The head of B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office wants the government to investigate decisions made by the B.C. Prosecution Service in police misconduct cases.
“While obviously you might see that once in a while … 0 for 15 is such a low number that I believe, in the public’s eye, that raises questions,” he said. “That means hiring the services of a use-of-force expert, which is almost exclusively done by former or current police officers,” he said. “My view is that most often that type of report is not necessary, and raises issues about the whole idea of civilian oversight.”
MacDonald said that the problem is not limited to B.C. He says the numbers of cases like this are “fairly stark.” “Secondly, in cases where accountability may well be necessary, that too is very important. If the public is of the view that that aspect of the process is failing, that hurts the overall appearance of effectiveness and trustworthiness of our organization and the justice system in general.”