Skip to main content

B.C. police watchdog gets $2M funding boost to hire staff, cut investigation times

IIO BC
Share

After flagging a staff shortage and lengthy investigation times earlier this year, B.C.’s police watchdog says it’s catching up.

In recent months, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has hired 12 new investigators. Less than half of them are former police officers, said IIO chief civilian director Ron MacDonald.

“We’ve been able to solidify both the retention and recruitment of investigators here with increases in salaries to make us more competitive,” MacDonald told CTV News.

The province gave the IIO a $2 million budget lift for this fiscal year to fund 13 new positions, including seven in investigations.

The agency also received $500,000 to increase the average annual salary for investigators from roughly $90,000 to $110,000, MacDonald said.

“That is helping us meet the caseload,” he said, noting it has grown significantly in the past few years.

Investigation timelines have shrunk by about 40 per cent, shaving months off of investigations, which can take years.

"It has helped with the morale of the team,” MacDonald said.

“This year we've only had two resignations out of our investigative staff, which is the lowest number I think ever for this type of timeframe. So we're very encouraged by our current situation."

The IIO is working on filling five more positions.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Thieves steal 2 Warhol prints, damage others in Dutch gallery heist

Thieves blew open the door of an art gallery in the southern Netherlands and stole two works from a famous series of screen prints by American pop artist Andy Warhol and left two more badly damaged in the street as they fled the scene of the botched heist, the gallery owner said Friday.

Bird flu spreading faster than 2023 in the EU, data shows

Bird flu has been spreading faster in the European Union this season than a milder 2023, raising concerns of a repeat of previous crises that led to the deaths of tens of millions of poultry and renewing fears that it could expand to humans.

Stay Connected