Former Ottawa cops praise 'courageous' Toronto officer for van attack arrest

Larry Hill has had his fair share of volatile standoffs with dangerous suspects, but the former Ottawa police deputy chief said the peaceful arrest of the man who allegedly ran over pedestrians on a Toronto sidewalk is a textbook case for how to de-escalate a threat.

"He was courageous. It takes courage to do that. He did everything appropriately," Hill told CBCOttawa host Adrian HarewoodTuesday.

Many are sharing praise for how Toronto police Const. Ken Lam calmly arrested the suspect, 25-year-old Alek Minassian,without firing a single gunshot. After a brief but deadly rampage on Yonge Street in Toronto, Lam convinced the suspect, who had earlier pointed an unknown object toward him, to get down on the ground. The takedown was over in just 37 seconds.

"He was doing everything right because charging [at] the suspect would have initiated a whole different dynamic," Hill said.

Non-violent arrest of van attack suspect praised

6 years ago

Duration 5:07

The non-violent arrest of the Toronto van attack suspect is being praised by many. Video taken by witnesses shows the suspect apparently pulling a gun when confronted by a lone police officer. The officer is seen to get the suspect to stand down, drop what he's holding, and make the arrest without incident.

Other officers, he said,should take note of how Lam de-escalated the situation by turning off his cruiser's siren so the suspect could hear his voice and putting away his firearm when he realized the man didn't have a gun, and by taking out his baton instead.

"He realizes that even though the suspect's pretending to take a gun out he realizes he's not," Hill said. "If he had a gun he would [shoot]. So he puts his gun away, takes his baton out. Now the suspect knows the officer's not going to shoot me but he's going to hit me with that so I'm going to give up."

"Why confront somebody further when you can de-escalate and calm everything down?Then, people can hear you, you can develop a relationship, though a very quick one. We're not here to kill you, we're not here to hurt you."

Police criticized for past use of force

The peaceful arrest reminded him of a personal encounter he had as a police officer responding to a domestic incident in Ottawa. A man and his friend got into a confrontation with Hill and the pair ran to the kitchen to grab a butcher knife. The men barricaded themselves behind a door and Hill was able to convince them to surrender.

"This person was in an apartment and I didn't feel justified in killing," he said.

The Toronto Police Service has in the past been criticized for its use of force in arrests that have turned deadly, including the arrest of Sammy Yatim in 2013 and Andrew Loku in 2015. Officers shot both of those men fatally.

Former Ottawa police officer Doug Kirkland said the more experience you have as an officer the easier it is to spot signals that a suspect is not an imminent threat.

Kirkland praised the officer who took down Minassian on Monday without incident.

"Right away I thought I'm going to use the word damned good police work. Really," Kirkland told CBC News.

"Really good police work. It should be a lesson anywhere in Canada."