Hamilton police should expand its mental health response unit: MacDougall inquest jury

Every police service in Ontario should have a joint response unit with mental health workers, and Hamilton's should expand and operate 24 hours a day.

That's just some of what the jury recommended after a two-week inquest into the death of Quinn MacDougall, a 19-year-old who was shot and killed by Hamilton police three years ago.

The five-member jury had 10 recommendations — some for Hamilton police, some for all Ontario police, and some for the province.

It said police services should look at establishing joint teams with community mental health partners, if none already exist, to help with calls when someone is in crisis. And Hamilton's mobile crisis rapid response team (MCRRT), which operates in partnership with St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, should have more units and be available around the clock.

David Eden, who presided over the inquest, said he hopes people listen.

"Quinn MacDougall was a beloved family member and friend who died tragically in an interaction in police," he said as he wrapped up the inquest Friday. 

"This inquest has been an opportunity for a public examination of the facts surrounding his death and to learn from his death to prevent similar deaths. The jury, as representatives of the community, has translated that evidence into findings of fact and has written carefully considered recommendations that we can all hope will be implemented."

MacDougall was living in a Caledon Avenue townhouse complex on April 3, 2018. The jury heard that MacDougall called police after he got a threatening message on Snapchat. That message said "we're fighting" with a photo of the complex.

MacDougall made several distraught 911 calls, saying a man with a gun was out to get him. At one point, he hung up on the emergency operator.

Police also believed there was a "mental health component" to the call, said Graeme Leach, an assistant Crown attorney who represented Eden in the inquest. 

Police responded, including a plain-clothes officer in an unmarked SUV. The jury heard that MacDougall appeared to run toward the SUV with a knife in his hand. A short time later, he was shot by police, and died in hospital. 

It's possible, the jury heard, that MacDougall thought the officer in the SUV was the person who prompted him to call 911 in the first place.

Family, friends, officers and emergency operators testified in the inquest. The officers said there was no time to de-escalate.

In April 2019, the Special Investigations Unit cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. 

CBC Hamilton is pursuing comment from Hamilton Police Service.

Here are some of the other recommendations released Friday evening:

• The Ministry of the Solicitor General should review the current use of force model. It should also consider alternative terminology other than "force" and include de-escalation as a response option or goal. 
• The ministry should research some less lethal use-of-force options for police. 
• Hamilton police should look at how to better use information management systems to track the resources that have been deployed to help a person in crisis. Police should also use that information to look for ways to improve the way it responds in the future. 
• Hamilton police should look at how it can use those systems to see how many calls were initially reported and dispatched as one type of call, but then later end up having a "person in crisis" component.
• Ontario police officers should have more training in de-escalation, including through the Ontario Police College. 

Eden told MacDougall's family that participating in the inquest "cannot have been easy for you," but it has "helped to make Ontario safer and honoured his memory." 

During the inquest, friends and family described him as being someone who was caring, understanding and had a good sense of humour. 

"He was a good son, brother, uncle and friend," said his father Keith MacDougall, "and we miss him every single day."