Dear Editor,
Your editorial, [Transparent, accountable trust needed, Feb.26 Langley Views, Langley Advance] expresses concerns about transparency and accountability in the way investigations into police are conducted.
Those concerns should also apply to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
B.C.’s Police Act allows the OPCC to work in near secrecy and with zero accountability. So unless a case happens to get publicity, the public has no way of knowing how the OPCC handled it.
Take for example the case of Vancouver police constable Taylor Robinson who shoved a disabled woman to the sidewalk. Police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe’s November 2013 Notice of Public Hearing into Robinson indicates that Lowe didn’t order an investigation until 48 days after Robinson pushed his victim to the ground, 47 or 48 days after Vancouver Police Professional Standards found out, and 29 days after Lowe’s office found out.
Not mentioned by Lowe is a barrage of publicity that began when the media found out five days before Lowe finally ordered the investigation.
Any reforms to B.C.’s Police Act should start with Lowe’s office.
Greg Klein, Nanaimo
https://www.opcc.bc.ca/media/media_release_docs/2013-11-12_Media_Release_re_Robinson.pdf