BradfordToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to an article about South Simcoe police use-of-force incidents, published Jan. 24.
I was very disturbed to read Deputy Chief Sheryl Sutton use the Aug. 15 incident resulting in the tragic death and maiming of two 19-year-olds on Shoreview Drive in Innisfil as an example of a “drop in use-of-force incidents.” This was used as an example of when one incident affected a multiple-weapons-drawn statistic.
The two young men were gunned down by police as they were likely trying to exit their driveway or street in a vehicle. Could the police have not just gotten out of the way and pursued the vehicle? I have not heard a report of the young men having firearms on them.
The deputy chief stated, “It shows that with the training our officers receive and the tactical communication that they’re having, that they’re able to get compliance without it escalating to a use of force,” she said.
From a public viewpoint, it would seem this incident shows an excessive use of deadly force, even though the officers involved were cleared by SIU.
I find that using this questionable incident in an article espousing less use of force by police is absurd, illogical and completely insensitive to the family of the young men shot.
Tracy Holomek
Innisfil
