(The following story by Kevin McGran appeared on the Toronto Star website on August 24.)
TORONTO — Delays at GO train accident scenes will be cut in half — by up to 90 minutes — now that the Ontario coroner’s office, Toronto police and GO Transit have agreed on a new, speedier investigative protocol, say those involved in the talks.
“Everybody’s on board; we all realized that all parties can do their bit to ensure there aren’t undue delays,” said Dr. Jim Edwards, the supervising coroner for Toronto East. “We’re all involved in the investigation, we all have a role to play in making sure it goes efficiently.
“There will be times there will be (long) delays, but in most cases there won’t be.”
The coroner’s office called GO and Toronto police officials to a meeting last week after a couple of fatalities led to investigation delays longer than the usual three hours. One lasted six.
The groups agreed that scenes could be cleared faster if:
A senior coroner, and a hearse, are called immediately. Gary McNeil, managing director of GO Transit, said a hearse is often the last thing called and could take 45 minutes to arrive.
Police get clear direction from the coroner as to which division, homicide or traffic, will lead the investigation. McNeil said time is sometimes lost dickering over who’s in charge.
Investigators quickly review tape from a video camera at the front of the train, which can help them decide whether a death was a suicide, an accident or a homicide (which typically takes longer to investigate).
Following these guidelines consistently would cut delays by at least 90 minutes, Edwards said. “If we can get the police there and police talk to witnesses and have a look at the camera, we should be able to satisfy ourselves whether it’s a homicide or not.”
GO Transit wants to mimic TTC’s protocol, which takes 45 minutes to clear the scene. Officials say the simple improvements won’t compromise the investigation and will address concerns of the victim’s family.
Edwards said the protocol is already in place for investigations in Toronto, but the coroner’s office wants to meet with police from Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions, as well as officials from VIA Rail, CN and CP Rail before formalizing a region-wide protocol.
“Originally we were looking at a GO Train protocol, but everyone realizes that you could have an accident with a freight train and it screws up GO service,” said McNeil. “What they’re saying is, they’ve got to get a buy-in from all the railways and all the police organizations.
“We’re pushing this thing. It’s not going to take months to resolve; it’s going to happen very fast.”
Homicides generally take longer to investigate because of the need to collect evidence, which can be painstaking. Even when the coroner rules a death as a suicide, police have tended to err on the side of caution and continue with criminal investigative techniques.
“The police officers were always assuming there could, as a result of further informants, be a special coroner’s inquest. Then the coroner would say, `Where’s all the information?'” said GO’s McNeil.
But the coroner is now making it clear to police that it will take responsibility if it changes the status of the investigation back to homicide from suicide.
“We’ll take responsibility as to how the investigation is done,” said Edwards.
Traffic services superintendent Steve Grant of Toronto police was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.