The B.C. government is bringing in changes to its Police Act to improve governance and oversight of municipal police departments in the province.
The legislation, if passed, would expand the jurisdictions of B.C.’s two police watchdogs, the Independent Investigations Office and the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
The complaints commission would be able to start its own investigations looking into systemic problems it might see, and the new mandate would allow it to conduct its own investigations into police actions sooner.
The commission says in a news release that if the legislation passes, the changes will be an important step in improving oversight in the province.
Under the changes, serious actions of jail guards would fall under the jurisdiction of the Independent Investigations Office, which its director Ronald MacDonald says would enhance the appearance of such investigations.
Local governments would also be allowed to decide who their representative would be on their police board, unlike now where the mayor is automatically the chair.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, co-chair of the Victoria Esquimalt Police Board, said she had not yet studied the proposed legislation in detail but welcomed the suggestion of a new process for choosing the chair of police boards.
“That’s a really good thing because it allows boards to have somebody come forward who has significant time to invest in a police board rather than adding it onto a mayor’s workload,” she said.
Desjardins said the Victoria Esquimalt Police Board has always been a unique beast with two mayors at the table, and it has been pushing for that kind of change for years.
She said the board has been able to work around its unique challenges and has appointed a vice chair to carry some of the extra load the mayors can’t add to their plates.
Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said in a statement the Police Act changes are a “turning point in B.C.”
He said the changes create a policing system that is fair and responsive to the needs of our communities.
“We count on our police to respond in difficult situations to keep us safe and there are ongoing conversations on how to change policing to keep pace with a changing world, particularly for many Black, Indigenous and other people of minority communities who have had negative experiences with the police,” Farnworth said in a news release.
The changes arise from a report from the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act released in 2022 and from a Special Committee to Review the Police Complaints Process in 2019.
Much of the province is policed by RCMP, but there are more than a dozen local police forces that fall under the changes, including Surrey, which is transitioning to an independent force.
— With files from Andrew Duffy, Times Colonist
