Police complaints process is broken
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Published: October 01, 2009 1:00 PM
To the Editor,
The legislature has introduced revisions to the police complaint process that will do nothing to restore public confidence. Police complaints will still be investigated by other police, instead of civilians.
The system only allows for civilian “oversight,” which isn’t enough to ensure a fair investigation. Moreover, the people granted with oversight are too close to the police.
B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner is staffed by ex-cops like deputy police complaint commissioner Bruce Brown. The department is headed by Stan Lowe.
In theory Lowe and Brown are accountable only to the legislature. But since the legislature doesn’t review their work for fairness, they’re really accountable to no one.
Greg Klein,
Vancouver
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