Ontario Association of Police Chiefs Not Happy with SIU Investigation in Woodstock

Thursday, 25 October 2018 at 12:05

The Ontario Association of Police Chiefs thinks an SIU investigation on a police officer who administered Naloxone in Woodstock to save a life is a waste of resources.

WOODSTOCK - The Ontario Association of Police Chiefs is not happy with a recent SIU investigation after an officer in Woodstock tried to save a life by administering naloxone.

The investigation was launched after the police officer tried to reverse an overdose in downtown Woodstock yesterday morning, and the woman later died in the hospital. Spokesperson for the association Joe Couto says this is a waste of resources.

"We think it sends the wrong message to not only our police officers but also the public, that somehow the police cannot be trusted when they are in fact just trying to save a life. We need a team approach here from everybody involved, from paramedics to firefighters to police and frankly the Government of Ontario and their agencies to work together to address what we have in this province which is a crisis when it comes to opioid overdoses and the situation that we are talking about here simply does not help address that."

Couto says there wouldn't be an investigation on a paramedic who administered naloxone, so there shouldn't be one on a police officer.

"A police officer in the situation that we had here in Woodstock is simply trying to save a life, that is what they are trying to do, it is no different than what the paramedic on scene would be doing for instance. In that case a paramedic would not investigated accept by their own organization in terms of how they do their job. In this case a police officer is being investigated for simply trying to save a life. We think this is a resource issue for the SIU, they have resource issues and frankly it is a waste of their time."

Couto adds the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs thinks the SIU has a very important critical role in oversight of policing in the Province and they want them to concentrate on their very important duty.

"We just don't think that the administration of naloxone by a police officer to someone in distress really fits that body and frankly other over sight bodies the SIU counterparts in British Columbia agree with us."