Vancouver police officer charged in 2023 pedestrian crash

Police cars are seen parked outside Vancouver Police Department headquarters in Vancouver, on Saturday, January 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The BC Prosecution Service says it has approved a charge against a Vancouver police officer over a collision with a pedestrian in 2023.

The service says Sgt. William Briscoe faces a charge under the Motor Vehicle Act of "driving without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway," after the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a report into the crash.

The Independent Investigations Office said last October that it was investigating after a woman was injured in a collision involving a Vancouver Police Department vehicle that was on its way to call in the evening hours of Sept. 29, 2023.

The office said at the time that the woman declined treatment from emergency responders on the scene, but the police department reported to the office that her injury may constitute "serious harm" under the provincial Police Act.

The police watchdog's report said there were reasonable grounds to believe the officer may have committed an offence in relation to use of his police vehicle, and it forwarded its report to the prosecution service for consideration of charges.

The prosecution service says in a statement issued Friday that the charge against Briscoe was signed off on by an experienced Crown counsel who has no connection with the officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.