The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) has initiated an external investigation into allegations of misconduct related to the Delta Police Department’s handling of a case involving the wife of Chief Constable Neil Dubord.
According a news release, the OPCC has assigned the Vancouver Police Department to look into how the DPD handled a recent complaint alleging Lorraine Dubord had assaulted another woman by spraying her with a garden hose outside the couple’s Centennial Beach home.
Richmond school teacher Kiran Sidhu alleges that on Tuesday, June 7, Lorraine Dubord sprayed her in the face after Sidhu climbed onto some rocks in front of the Dubords’ Centennial Beach home to avoid the rising tide as she made her way back to her car.
Sidhu filed a complaint with the Delta Police Department, which was later forwarded to the Surrey RCMP for review and, if necessary, further investigation after Sidhu informed the DPD she was not satisfied with the results.
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According to the release, the OPCC learned of the incident initially through media reports and requested additional information from the Delta Police Department, before subsequently receiving a misconduct complaint from “an affected person.”
After reviewing the complaint and responses provided by the DPD, the OPCC deemed the complaint admissible and assigned the Vancouver Police Department to carry out an external disciplinary conduct investigation into the matter.
The disciplinary conduct investigation will focus solely on whether any Delta police officer committed misconduct in the matter, and is entirely separate from the RCMP criminal investigation currently underway. (The OPCC has no role in criminal investigations.)
The OPCC has also forwarded a related service and policy complaint to the Delta Police Board regarding the adequacy of the department’s policies and procedures in handling matters where there is a real or perceived conflict of interest.
The board must advise the OPCC and the complainant of how the complaint was handled, including what course of action, if any, was taken, and must provide a summary of the results of any investigation or study.
The Police Complaint Commissioner cannot direct police boards to take any particular course of action regarding service or policy complaints, but may make recommendations.
Both the disciplinary misconduct investigation and the service and policy complaint will be conducted under the oversight of the OPCC.
The Police Complaint Commissioner is a civilian, independent Officer of the Legislature overseeing complaints, investigations and discipline involving municipal police in British Columbia.
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