Whereas the Independent Investigations Office IIO is a necessary and appropriate mechanism for investigating serious and fatal police contacts in order to maintain public trust and confidence in the role of police; And whereas investigating serious and fatal police contacts is highly complex, requiring experienced investigators trained in investigative best practices, and equipped with a high-level understanding of police training and use-of-force tactics; And whereas serious and fatal contacts with police must be investigated in a clear, transparent and efficient manner: Therefore be it resolved that the provincial government be called upon to: i establish investigative standards for the IIO that are comparable with major case management and team commander standards, which are currently used in British Columbia when undertaking serious and complex police investigations; and ii develop a system whereby IIO investigators are accredited through the Team Commander Committee, to ensure that training and practices within the IIO are comparable to BC policing standards.
Ministry of Justice Government supports the commitment of the Independent Investigations Office IIO to establish a standardization process for IIO investigators to ensure best practices are used to conduct competent, thorough and independent investigations of police incidents. The IIO follows the major case management model in its investigations, which is the model used by other B.C. police agencies to manage investigations of serious crimes. The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is developing BC Provincial Policing Standards BCPPS for major case management. Work to date has included consultation with the IIO in addition to subject matter experts from the RCMP and municipal police forces, provincial and federal Crown counsel, and the provincial Advisory Committee on Provincial Policing Standards. The Ministry intends to apply the same standards of training for Team Commanders, Primary Investigators and File Coordinators on critical incident investigations by the IIO, as will be required for all other police forces under the BCPPS.