NEWS RELEASE
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
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On July 21, 2018, a 27-year-old man suffered injuries in the course of his arrest by Niagara Regional Police Service officers when a police service dog bit him in the face and neck area.
The Interim Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against the dog’s handler in relation to the serious injuries sustained by the man.
Full Director’s Report (with incident narrative, evidence, and analysis and director’s decision) can be found here.
The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid
- report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General.
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