Over the summer vacation, I was working with an engineering company in Markham Ontario and during this period of time, a very important and unforgettable event occurred. The even that I am referring to is called the Toronto Streetcar Shooting that occurred on the morning of the 27th of July 2013. This event might not be directly related to the engineering discipline however, all aspects of this tragic event can be directly related to engineering ethics and how people can act when they are faced with a difficult or life threatening situation.
In order to fully understand this problem, the ''Design Approach'' will be utilized. This specific method allows the users to read the problem, understand the problem, remove all the important information and finally come up with the best and the most suitable solution. This method also allows the user to view the problem in a different perspective that might not necessarily be clear when you read the original article that is published by the media.
Design approach:
1. Gather Information:
- Who was ''directly'' involved in this event:
Definition: In order to make this section clear, I would like to define what I mean by saying ''directly''. In this case, the word directly means the people who were involved in this event at the time it occurred.
A. The victim (Sammy Yatim)
B. The Police
C. The bystanders
D. The public
E. The bus driver
- Who was involved in this event:
A. Everyone listed in the previous section
B. The government of Toronto
C. Sammy's family
D. The people of Toronto
E. Investigation agency
2. State the problem:
In any case, when a shooting occurs between 2 civilians that are armed or that is gang related, it is a very tragic event. In most cases, the public is aware of the possibility that such an event might occur because the behaviour of the individuals involved in the event is very much unpredictable.
In the case of law enforcement officers, their duty is to serve and protect the population of the given area that they are assigned to and have jurisdiction in. In the public's eye, these officers should protect the public by using the necessary level of force that is required in order to deal with the situation. In most cases, the public trust the police and know what to expect from them.
What will happen if a particular law enforcement officer doesn't follow protocol and does something unexpected? How will the public react? This is essentially what happened in the morning of July 27th.
Around 12:01 AM on the 27th of July 2013, Sammy Yatim(18 years old, moved from Syria 5 years prior) embarked on railway car number 505 in the Dundas Street and Bellwoods Avenue area in Toronto Ontario. He was on the streetcar with many other civilians and at one point; he pulled a knife out of his bag. He ordered everyone on the streetcar to remain calm and not to move however, everybody left the vehicle a couple seconds after the knife was discovered. At this point, he was the only one left on the streetcar and the police arrived shortly after.
When the police arrived on scene, they ordered Sammy to put down his knife and to get on the floor. Sammy did not listen to the police and continued to argue with them. At this point, a particular police officer decided to shoot Sammy 3 times (in successions), followed by a 5 second pause and shot another 6 rounds. After he was on the floor, they decided to Tase him. At this point, I would like to discuss the different methods/solutions this particular police officer could've employed in this particular situation.
3. Generate Alternative Solutions:
A. Instead of shooting him, tase him.
B. Barricade Sammy inside the streetcar and wait for him to calm down.
C. Get someone from the department to try to talk to him and convince him to stop.
D. Use rubber bullets instead of copper bullets.
E. Ask his family to come to the scene and try to convince him to stop.
F. Use a non-lethal method (physical contact) in order to disarm him.
G. Wait it out.
H. Let Sammy call his father as he requested.
4. Analysing the different situations:
In this section, the different possibilities will be examined in detail. If the option is favourable, a 1 will be indicated in the corresponding box. If the option is not favourable, a -1 will be indicated in the box. If the option is neutral, a 0 will be indicated in the box.
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Alternative solutions:
|
a.
|
b.
|
c.
|
d.
|
e.
|
f.
|
g.
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h.
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i.
|
Total
|
|
Instead of shooting him, tase him
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
|
Barricade Sammy inside the streetcar and wait for him to calm down
|
0
|
-1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
|
Get someone from the department to try to talk to him and convince him to stop
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
|
Use rubber bullets instead of brass bullets
|
-1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
-1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
Ask his family to come to the scene and try to convince him to stop
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
|
Use a non-lethal method (physical contact) in order to disarm him
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
8
|
|
Wait it out
|
-1
|
-1
|
0
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Let Sammy call his father as he requested
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
People involved:
a. The victim
b. The police
c. The bystanders
d. The public
e. The bus driver
f. The government of Toronto
g. Sammy's family
h. The people of Toronto
i. Investigation agency
5. Implementation:
Based on the information given in the previous section, the police officer in question could've resolved this matter by using many different methods. From the ones I listed above, Tazing the victim and using a non-lethal approach seemed to be the most popular. All the other methods including rubber bullets (also known as non-lethal) are also a good choice compared to the one that was employed during this particular incident.
At the end of the line, the victim was unstable and did not comply with the requests that were given from the law enforcement personnel. Typically, the police officers might use more force in this situation because the victim was armed however, this does not explain why so much force had to be used.
Code of ethics:
By analysing this story and reading the code of ethics for engineers, I was able to find some statements that this particular law enforcement officer didn't follow. Please note that these are the engineering code of ethics however, the principles and the main idea behind these statements remain relevant.
A. Hold in paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and the protection of the environment and promote health and safety within the workplace
B. Present clearly to employers and clients the possible consequences if engineers/geoscientist decisions or judgements are overruled or disregarded.
C. Abide by all acts, regulations, by-laws, codes and standards concerning the practice of engineering or geoscience in any jurisdiction in which they may practise.