Last week, the Province introduced a series of amendments to the Police Act, including changes to police governance and oversight that will impact police boards and municipalities. The Province has advised that these amendments represent phase one of a multi-phase process to review and reform BC’s policing legislation. Phase one, incorporating provincial priorities, is highlighted in this article.
In municipalities with an independent police service, the mayor will no longer be automatically designated to serve on and chair the local police board. Instead, council will now be tasked with appointing one of its members to act as the municipality’s representative on the police board. Members of the police board will now elect their chair and vice-chair every two years. The chair will act as a non-voting member of the police board.
There will be new requirements for police board members. Members will be mandated to complete training, as approved by the Director of Police Services, respecting their roles and responsibilities. It is unclear as to who will fund the required training. The Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General will also have the authority, through regulation, to establish a code of conduct for police board members. Legislation authorizes the Province to monitor and enforce compliance of the code of conduct.
Police boards will now be required to establish policies and procedures for handling, reviewing, and responding to complaints (consistent with any provincial guidelines), and to post these policies on a public police board website.
When a police board delivers its provisional budget to the municipality, the council (or police board) must notify the Director of Police Services on May 15 of any unapproved budget items, and the Director will make a final determination. While provisions already exist for police boards and municipalities to make these appeals, the addition of the May 15 deadline is a new caveat, adding to the authority held by an unelected provincial representative (Director of Police Services) over municipal matters and budgets. These changes also highlight the need to improve transparency and accountability with respect to provincial processes that impact local governments and other policing stakeholders.
The Province is also creating a new class of safety officer that can be employed by municipalities to perform detention guard duties. This change was made to address the fact that many detention guards currently working for BC police agencies are not subject to independent oversight. The Province will require an oversight structure that will be the responsibility of local governments. New provisions will allow the Province to establish other classes of safety officers, with prescribed functions, qualifications, and duties, that can fill various roles along the public safety continuum.
Other notable changes included in Bill 17 – Police Amendment Act, include:
- Adding to the definition of misconduct, to include jokes, gestures, and discriminatory language. These changes are in alignment with the BC Human Rights Code.
- New powers for the Police Complaint Commissioner, including more flexibility to arrange public hearings; the authority to study or investigate systemic issues; and the ability to establish guidelines, to be followed by police services and members, related to reporting misconduct, the disclosure of information, confidentiality, and discipline proceedings.
- Creating a more convenient process to establish a Designated Policing Unit (DPU) or Designated Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU). The Province can now establish these Units by regulation. Existing DPUs and DLEUs include the Organized Crime Agency of BC and the Metro Vancouver Transit Police.
- Authority for the Minister to set out, through regulation, standards for the wearing of uniforms, insignia, badges, and symbols. Previously, a framework did not exist that allowed the Province to determine whether a symbol, insignia, badge, or uniform design was appropriate for officers to wear while on duty.
- Changes to liability, reflecting that the Province and municipalities are liable, and not joint and severally liable. There is also clarification that the Province is liable for municipal constables who have been directed by the Minister to act outside the municipality where they normally work.
The Province has advised that these amendments respond to recommendations made by the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act (2022), and Special Committee to Review the Police Complaints Process (2019). While many of the changes focus on independent police agencies, there are amendments that impact all local governments, including those policed by the RCMP.
The Police Act provides the framework for the delivery of policing services in BC, including responsibilities assigned to local governments and the Province. In 2020, the Province announced its intent to review the Police Act, subsequently creating the all-party Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act (SCRPA). The Province, in 2022, also created the Local Government Policing Modernization Roundtable (LGPMR), a mechanism for local governments to provide input throughout the Police Act and public safety review and reforms.
While the fifteen-member LGPMR was consulted as part of the Province’s work to implement the changes included as part of Bill 17, the legislative amendments introduced last week respond to the Province’s priorities. The Roundtable continues to request that broader issues, including those identified by UBCM and the Roundtable, be prioritized. These local government priorities include issues such as the need to develop of an equitable police funding model (SCRPA recommendation #6), importance of provincial funding and resourcing for a continuum of response to complex social issues (SCRPA recommendation #4), and the need to ensure greater local representation on police boards.
It is expected that local government issues and priorities will be addressed during phase two of the Province’s legislative review. As part of this phase of work, the Province has committed to ongoing consultation with local governments, including work to co-develop any new legislation that would replace the Police Act.
Phase one amendments to the Police Act (Bill 17) received first reading on April 4, 2024.