Multiple organizations are criticizing the length of the Independent Investigations Office investigation into a 2016 police incident in Prince George.
Three Prince George RCMP officers have been charged with assault following the arrest of two men in a residential area.
The charges were approved by Crown Counsel on Monday (June 8).
“It’s extremely disappointing that both the investigation and the charge assessment on this matter really dragged on for such an extended period of time,” said Superintendent Shawn Wright.
“I am supportive of oversight of policing by agencies such as the IIO. I think it’s valuable to review police conduct and maintain the trust of the public, but I think to be effective in that, it needs to be timely.”
The National Police Federation felt similarly.
“Our concerns are basically the four and a half years almost that it took to get to this point, which is an extremely protected process, even in civilian oversight investigations,” said President Brian SauvĂ©.
“It’s just unfair from our perspective that four and a half years later the members that are involved in that arrest still have a couple of years ahead of them of uncertainty.”
The IIO says it has taken steps to address issues with timeliness, cutting the average length of an investigation from 84 days in 2017-18 down to approximately 34 days this previous fiscal year.
The three officers being charged are still on active duty, one is still in Prince George working within a different RCMP unit and the other two are working on Vancouver Island says Wright.
The decision comes at a time where policing is under widespread scrutiny, facing accusations of racism and discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
There have also been international demonstrations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, calling for the defunding and abolishment of police following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota earlier this month.
“I think the existence of the IIO and organizations like it is what makes a Canada a much different place than the United States,” said Ron MacDonald, Chief Civilian Director with the IIO.
“The other aspect of dealing with demonstrations in Canada, dealing with issues such as discrimination and racism, certainly there are similarities between what occurs in our society and what occurs in the United States but I would say there’s a big difference in how the particular incidents that involve serious harm or death are investigated here.”
While he is not in favor of abolishing police completely, Superintendent Wright says he would be open to a potential reform.
“I appreciate discussion and examination of really a lot of the responsibilities that police have taken on in the last several decades to fill in the gaps where social agencies have failed to step up,” said Wright.
“I would fully support the examination of realigning some of those responsibilities and returning them to the agencies where they should truly reside.”
Meanwhile, The IIO reported the number of files it received went up across the board last year by approximately 50 percent.
22 incidents were reported in the North District, including eight in Prince George, in 2019-20, up from 13 in 2018-19 and 14 in 17-18.
However, some files get resolved quite quickly, MacDonald noted.
“Sometimes police will have an interaction with someone that may suffer a serious health issue but it may not have been related to the actions of police, but that gets reported to us anyway and we have to investigate,” he said.
If reports do not get referred to Crown Counsel, individuals are not named but findings are made available if they are deemed significant to the public.
Each file also starts from scratch, so situations that may have occurred earlier are ‘usually not relevant’ to present investigations, added MacDonald.
“There could have been an incident where an officer had a circumstance that leads to serious harm and the actions of the officer were completely justified, there could also be another incident with the same officer and different person where the actions aren’t justified,” he explained.
“Every case really must stand on its own.”
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