Head of B.C.'s police watchdog pleads for more funds as caseload doubles

The head of B.C.'s independent police watchdog says his office is struggling to attract new investigators under the pressure of increased caseloads and restrictions on pay and overtime.

Independent Investigations Office (IIO) chief civilian director Ronald MacDonald told the CBC on Tuesday that six of the unit's 30 frontline officer positions are vacant at the moment.

"And we've discovered through the course of the last few investigators competitions that we've had that we are having real difficulty in attracting people who are successful in the competition to take an offer of a position," MacDonald said.

"And that comes down to salary and benefits."

'This effectively ties our hands'

The IIO released a public statement about the "significant resourcing difficulties" facing the organization following a weekend in which investigators were called to six incidents — including two police-related shootings.

The IIO was created as a civilian-led police watchdog in 2012 after the Braidwood Commission into the police-involved death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in 2007.

According to the IIO's latest annual report, the agency had a budget of $9.17 million in 2020-2021, down from $9.4 million in the previous year — a drop MacDonald attributed to a pandemic-related funding squeeze.

But he said the department's caseload over the past two years has effectively doubled as compared to the previous two years.

MacDonald said his officers are excluded employees of the B.C. Public Service whose salaries are tied to the Public Service Act.

That means they can't claim overtime — putting the IIO at a disadvantage when competing with police agencies to attract and retain employees.

IIO officers are expected to have some form of investigative experience, but that doesn't necessarily have to come from working as a police officer.

MacDonald said he would like to see the agency become an independent body of B.C.'s legislature, releasing the IIO from the constraints of the Public Service Act and underscoring its independence.

IIO officers conclude their investigations in one of three ways: issuing a media release; putting out a public report; or recommending charges to Crown counsel.

Government considering measures to support IIO 

MacDonald said B.C. Attorney General David Eby has been supportive of the IIO but, even so, the agency is not operating with the full complement of 30 frontline officers that has been approved in recent years.

"This effectively ties our hands in terms of what we can offer to staff who, like this past weekend, step up to get the job done," MacDonald said in the media release.

"I am tremendously proud of our team for how they conduct themselves and support each other during times of high workload, but more must be done to reflect their efforts."

In a written statement Tuesday afternoon, Eby said most sectors are facing labour shortages at the moment, and that's particularly challenging for a body like the IIO that requires a very specific set of qualifications.

Eby said he's considering temporarily lifting a restriction that prevents the watchdog from hiring people who have recent backgrounds in policing. That provision was previously lifted between June 2019 and July 2021 in an attempt to complete investigations more quickly.