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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.