The Shed at 02:14
02:14, -8 °C. You and your partner are first on scene at a bungalow where a mother called 911 about her 22-year-old son. He is in a detached, unheated shed 12 metres from the back door, holding an 8-inch kitchen knife, and has three superficial cuts on his left forearm that are still bleeding. He shouts that he will 'cut his throat' if anyone comes near. His mother says he has schizophrenia, stopped his medication three weeks ago, has no criminal record, and has never been violent to anyone but himself. The shed has one open doorway and a single bulb. Backup is six minutes out. Your CEW is in the cruiser, 15 metres behind you.
1. What lawful authority do you have to take him into custody, and what must happen before you can let him go?
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Issue: authority to take an unwilling adult into custody for a mental-health reason.
Rule: Section 17 of Ontario's Mental Health Act lets a police officer take a person into custody to an appropriate place for examination by a physician where the officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe the person is suffering from a mental disorder and is likely to cause serious bodily harm to themselves or another (or has shown a tendency to do so), and it is not reasonably practicable to have a physician examine them first. No Form 1 is needed - a Form 1 is a physician's authority; yours comes from the statute.
Application: diagnosed schizophrenia + three weeks off medication + fresh self-inflicted cuts + an explicit threat to cut his throat + a knife in his hand = grounds on both limbs. 'Appropriate place' means a hospital emergency department. You keep custody and may re-apprehend if he tries to leave before a physician examines him.
Two limits: this is not an arrest, and it authorises no criminal search and no criminal charge. If he commits an offence, that is a separate decision.
Documentation: record the specific words and observations, not conclusions ('stated he would cut his throat'), because your grounds will be scrutinised line by line.
2. Your partner wants to move to the shed doorway and 'take him down' before backup arrives. The CEW-trained officer wants to deploy the moment there is a clear line. Assess both against necessity and proportionality.
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At 12 metres, with the doorway open and the person harming only himself so far, he is not an immediate threat to anyone else. Time and distance are tactics, not inaction.
The takedown: a close-quarters struggle over a knife is the single worst outcome available to you. Contact distance removes every advantage you have and converts a self-harm crisis into a potential officer-injury or lethal-force incident. There is no necessity for it now.
The CEW: a CEW is justified only where the risk of not deploying outweighs the risk of deploying. Where a knife is present, one deployment is not a reliable fight-stopper - probes can miss or be defeated by clothing, and a failed deployment can precipitate the attack it was meant to prevent. If it is used, it should be part of a planned arrest with lethal cover and a designated arrest team, not an off-hand first choice.
What to do: contain, cover, one voice on the radio and one voice talking, clear the mother back, brief arriving units, and be ready to act if he advances on officers or turns the knife on himself with lethal intent. If force is used, you must be able to articulate why waiting was not viable - because the review will ask exactly that.
3. Assume the CEW is deployed and he falls, striking his head and losing consciousness. Set out your immediate and reporting obligations.
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Immediately: control the knife, render first aid, call EMS, request a supervisor, preserve the CEW cartridge, probes and datalog, photograph the injuries and the scene, and keep the mother and any witnesses separated and identified. Do not discuss the incident with the other involved officer beyond immediate safety needs.
SIU: a head injury with loss of consciousness will almost certainly meet the definition of 'serious injury' (an injury likely to interfere with health or comfort, more than merely transient or trifling). Notify the SIU and the chief immediately, secure the scene, and expect the SIU to invoke its statutory powers.
Use of force report: the CEW deployment and the resulting injury each trigger a report to the chief; the report goes in even though the SIU is also investigating. The two processes are not alternatives.
Also: Mental Health Act apprehension documentation, an occurrence report, body-worn camera download, and a statement from the mother about his condition and history.
Do not alter, delete or 'clean up' any notes, recordings or equipment - spoliation is treated far more seriously than the original incident.