Head of B.C. police watchdog says lack of resources hampering ability to hold officers accountable
The head of the civilian agency responsible for investigating when someone is seriously injured or killed in an interaction with police in B.C. says the province hasn’t provided the resources for his team to do its job effectively.
Ron MacDonald, director of the Independent Investigations Office, currently oversees a team of 19 investigators and says there are 17 investigator positions unfilled at this time.
“I am concerned about the well-being of my investigators. They are hard-workers. They are excellent at what they do but they are stretched way too thin right now,” he said in an interview with CTV News. “My people are significantly overworked. Our case load has almost doubled and this year we saw a tripling in the number of officer-involved shootings than we normally see.”
For the fiscal year ending in March 2022, the IIO opened 193 investigations and the year before that it deployed 232 times.
MacDonald blames the staffing shortage for the length of time it is taking to complete complex investigations like the one involving Dale Culver.
The 35-year-old Indigenous man died after being tackled to the ground and pepper-sprayed by Prince George RCMP in 2017.
This week, almost six years after Culver’s death, two of the officers involved were charged with manslaughter and three others were charged with attempting to obstruct justice.
"I hope no other family has to wait this long for justice for their family member,” Culver’s daughter Lili Speed-Namox told CTV News.
The IIO has 90 open investigations right now and 38 of those involve a death – with two unresolved cases dating back to 2016.
The head of the national union representing RCMP officers says his members would like to see investigations completed in a timely manner, rather than have the possibility of charges hanging over their heads for years.
"None of this is good from a transparency perspective for the community, none of it's good for our membership and none of it is good for British Columbians,” said Brian Sauve, president of the National Police Federation. “So, the IIO needs to figure it out.”
MacDonald says he has raised his concerns with the province repeatedly over the past several years but has not gotten the additional resources he’s been asking for.
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma declined a CTV News request for an interview, but she did provide a statement.
“I extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Dale Culver. Preserving public trust in the impartiality of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) while recruiting and retaining highly qualified investigators is of the utmost importance,” Sharma said. “I take the concerns raised by the IIO seriously and have already met with them to find solutions to how we can improve efficiencies and ensure that they can continue to do their important work.”
Temporary changes were made to the Police Act to remove restrictions related to hiring investigators who recently worked as police officers in B.C., but those changes expired in 2021.
MacDonald says that unless more significant changes are made that allow him to hire more investigators, his agency’s ability to hold police accountable will be compromised.
“I’m not encouraged by what I’ve heard and about how I’m going to be able to solve this situation,” MacDonald said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Canucks' Soucy suspended 1 game, Zadorov fined $5,000 for post-game crosschecks on McDavid
A Vancouver Canucks defenceman has been suspended for a game and another was handed a hefty fine after a scrum broke out at the end of Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night.
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sues for defamation over National Enquirer, InTouch Weekly stories
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sued the parent company of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly on Monday for a story that she said falsely claimed that she was trying to help the Menendez brothers get a retrial after they were convicted of murdering their parents.