigation and provide updates so that the public can be presented with the facts.

However, Toronto Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam has questioned the SIU’s ability to investigate the incident.

“Every time the SIU gets involved, the same concerns always come to mind. How can families and the public be assured accountability and transparency,” the councillor said in a Twitter post on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2020.

Liam Casey and Salmaan Farooqui, The Canadian Press

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