B.C. police watchdog's report notes suicides post arrest, lack of body cameras

The annual report from British Columbia's police watchdog agency highlights several concerns about policing in the province, including suicides after arrests by RCMP and the lack of body cameras worn by officers.

The 2015-2016 report from the Independent Investigations Office also says some officers are failing to follow so-called duty-to-account guidelines, delaying writing reports about officer-involved shootings or in-custody deaths.

The IIO said it investigated allegations made against RCMP officers that they failed to take action to protect six people they arrested or questioned over sex-related offences who later killed themselves.

In five of the six cases, the report says investigators found insufficient evidence for a connection between police and the suicide, and in the last case there was no reason to believe officers committed any offence.

"However, after inquiry with the RCMP, it did not appear that there were any RCMP-specific policies or protocols which outlines guidelines, procedures or strategies towards minimizing the risk of suicide under these circumstances," the report said.

With six deaths over less that two years, the IIO report said it asked the RCMP complaints commission and the Mounties to examine procedures for releasing people from custody who may be at risk of suicide.

Command staff at RCMP's B.C. headquarters have responded to the IIO request, saying it will review officer training to identify someone who may be at risk.

Body cameras would assist investigations

The report also says IIO staff reviewed 71 investigations and found that footage from body-worn cameras would have potentially assisted in resolving 93 per cent of the cases.

A special legislative committee addressed the issue of body-worn cameras by officers to assist IIO investigations and recommended the provincial government aggressively pursue the steps necessary to implement the police use of the cameras.

In the event of a death or series injury, officers involved are required by all police agencies in the province to prepare a duty-to-account report, telling investigators what happened.

But an IIO audit identified multiple instances where officers failed the write a timely account, the report says.

"In fact, in a recent adjudication, it was reported that a municipal police agency allowed a subject officer to defer the writing of a timely duty-to-account because the officer hadn't been permitted to view a video of the incident."

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The IIO says its lawyers sent letters to four police agencies in the province asking for information to determine if their officers failed to follow the policy.

The report also says there have been several incidents, including some it is investigating, where it appears officers may have rushed into an incident instead of attempting to contain or isolate the affected person while evaluating potential options.

The agency also complains of encountering systemic problems in getting investigative information.

Its statistics show it took an average of a year to investigate and refer files to Crown counsel, with reports slowed by delays for ballistics, autopsy and toxicology reports.

"While the IIO is exploring alternative sources for these third-party reports, the length of time these reports take contributes to delays in the IIO caseload."

The report says the issue needs to be resolved by either improving evaluation by the RCMP Forensic Assessment Centre, or finding an alternative process for scientific evaluation of evidence.

The agency was launched in 2012 after separate inquiries into the police-involved deaths of Frank Paul and Robert Dziekanski recommended an independent office to investigate such deaths.