Joseph Martino, the longtime legal counsel of Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, will officially become director of the civilian police watchdog next year, stepping into a challenging, contentious role he acknowledges involves “inevitable controversy.”

Martino became interim head of the SIU when Tony Loparco left the position in March.

“You’ve just got to do the right thing, and, at the end of the day, apply your knowledge of the law,” said Martino, when asked, in an interview Thursday, how he will approach a job overseeing criminal investigations into the actions of Ontario’s police officers.

Lawyer for the civilian police watchdog since 1997, Martino has spent his entire career with the SIU, which probes police-involved deaths, injuries and allegations of sexual assault. He started as an articling student, then became legal counsel in 1999. He was named as the SIU’s first deputy director in 2018.

He begins a two-year role as director January 1, 2020.

“He knows these issues inside out — probably better than anyone else in the province,” said Ian Scott, a Toronto lawyer who was SIU director from 2008 to 2013, and who co-wrote a police manual with Martino on arrest, seizure and interrogation.

“He is a repository of corporate memory … a product of the unit, which has never happened before,” Scott said.

Martino takes over as the SIU has faced uncertainty about its future, due in large part to provincial government changes.

After passing new policing legislation that sought to strengthen the SIU, acting on Ontario Court of Appeal judge Michael Tulloch’s 2017 review of police oversight, Premier Doug Ford slammed the brakes on the new laws in July 2018.

His government has since passed the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services (COPS) Act, which made some changes to the previous Liberal government’s legislation but upheld the bulk of it, including the recommendation that the SIU get its own legislation.

Martino said the symbolism of the SIU having its own legislation, separate, for the first time, from Ontario’s Police Services Act, is important.

“It tells everyone that the SIU has come of age,” said Martino, who added that this will also make future changes less cumbersome to make.

When the new legislation comes into effect, the watchdog will also have new investigative responsibilities, including the mandate to investigate every time a police officer discharges his or her weapon, regardless of whether anyone was shot. Some special constables and peace officers will also become subject to SIU probes.

Martino said his goals for the position include ensuring the transition to the new legislation goes smoothly, maintaining the “rigour” of each investigation, and building on the community outreach work the watchdog has been doing, including increasing support for victims.

“I think there’s so much more we can, and should, be doing (for victims),” Martino said.

In a statement Thursday, Brian Gray, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, confirmed that the goverment has also nominated lawyer Stephen Leach to head the province’s police complaints agency, currently known as the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD).

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Former OIPRD director Gerry McNeilly stepped down earlier this year after more than 10 years at the helm. He headed the organization since the complaint agency was created in 2008.

Leach’s appointment is subject to review by the provincial standing committee on government agencies. According to Gray, Leach has been a lawyer for nearly 30 years and has advised goverments in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and more.

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis

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