Judging by a newly released report from Toronto's police chief, there were no problems with any aspect of a 2015 police-involved shooting at a Bloor St. pharmacy.

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting where the victim fully recovered. No changes to Toronto police training or policy were necessary. There is no mention of allegations of misconduct by any officer involved in the shooting or its aftermath.

Case closed.

Omitted from that report by Chief Mark Saunders, released under the Toronto police board’s new policy allowing public access to these previously secret reports: allegations by Ontario’s police watchdog that a Toronto officer “threatened to undermine the integrity” of its independent probe.

Specifically, SIU acting director Joseph Martino alleges that immediately after the Jan. 7, 2015 shooting, a Toronto officer improperly attempted to access and copy security footage of the shooting — conduct he calls an “apparent contravention” of provincial legislation protecting the independence of SIU probes.

Martino’s allegations are spelled out in an Aug. 31, 2015 letter to Saunders, obtained by the Star through a freedom of information request.

But the watchdog’s concerns are nowhere to be found in the public version of Saunders’ report on the internal probe of the shooting.

Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash said the issues raised by the SIU “were addressed in the document for the confidential portion of the board meeting.”

Indeed, since the Toronto board passed the policy last May to release public versions of the chief’s reports on provincially mandated internal reviews of SIU-involved incidents, Toronto police have begun producing two versions of such reports, one public, one confidential.

Critics are questioning the point of releasing public copies of the reports if important information about officer conduct can be left out.

“If you’re going to be transparent, you have to start by being honest. And it doesn’t appear as though in fact they are being honest about what the SIU is really saying,” said John Sewell, former Toronto mayor and head of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition.

In an email to the Star on Wednesday, Toronto police board chair Andy Pringle said the new public reporting process for these reports is still being refined.

“The board regularly reviews these reports with a view to ensuring as much information as possible is provided, while respecting legal and privacy concerns. As individual reports from the chief come forward and are placed on the public agenda, the board is able to ask questions, raise concerns and identify any gaps in reporting.”

Pringle adds that the board expects there may be possible changes to the public reporting process as a result of the recommendations contained in Ontario court Justice Michael Tulloch’s upcoming review of Ontario police oversight bodies, including the SIU.

Under the province’s Police Services Act, every police force in Ontario must conduct its own internal investigation into every SIU case involving its officers, at the completion of the watchdog’s independent probe. A report containing the results of that internal investigation must then go to the police board within 30 days after the chief receives notification that the SIU has completed its probe.

The aim of the internal police investigation is to determine if any training or policy changes need to be made, or if disciplinary measures are warranted.

Referred to on its public agendas as chief’s administrative investigations, the board began publishing public versions of these reports in June, 2016. The first report released was the internal Toronto police investigation following the July, 2015 shooting death of Andrew Loku.

Loku, a 45-year-old mentally ill man, was killed by an unnamed Toronto police officer while he was carrying a hammer. The SIU ruled the officer’s lethal force was justified to prevent an imminent attack.

In that case, the SIU raised identical allegations that an officer “improperly” attempted to access and download surveillance footage immediately after the shooting, something it said breached Ontario regulations.

However, unlike the latest chief’s report into the 2015 pharmacy shooting, the public version of chief Saunders’ report into the Loku shooting included the SIU’s allegations of officer misconduct, going so far as to incorporate a lengthy quote from SIU director Tony Loparco detailing his complaints.

That chief’s report went on to address Loparco’s complaints, saying the officer’s viewing and preservation of the surveillance video was “appropriate scene management and evidence preservation similar to securing and identifying potential witnesses to the event.

“The officers securing the video were acting upon the direction of the service’s SIU liaison officer,” the chief’s report says.

Darryl Davies, a criminology instructor at Carleton University, said the public has a right to know if the SIU has concerns about post-incident conduct by Toronto officers. In this case, the report was “sanitized,” and devoid of vital information.

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“If boards are releasing reports to the public that do not reflect the concerns and issues raised by the SIU then the reports, for all intents and purpose, are useless,” he said.

The Toronto police board meets Thursday.

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca

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