An advocacy group is calling on the Ontario government to make crisis intervention and de-escalation training mandatory for those studying to become police officers in the province.
The Toronto chapter of the Innocence Project is pushing to amend the Police Services Act in what it says is an effort to address police shootings of people with mental illness.
The proposed amendment would make such training a requirement of the Ontario Police College, which trains and certifies police recruits once they have been hired.
The group says it plans to launch a constitutional challenge over the issue if the province doesn't take action before Jan. 2 of next year.
The group made its request in a letter delivered Wednesday to Attorney General Yasir Naqvi and Community Safety Minister Marie-France Lalonde.
Naqvi said the province is already working to update the Police Services Act but did not say whether that would include the change requested by the group.