Peter Collins
Dr. Peter Collins’ clinical appointment is with the Complex Mental Illness Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and he is an Associate Professor, in the Division of Forensic Psychiatry, at the University of Toronto. Peter is also a co-investigator with the Health Adaptation Research on Trauma (HART) Lab and an adviser to the International Performance Resilience and Efficiency Program for police tactical teams at the University of Toronto (Mississauga). He on the board of the Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and a consulting editor with the Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, published by the American Psychological Association.
From 1990 to 1995 he was the forensic psychiatrist with the RCMP Violent Crime Analysis Section. In 1995 Collins became the forensic psychiatrist with the Criminal Behaviour Analysis Unit of the Ontario Provincial Police and continues in this position. Peter is also the consultant forensic psychiatrist with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police “O” Division Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (counter-terrorism) and since 1992 he has been a member of the crisis/hostage negotiation team of the Toronto Police Service Emergency Task Force.
In addition, Peter consults to the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Profiling Unit of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Investigative Psychology Unit of the South African Police, and the Behavioural Sciences Section of the Calgary Police Service.
Peter obtained his Masters in Applied Criminology from the University of Ottawa, his Medical Degree from McMaster University and completed his postgraduate medical training in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Peter retired from the Canadian Forces (Reserves), at the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, and served on 2 deployments in Southern Afghanistan. In October 2012 he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contribution to the Canadian Forces. In 2013 he was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD).
In 1997 Peter was elected a member of the International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship. He is an authority on violent crime and has worked with, and instructed, numerous criminal justice agencies in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, South Africa, South-West Asia, Micronesia and Australia including the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Interpol, and Europol.
Affiliations
Canadian Psychiatric Association
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (Board of Directors)
Canadian Critical Incident Association
Ontario Psychiatric Association
Ontario Medical Association
Medico-Legal Society of Toronto (Member of Council)
American Psychiatric Association
American Academy of Forensic Sciences
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
Homicide Research Working Group
International Homicide Investigators Association
International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship
Research Synopsis
Areas of research include Suicide-by-Cop; Police Use of Force; PTSD; Strength-based resilience training program to improve physical health and occupational performance among police officers; Abducted and murdered children in Canada: preliminary analysis of Canadian cases.
Research Grants
1. Co-Primary Investigator (with Judith Andersen. PhD)
Ontario Ministry of Labour Research Opportunities Program,
Improving Occupational Health & Safety among Police Officers
Amount Awarded - $274,796.00 – Spring 2016 – 2018.
2. Primary Investigator – Judith Andersen, PhD
Collaborator – Peter Collins
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
Are We Missing Something? Is There a Proximal Mechanism in the Relationship
Between Attitudes and Behaviour?
Amount Awarded: $74, 928
Spring 2016-2018