James Forcillo tells Sammy Yatim coroner’s inquest that having a taser would have ‘changed everything’

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The former Toronto police constable who shot and killed Sammy Yatim and was later convicted of attempted murder testified at an inquest into the teen’s death Monday that he was “a bit of a magnet” for use-of-force incidents, but that there was “nothing sinister” about it. He just worked in a busy division.

“A lot of it honestly is just fluke, and being in the right place at the right time,” James Forcillo told the inquest, which is in its second week.

“Even the incident that brings us here today, I just happened to be the first one there. I was always working. It just happened that I worked at a busy division where a lot of stuff happened, and I happened to always be there. I don’t know, I’m a bit of a magnet I guess.”

Police officers had been called on July 27, 2013, after Mr. Yatim, who was in a mental-health crisis, pulled out a small knife on the streetcar and exposed himself. By the time Constable Forcillo arrived, the 18-year-old was alone on the streetcar. Within less than a minute of arriving, Constable Forcillo shot him. Another officer then used a taser on Mr. Yatim.

The case sparked public outrage after video footage emerged showing Constable Forcillo continuing to shoot the teen even as he lay dying on the floor of the streetcar.

Constable Forcillo was charged in August, 2013, with second-degree murder, but after a trial he was acquitted of that charge and instead convicted of attempted murder for the second volley of shots at Mr. Yatim. He was later also convicted of perjury for claiming to be living with his former wife while out on bail, awaiting his appeal, when he had in fact moved in with his new fiancée.

He was sentenced to 6½ years for both offences and was granted full parole in 2020, which he said Monday will last through May of this year.

The inquest – which began Jan. 12 and is expected to include roughly 14 witnesses – is not intended to re-examine or relitigate the events of July 27, 2013, coroner’s counsel Peter Napier told jurors in his opening address.

Rather, he said the goal is to explore police decision-making skills and best practices for responses to people in crisis to make recommendations that could prevent future such deaths.

During Mr. Forcillo’s testimony on Monday, the jury heard about his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer, before joining TPS as a fourth-class constable in 2010.

Inquest counsel Grace Alcaide Janicas asked Mr. Forcillo about a number of earlier use-of-force incidents he was involved in, and any conversations or interventions those incidents (and the subsequent reports) prompted.

She suggested that in 2011 he was flagged as having a tendency to be brusque in some of his dealings with the public.

Mr. Forcillo disagreed with the characterization, saying that he was working in traffic enforcement at that time. “You’re going to hurt some feelings,” he said, of giving out tickets for a living. “I mean, it is what it is.”

In 2012, Ms. Alcaide Janicas said, there were five use-of-force alerts for Mr. Forcillo in the service’s internal computer system.

“If I’m understanding correctly – and please correct me if I’m wrong – you were not aware or spoken to by any of your supervisors about any concerns related to any of those?” she asked.

“No, I never had any negative feedback as a result of them,” he responded, noting that he filed a use-of-force report any time he pulled his service pistol or shotgun, as is protocol. “They were all investigated. I did everything I was supposed to, so nobody told me anything otherwise.”

Asked whether there is anything that might’ve helped him make “better decisions” the night that he shot Mr. Yatim, Mr. Forcillo quickly responded that having a taser “would have changed everything.”

“At that point, only frontline supervisors worked with tasers. That particular night, there was a real shortage of supervisors. And when you need a taser, you need it right now, not in five or 10 minutes,” he said.

“I think that was a giant failure on the part of the solicitor-general, and has since been corrected.”

In 2013, Ontario passed legislation allowing all frontline officers to carry the less-lethal weapon.

Mr. Forcillo will return for cross-examination Tuesday, by lawyers representing Mr. Yatim’s family, TPS, the province and others.

Mr. Forcillo questioned what he could contribute to the inquest, noting he has already testified about that night at his trial and at his parole hearings.

“I haven’t been a police officer, like, actually on the road, in over a decade,” Mr. Forcillo said. “I genuinely don’t know what I have to add to this inquest. So I am hoping we can look forward, as you told me, and do something so that these types of incidents don’t happen again.”