Ontario’s police oversight body is releasing a long-awaited and “unprecedented” systemic review of the Thunder Bay police and its conduct investigating the deaths and missing persons cases of Indigenous people.A final report of the review — first announced more than two years ago — is due to be released on Dec. 12 and will make 44 recommendations, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) said Wednesday. The review involved more than two dozen trips to Thunder Bay, dozens of interviews, and more than 80 meetings with everyone from Indigenous community leaders to the Chief Coroner of Ontario, said OIPRD director Gerry McNeilly.“It’s very extensive, if not unprecedented, to take a look at a police service from this particular vision,” McNeilly said.According to its terms of reference, the sweeping review looked at everything from the “over-policing” of Indigenous people in Thunder Bay to whether officers are being held accountable for non-compliance. The review also examined whether discrimination played a role in how police officers handled missing persons reports and suspicious deaths involving Indigenous people, and OIPRD investigators scrutinized 37 police cases dating back to 2009.Among them were high-profile cases like that of Stacy DeBungee, an Indigenous man whose body was found in the McIntyre River in 2015, and the seven Indigenous high school students who died in Thunder Bay between 2000 and 2011. The OIPRD also reviewed investigations into the deaths of Tammy Keeash, 17, and Josiah Begg, 14, both of whom were found dead in Thunder Bay waters last year.McNeilly declined to reveal the report’s specific findings or recommendations ahead of its release next week. But he said one of his primary concerns was to ensure racism-free policing in Thunder Bay.“The Indigenous community, for many, many years, have been alleging there has been differential treatment and systemi ...
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