‘I’m worried’: Head of B.C.’s police watchdog says staffing levels critical | 24CA News
Staff and assets on the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) are stretched so skinny that necessary instances are taking longer than they need to to be resolved.
“We’re supposed to have 30 front-line investigators to deal with the caseload that was around in 2017, 2018. We only have 19 front-line investigators right now and our caseload is almost doubled,” Ron MacDonald, chief civilian director on the IIO instructed Global News.
The IIO investigates police-related incidents leading to demise or critical hurt to find out whether or not any officer might have dedicated an offence.
It not too long ago confronted criticism for being one of many companies that took six years to suggest fees in opposition to 5 B.C. RCMP officers following the demise of Indigenous man Dale Culver in Prince George, B.C., in 2017.
“If I had my way, I would prefer to have about 36 front-line investigators and some additional staff on top of that,” MacDonald mentioned. “So actually, we’re nearly in that sense at half power, coping with twice as many instances.
And our persons are run off their toes. They’re exhausted. Some are on the level of breakout burnout. I’m really fairly nervous about their welfare. And the impression is that our instances are taking no less than 50 per cent longer to get accomplished. None of that is the way in which it needs to be.
“So right now, I consider the situation to be quite dire because I’m worried that we might lose further investigators due to the current situation.”
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MacDonald mentioned he is aware of the devastation that lengthy wait occasions have on folks’s households and pals.
He mentioned he has proposed options to the federal government however has not but obtained any last responses.
Niki Sharma, B.C.’s Attorney General, mentioned Monday that the staffing challenges on the IIO are points the federal government is taking “very seriously.”
“Six years is too long to finish an investigation so we need to come up with solutions for that,” she mentioned.
Currently, any former law enforcement officials can’t be employed on the IIO till after 5 years have elapsed since they left policing.
Sharma mentioned flexibility is likely one of the points they’re inspecting.
She mentioned she will probably be assembly with MacDonald quickly.
“Clearly it’s a serious issue and you can see how important the investigation office is when it comes to tragic issues that happen,” Sharma added.
MacDonald mentioned one of many largest points in the intervening time is the compensation construction.
“Currently, our base pay is at least 15 per cent lower than competitive positions and we don’t pay overtime. And I need to stress that we don’t pay overtime to people who get called down at all hours of the day and night to go to respond to these cases. So their overall compensation rate is much lower than competitive positions.”
He added that with the extraordinarily excessive workload, he would really like to have the ability to rent former law enforcement officials lower than 5 years off the job however he can’t.
“So the compensation structure, the limitations on those types of people I can hire are key, key problems right now,” MacDonald mentioned. “And we need those to be fixed.”
MacDonald mentioned if the IIO just isn’t in a position to reply to instances in a well timed manner, he is aware of the general public goes to lose religion in what they do.”
“My greatest fear is that we’re not going to be able to do our job at all,” he mentioned. “I fear that we could get to a situation where we can’t respond to a new case. Right now, our goal has always been, since my arrival here in 2017 to conduct thorough, objective and timely investigations.
“We’re not conducting timely investigations at this point in time and time. And this is a critical, important part of oversight.”
— with information from Rumina Daya
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
