Critics have long held the RCMP should not be able to investigate itself -- and now the law enforcement agency agrees.
The RCMP and B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police are requesting independent oversight in cases of in-custody deaths or serious allegations involving Mounties.
The announcement was made by BCACP President, Supt. Bill McKinnon, alongside Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich and West Vancouver Police Chief Peter Lepine, Wednesday afternoon.
"It is imperative that people trust all police investigations," McKinnon said.
"We recognize there is a need to increase public confidence across the province and provide the highest amount of accountability in policing."
The resolution was unanimously approved by all B.C. police agencies last week. The BCACP is urging the province to create an investigative civilian-led unit as soon as possible.
The oversight body would be called in when death or serious injury has occurred involving police. It would operate separately from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which deals primarily with minor police complaints.
McKinnon says the resolution has nothing to do with the Braidwood inquiry, which is looking into the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport. The investigation that has been the subject of intense public scrutiny and criticism, including allegations of a police cover-up.
The issue of independent oversight became a central focus at the Braidwood inquiry Tuesday with Supt. Wayne Rideout, the longtime Mountie in charge of investigating Dziekanski's death, speaking out.
Rideout said there was nothing wrong with the investigation, but said bringing in an outside body would avoid the sort of public perception problems that have plagued the Dziekanski case.
Yesterday, the inquiry heard from senior Mounties about an internal RCMP email that seemed to suggest the officers planned to use a Taser before they ever set eyes on the Polish immigrant.
In August, the RCMP's federal watchdog, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, urged the creation of an outside body to handle police-involved cases.
