In late July of 2013, two days after Sammy Yatim was shot and killed by a Toronto police officer, over a thousand people gathered downtown in protest, outrage and, most notably, in sorrow. I’ve never seen so many people cry during a public protest in this city. Two days later, Yatim’s courageous younger sister Sarah spoke at his funeral, and urged the 200 in attendance to “stop with the tears and start with the action.”

In the midst of her own grief, the younger Yatim connected her brother’s demise to a larger pattern of civilian deaths during encounters with local police. “He wasn't the first to die this way,” Sarah Yatim noted, “but hopefully he can be the last.” In the ensuing years, Toronto police have shot no fewer than 13 more civilians — five of them are dead.

Investigations into nine of the 13 shootings are complete — none of those nine shooting victims had a firearm. Instead they were carrying knives, hammers, pellet guns, fake pistols or pepper spray when they were shot by police with live ammunition. That’s unacceptable. It’s time for Toronto’s police to restrict their use of lethal force: the vast majority of officers should never have the option of firing a handgun or rifle.

Andrew Loku's neighbour Robin Hicks wasn’t armed when she attempted to defuse an argument between Loku and a neighbour. Police arrived and fatally shot the father of five, a refugee from South Sudan, as he and Hicks were standing in their apartment hallway. The officer who shot Loku reportedly saw a hammer in Loku's hand, and chose to respond with live ammo. Such a response should have been impossible.

In December of 2014, police responded to a call about a man at Walmart in Agincourt Mall who had been cutting his own throat and hands with a knife. Police arrived with their guns, and in the ensuing interaction one officer decided he had no option other than to shoot the 40-year-old man, who has never been publicly identified.

Investigators concluded the man was a Walmart employee who had been caught stealing from the store. Fearing he would be fired, he began to harm himself. By deploying armed officers to confront and shout commands at a man in this sort of crisis, we automatically reduce the likelihood that he will survive the encounter.

Yatim’s deadly confrontation ended only seconds after police arrived and found him standing alone on a streetcar. Like Loku and the unnamed labourer, Yatim had no firearm; he was holding a knife. Several of the officers who confronted him drew their weapons, but only one fired. Constable James Forcillo directed nine bullets at Sammy Yatim, and struck him with eight. The first three bullets hit the teenager in his arm, heart, and spine; every bullet was designed to kill him.

If we keep enabling deadly police confrontations, we will be forced to keep justifying deadly outcomes. But these deaths are needless. Police should be choosing rubber bullets over live ammunition, and de-escalation over confrontation. We know these choices save lives.

Last Sunday, Montreal police responded to a 911 call regarding a stabbing. They arrived to find a 65-year-old man, who had allegedly stabbed two people inside the house, harming himself with a knife. After attempting to negotiate with the man, police shot him with rubber bullets. They could have used live rounds and needlessly increased the likelihood of killing their target, but they rightly deemed that level of violence unnecessary.

Montreal police went much further to preserve life in July of 2013, during a 20-hour armed standoff with 72-year-old Isidore Havis, who was barricaded in his residence with more than 150 firearms. Havis had reportedly threatened two Hydro workers with a handgun, then barricaded himself indoors before police arrived. During the standoff, police claim Havis shot at them and grazed an officer’s foot with his bullet.

Police waited Havis out, employed tear gas, and eventually shot him with rubber bullets that shattered several of his bones. The elderly man, whose family said was suffering from dementia, died in hospital three weeks later. (A coroner concluded Havis died of natural causes.)

One of Havis’s neighbours told the media, “We didn’t want him to die, just for him to get the help he needed.” The police seemed not to want to kill Havis either, even though he fired at them and threatened two civilians. They proved that police often do put their lives on the line, and can do so without needlessly jeopardizing the lives of the people they serve — that Sarah Yatim’s wish for a city without fatal police confrontations is within the force’s power to fulfil.

Desmond Cole’s column appears every Thursday.

Toronto Police shootings since Sammy Yatim was killed on July 30, 2013

October 5, 2013 — An unnamed 29-year-old man is shot twice and wounded by a Toronto police officer, after police were called to the scene of an alleged theft. The SIU determined that the man was carrying a mallet and a garbage can, and was approaching the officer. The SIU concluded there were no grounds to charge the officer.

November 4, 2013 — An unnamed 52-year-old man is shot twice by a Toronto police officer, after police accompanied the man's daughter to an apartment to collect her belongings. The SIU concluded the man was armed with a knife, and was a threat to his daughter and to the officers. The SIU concluded there were no grounds to charge the officer.

November 13, 2013 — A 30-year-old man, later identified as Ian Pryce, is shot by two Toronto police officers, after police were reportedly executing a warrant for Pryce's arrest. The SIU concluded Pryce was carrying a pellet gun, and pointed it at police. The SIU concluded there were no grounds to charge the officer.

November 30, 2013 — An unnamed 34-year-old man is shot multiple times by a Toronto police officer, after police responded to an apparent theft. The SIU concluded the man was carrying pepper spray, sprayed it at an officer, and assaulted the officer. The SIU concluded there were no grounds to charge the officer.

December 13, 2013 — Four Toronto police fire a total of 28 rounds at an unnamed 18-year-old man, critically wounding him, after police are called to a subway station where a man was reportedly carrying a firearm. The SIU concluded the man was carrying a pellet gun, and pointed it at police. None of the officers were charged.

December 18, 2014 — An unnamed 40-year-old man is shot three times by two Toronto police officers, critically wounding him, after police responded to a call that a man was harming himself with a knife. The SIU concluded the man was carrying a knife, and that police used a lawful amount of force by shooting him.

December 31, 2014 — A 33-year-old man, later identified as Daniel Clause, is shot three times by a Toronto police officer and dies at the scene, after police were called to an alleged armed robbery. The SIU concluded that Clause was carrying a pellet gun, and that officers were legally justified in shooting him.

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January 7, 2015 — After responding to a call about an armed robbery, an officer fires two shots at an unnamed 34-year-old man. The SIU concluded the man's gun was fake, but that the police reasonably believed it was real. The officer was not charged.

February 18, 2015 — A Toronto police officer shoots 49-year-old David Andrew Doucette in the neck, killing him, after officers responded to reports of a stabbing. The SIU concluded Doucette was carrying a knife, and presented a threat to officers and others in the vicinity. The officer was not charged.

At least four more SIU investigations into the police shootings of 45-year-old Andrew Loku, 21-year-old Kwasi Skene-Peters, and two other unnamed persons, are ongoing.