TORONTO - Ontario's ombudsman called Tuesday for a massive overhaul of the province's Special Investigations Unit in a report that says the civilian police agency is seen as a "toothless tiger and muzzled watchdog."
Andre Marin's special report into the embattled unit is calling for new legislation and sweeping internal changes to dispel public perceptions of a pro-police bias.
"The SIU has become so timid and fearful in its watchdog job role, that police oversight has hit rock bottom in Ontario," Marin said as he released the report.
"It has preferred to focus its energy on an introspective, esoteric, pie-in-the-sky journey that has little to do with holding police accountable."
The report, titled "Oversight Unseen," said the province's system of police oversight has "failed to live up to its promise" because of a complacent culture and a lack of rigour in ensuring police follow the rules.
"We heard repeatedly from SIU staff and members of the public alike that the SIU was essentially toothless," Marin said in the report.
"It is clear that something must be done to dispel the SIU's image as a toothless tiger and muzzled watchdog if it is to earn the respect of police officials as well as the public at large."
Serious problems within the SIU include "endemic" delays, a reluctance to insist on police co-operation, and an internal culture overly influenced by the number of ex-police officers in its staff, Marin said.
And despite legal regulations that require all police forces to notify the SIU immediately whenever a member is involved in an incident resulting in serious injury or death, notifications were routinely delayed -- by weeks in some cases.
"The SIU is practically pathological in its avoidance of public controversy and consistently goes for the path of least resistance," the report reads.
The report makes 45 recommendations -- including that the SIU aggressively seek the reasons for police non-co-operation and that the province amend the legislation to make it an offence for police forces not to co-operate with the SIU.
Marin, who once headed the SIU, has said he started the investigation because there was a troubling increase in the number of complaints brought against the agency.
The investigation, launched in June 2007, involved more than 100 interviews and tens of thousands of pages of documents.
The SIU and the McGuinty government were the focus of heated criticism last week they announced that current director James Cornish will be replaced on Oct. 16 by lawyer Ian Scott. Cornish has headed the agency since 2004.
The opposition claimed the new appointment was the government's attempt to blunt the report, but the province said the change of leadership was a result of Cornish's mandate having expired.
In its report, the ombudsman said the SIU and the Ministry of the Attorney General co-operated fully and agreed to report back to him on their progress when it comes to his recommendations.
But, Marin said, he will be "watching closely, because the SIU's commitments were couched in vague and vapid generalities, while the ministry's promise to consult with Ontarians on new legislation was rather amorphous."
Marin's probe marks the seventh time the SIU has been reviewed since its creation in 1990.
