B.C. police misconduct allegations that have been substantiated now available in public database
Discipline Decisions Digest shows substantiated police misconduct allegations and the associated discipline
Police misconduct allegations are now viewable to the public online.
One of B.C.'s police watchdogs—the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC)—has launched the Discipline Decisions Digest, a public database that shows substantiated allegations of misconduct against police officers and corresponding disciplinary measures.
"Transparency is a fundamental pillar for police accountability and enhancing public confidence in policing," said Prabhu Rajan in a statement from the OPCC.
The organization defines substantiated allegations as proven allegations.
It will include information from the 12 municipal police departments that fall under the OPCC's jurisdiction, as well as the Metro Vancouver Transit Police, the Stl'atl'imx Tribal Police Service, and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit B.C.
The database does not include the names of individual officers associated with the allegations but displays which police department they belong to.
The statement says the digest is intended for members of the public and media to use for informational purposes.
It says it is also intended to increase consistency in disciplinary measures: it could be used by those making discipline decisions, such as police complaint commissioners or municipal police boards, to review similar allegations and corresponding discipline measures.
Officers not named
Jerome Igbokwe, an articling student with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, says the database will likely help keep decisions consistent.
"You don't want to arrive at a decision that is substantially different from what you've seen happen over time," he said.
Igbokwe says while the digest is a step in the right direction, more still needs to be done to increase transparency.
Specifically, he says the digest should attach the names of police officers to the misconduct — similar to how the names of doctors and lawyers in B.C. are publicly attached to findings of misconduct.
"When you interact with a police officer who has a history of a particular misconduct, you take extra steps," said Igbokwe.
"It builds on the trust that society has."
He also says that including names in the database could influence future behaviour.
"If you know that your name is out there, it helps you act better," he said.
The OPCC said in a statement to CBC that the range of seriousness of misconduct varies widely, and naming can have significant impacts on the officer and their family.
"We are of the view that the public interest is not necessarily served by routinely naming individual police officers who have committed misconduct," it said.
"The public interest and public confidence in policing are better served with understanding what happened and what was done about it rather than the identity of the person who did it."