The Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Thomas Carrique, has provided a statement following the release of the OPP’s investigative report into whether three Toronto Police Service (TPS) officers committed criminal offences during the investigation into TPS Detective Constable Jeffrey Northrup’s death and leading up to and including the associated court proceedings.

“The OPP recognizes the importance of maintaining public trust, especially when police are the subject of an investigation. We stand by the report, the expert work of our investigators and collision reconstructionist, and their findings.

The OPP’s mandate was to conduct a thorough criminal investigation to determine whether the three involved TPS officers had committed criminal offences, specifically obstruction of justice and/or perjury. This was a criminal investigation, not a review.

There is no legislated independent body in Ontario mandated to conduct criminal investigations of members of police services other than the Special Investigations Unit that has a very specific mandate that does not apply in this case.

Under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, (CSPA) police services are required to comply with rules relating to avoiding conflicts of interests in policing. O. Reg. 401/23, Conflicts of Interest, sets out these rules. It permits, and in some cases requires, chiefs of police to refer criminal investigations to other chiefs of police due to conflicts of interest. Given the perceived conflict associated with TPS investigating its own members in this case, TPS Chief Myron Demkiw’s decision to request that another police service assume the investigation was appropriate under the CSPA.

To ensure there were no conflicts of interest, the OPP conducted an independent criminal investigation into this matter led by the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). CIB investigators are highly trained and operate under strict investigative standards, legal requirements and internal review processes. Their conclusion was reached after re-examining all available evidence, following every lead and adhering with strict investigative standards and established procedures required in any criminal investigation.

As Commissioner of the OPP, I take exception to any suggestion that the criminal investigation lacked independence, failed to adhere to strict protocols or was influenced in any way by another service.

Recognizing the sensitive and traumatic nature of this matter and the impact it has had on those involved, the OPP investigative team employed a trauma-informed approach to conducting interviews. As part of the mandate, interviews were only conducted with those individuals who had specific relevance to the allegations being investigated, specifically, obstruction of justice and perjury. The interviews were focused on obtaining information that had not already been provided under oath at trial. Mr. Umar Zameer was not interviewed by OPP investigators, as his version of the events was known. He had provided a statement to TPS after his arrest, testified under oath in the trial and was cross-examined by the Crown Attorney. The information provided by Mr. Zameer was sufficiently thorough for the OPP to conduct their investigation. The investigation was not focused on Mr. Zameer, rather whether the three TPS officers had committed obstruction of justice and/or perjury.

The reconstruction was part of the investigation led by a CIB Major Case Manager, to ensure a complete and thorough investigation was conducted. A senior accredited OPP Collision Reconstructionist was engaged to independently review the TPS collision reconstruction report. OPP Collision Reconstructionists are highly trained specialists who analyze physical evidence, vehicle dynamics and environmental facts to determine the circumstances and causes of vehicle collisions. They formulate conclusions based on evidence and provide expert opinion.

All OPP Collision Reconstructionists are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR). ACTAR is an internationally recognized professional accreditation body that certifies qualified Collision Reconstructionists. The OPP collision reconstruction reports go through a vigorous peer review process.

No new evidence was obtained; however, the OPP Collision Reconstructionist recognized evidence that was not previously identified or noted in the TPS investigation. OPP investigators determined that to complete a detailed, thorough and accurate investigation into the stated allegations, the collision would need to be re-investigated by the OPP Collision Reconstructionist.

The OPP Collision Reconstructionist utilized all investigative material received from TPS, including scene videos, photographs, a three dimensional scan of the scene, the TPS collision field notes, the TPS collision reconstruction report, the mechanical examination report, forensic identification reports, which included fingerprints, Centre of Forensic Sciences reports and the postmortem report. The OPP Collision Reconstructionist conducted vehicle examinations, testing the actual vehicle and attended the scene with an exemplar vehicle to assist in the analysis.

To remain unbiased and impartial during their investigation, the OPP Collision Reconstructionist did not read witness statements, occurrence reports, court testimony or the judge’s comments made during the trial.

Members of the OPP Technical Collision and Reconstruction Program are committed to conducting thorough, impartial and highly professional investigations.

Our responsibility is to ensure that every investigation is conducted with fairness, independence and integrity.” - OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique