For all its grandstanding, does B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner have the will or the ability to oversee all those Abbotsford investigations?
The OPCC works in near secrecy and with zero accountability. From what little is publicly known about the agency, it tends to make facile decisions that favour the police. We can only wonder about incidents that get no publicity.
Consider 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 (https://www.opcc.bc.ca/media/media_release_docs/2013-11-12_Media_Release_re_Robinson.pdf) 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. It was five days later that Lowe finally ordered the investigation.
These guys are going to oversee investigations into 17 Abbotsford officers?
Greg Klein
Nanaimo
