Overloaded and underfunded: B.C.'s police watchdog calls for funding as investigations slow
B.C.’s police watchdog says its investigations are taking too long, as its short-staffed team struggles to keep up with a growing workload.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) has taken on nine new cases since the beginning of April, putting its total number of open cases to 86.
"I’m really concerned about the IIO's abilities to continue to do the job going forward," chief civilian director Ron MacDonald told CTV News.
Several new cases came in over the weekend, including a man’s death in Campbell River, following a shootout with RCMP. MacDonald said he had to call in investigators who were off work in order to adequately respond to the weekend incidents.
"We’ve handled it by the good will and effort of my team," he said.
But, good will can only go so far, he added.
The IIO is funded for 30 frontline investigators, but currently only has 24.
"The way [a staff shortage] can affect investigations is that we wouldn’t have enough people to respond to a case and that would be nearly disastrous," he said.
Ideally, he said shooting investigations would wrap in nine months, while all other cases would close in six. Many of the IIO’s cases have been open for far longer than that.
"We’re underpaying [investigators]," MacDonald said. "It’s hard to keep people because of that; it’s hard to attract people. Bottom line is it’s just not fair."
NEXT STEPS
The head of the IIO has requested that the organization not be bound to provincial salary guidelines, which he says limits how much it can pay staff, and doesn't allow for overtime pay.
B.C.’s Public Service Agency denied that request, MacDonald said.
He’s also asking the province for an additional $2.9 million annually, on top of the office’s $9.1 million budget.
The goal of both requests is to grow the frontline team to 40 investigators, with salaries that can compete with those of police constables.
"The gap is tens of thousands of dollars," MacDonald said.
B.C.'s attorney general says he wants to help find a solution.
"I don’t want to prejudge what those solutions will be, but we will work with the IIO to make sure that they have the resources they need to get the job done," said David Eby in an interview with CTV in March.
"The IIO does need the resources to do these investigations and we do demand a very high standard of investigation from them," he said.
Eby said that while it's worth considering allowing the IIO to hire former police officers, he’s reluctant to do that, noting the watchdog’s strength is being civilian-run.
"If we have to go there we will," he said. "There’s a limited group of people that have… the skills to do a thorough investigation if they’re not former police officers."
Even with a bigger pool of potential applicants, MacDonald said the IIO still couldn’t offer competitive salaries in its current state.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
BREAKING Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames the government
A funeral director in St. John's says the bodies piling up in freezers at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.