News and Comment : B.C. OPCC, Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, IIO, Independent Investigations Office

hits counter

The following posts, about police accountability in B.C.,
have also been sorted by topics listed in the menu above.

No need indeed
to heed Kash Heed

His clueless comments about fellow failure Garry Begg
beg questions about Kash’s credibility. More…

Nobody becomes
B.C. solicitor general

Like the last nobody, Nina Krieger
will have to do as she’s told. More…

A B.C. perspective on
Paul Palango’s RCMP exposé

This province could have written the federal/Nova Scotia
Mass Casualty Commission playbook. More…

Canada’s broken police force,
corrupt elite and media courtiers

Anatomy of a Cover-up: The Truth about the RCMP
and the Nova Scotia Massacres, written by Paul Palango.
More…

B.C.’s latest solicitor general:
Garry Begg

What better candidate for a cop-stooge job
than a proven cop stooge who’s also an ex-cop? More…

Cop-on-cop “investigations”:
They’re not even investigations

The nine-year Myles Gray outrage exposes a system supported
by B.C.’s NDP, Liberals/United, Greens, Conservatives,
BCCLA and Pivot—not to mention cops. More…

Meet the new OPCC boss:
Prabhu Rajan

Meanwhile Mike Farnworth keeps stalling
on his vague—and weird—Police Act changes.
More…

Maybe this is why
social justice phonies
oppose police body cameras

Myles Gray’s death shows the citizens’ case
but George Floyd’s death shows the cops’ case.
Watch this…

What does BC United leader Kevin Falcon say
about MLA and former RCMP top cop Mike Morris’
responsibility in the multi-year cover-up
of Prince George RCMP sexual misconduct?

Nothing…

Myles Gray:
The coroner’s inquest changes nothing

B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth plans to evade
police accountability by manipulating identity politics. More…

Local MLAs aided the
Prince George RCMP cover-up

Dan Davies, Shirley Bond and Mike Morris blocked
civilian investigation of rape allegations against police. More…

Read it there first

Three months before the Vancouver Sun and Province,
the Toronto Star reported new revelations about
the RCMP cover-up of rape allegations
against Prince George RCMP. More…

A study by the Toronto-based Globe and Mail finds
B.C. cops rank last in Canada for co-operation
with oversight agencies. More…

More than any B.C. media the Globe and Mail advocates
police accountability—especially for B.C. More…

Farnworth flips
the race card at natives

B.C.’s solicitor general knows how to protect
cops by manipulating inarticulate anger. More…

Sexual misconduct and rape:
Cops cover up for cops

Where’s Farnworth? Where’s Eby?
Where are the media and SJWs? More…

RCMP cover up rape allegations
against Prince George Mounties

The supposed whistleblowers are part of the problem.
So are the media, not to mention B.C.’s legislature,
legal establishment and SJWs. More…

What’s wrong with the
Wong/Tong guilt-mongering?

Lots more people owe natives an apology.
Among them is B.C. human rights commissioner
Kasari Govender. More…

Decolonizing corruption

B.C. wants to retain cop cover-ups, but with
native participation under a confused, weird
and racially exclusive Police Act. More…

At last, a (partial) advocate
for police accountability

But the B.C. Human Rights Commission emphasizes
identity politics at the cost of some issues
—and some people. More…

Does B.C. have any place for
Richard Rosenthal’s expertise?

The former IIO director studied here,
farms here, fights fires here but takes his police
accountability work across the border. More…

That OPCC cliche “unsubstantiated”
once again looks unsupportable

Another cryptic incident shows cops need citizen investigation
and the OPCC needs transparency and accountability. More…

Finally, a clear statement
from the BCCLA’s Harsha Walia

Except that she quickly claimed it meant something other
than what it meant. She lost her job anyway. More…

Cops’ dogs’ lives matter more

Campbell River RCMP shot and killed a man after he stabbed their dog.
Then they held a funeral procession for the dog. More…

Just how corrupt is B.C.?

It’s so bad that Sam Cooper will have to update
Wilful Blindness by about year-end. More…

B.C. Police Act reform:
What MLAs don’t want to know

Another legislative committee will likely evade
the problem of OPCC secrecy and immunity. More…

Rollie Woods
heightens his hypocrisy

The liar and corrupt cop-turned-liar and corrupt
ex-cop comments on cop corruption. More…

The Myles Gray decision

Vancouver police demonstrate the need
for body cameras. And seven more cops prove
themselves unfit for duty. More...

An open letter to the
Union of British Columbia
Indian Chiefs and the
B.C. Civil Liberties Association

Police cover-ups are more common than you might realize.
But you’re uniquely positioned to address the problem. More...

The cop status quo matters

B.C. stands ready to manipulate identity politics
to support OPCC corruption. More...

Three principles drive
Adam Olsen’s career

He opposes police accountability, sells out natives and
lacks environmental commitment. But the Green MLA
stands firm on his pay, perks and pension. More...

Just following orders

Some reflections on how B.C.’s arrogant but subservient
political culture props up corrupt institutions. More...

The cop status quo stands,
thanks to five self-serving MLAs

Another sham legislative committee entrenches
the OPCC’s lack of transparency and accountability. More...

Cop-friendly Crown attorneys
show the IIO who’s boss

A Mountie gets away with shooting
an unarmed man nine times, thanks to
weak legislation and weakling “activists.”
More...

A newly proactive OPCC?

Whether it reflects a PR ploy or genuine reform,
B.C.’s police complaint commissioner now orders
investigations on his own initiative. More...

Cops covering up for cops,
with OPCC collusion

That was standard procedure under the Stan Lowe-Rollie Woods
regime. Here’s new police complaint commissioner
Clayton Pecknold’s initial response to three cases. More…

Rollie Woods’ legacy

He encouraged people to hate cops.
But his departure, like that of Stan Lowe,
relieves the OPCC of considerable baggage. More…

Rigged input, predictable output

A legislative committee will likely recommend
“arm’s-length” investigation of cops and distinct
consideration for natives. But expect the MLAs
to ignore the OPCC’s lack of transparency
and accountability. More…

Does ‘institutional knowledge’
refer to the OPCC as well as
Vancouver police?

A lawyer says Vancouver cop Jim Fisher got away with
sexual misconduct towards vulnerable women and girls
despite “institutional knowledge.” More…

Such is B.C. journalism

The Victoria Times Colonist celebrates
Stan Lowe’s disgraceful decade as
police complaint commissioner. More…

Looks like yet another two
Stan Lowe/OPCC cover-ups

The case of Saanich cop Brent Wray shows
additional evidence of corruption at B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More…

How and why was B.C.’s new
police complaint commissioner chosen?

Alone of B.C.’s media, Georgia Straight editor
Charlie Smith questions Clayton Pecknold’s appointment:

Should three ex-cops be on five-member committee
recommending new police complaint commissioner? More…

Acting legislature clerk refuses to divulge demographic info
about B.C. police complaints commissioner applicants. More…

The OPCC’s cop-friendly tradition
continues with its fourth cop-friendly boss

Clayton Pecknold welcomed as B.C.’s
new police-compliant commissioner. More…

Just another political party

Green MLA Adam Olsen joins the B.C.
establishment on police accountability. More…

Living up to his name

Stan Lowe leaves a legacy of corruption
that taints B.C. politics, public agencies,
media and supposed “activists.” More…

Spin, smear and serve
to a compliant media

By shifting blame for his Frank Elsner cover-up,
police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe
tries to revise his disgraceful record. More…

This guy is the Vancouver Sun’s
legislative columnist?

Vaughn Palmer can’t support his claim that
Stan Lowe “has done a good job.” But no amount
of contrary evidence will change his mind. More…

Cops’ lives matter more

But some cops’ lives matter
more than other cops’ lives. More…

Skeletons in the OPCC closet
put the corrupt agency in
a conflict of interest

Another investigation into New Westminster cop Sukhwinder “Vinnie” Singh Dosanjh
might bring to light the shortcomings of the last ones. Holding power to interfere,
Stan Lowe’s crooked crew can prevent that from happening. More…

Frank Elsner gets off thanks to Stan Lowe

But the guy who gets off easiest is B.C.’s
corrupt police complaint commissioner. More…

More evidence of OPCC cover-ups

They come in the form of continued lies from
deputy police complaint commissioner Rollie Woods. More…

Looks like another OPCC cover-up

Police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe waited four months
before calling an investigation into Victoria chief Frank Elsner.
But Lowe didn’t wait long once the media found out. More…

All hail Tom Stamatakis

Stakeholders respond as new director appointed
to B.C. Independent Investigations Office. More…

Let’s hope we haven’t heard
the last of Richard Rosenthal

The former IIO director’s our best hope for a prominent advocate.
Meanwhile cop interests might fill the IIO vacancy with a cop lapdog.
More...

The B.C. media: Courtiers to the corrupt

It takes a wide-ranging support network to prop up an organization as
obviously corrupt as B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
Among the collaborators, if only through incompetence or gutlessness,
are B.C. journalists. More…

When police rape, can Stan Lowe
be trusted to oversee investigations?

Those are among the powers granted to B.C.’s police complaint
commissioner. But he colluded with Vancouver cops to cover up
gratuitous violence against a disabled woman. More…

Who’s behind the campaign against
B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office?

Cops, ex-cops and cop-friendly IIO insiders actively oppose
police accountability. And they have the media’s ear. More…

“Why is it still almost impossible
to fire bad cops?”

The National Post recognizes a problem, but maybe not the cause
— which is probably an exceptionally powerful police lobby. More…

Gloating Ontario ex-cop thanks police
for three-year paid suspension

Lots more cops owe B.C. police complaint commissioner
Stan Lowe gratitude for his cop-friendly corruption. More…

The Straight sides with the establishment

Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith still treats OPCC liar Rollie Woods as a
credible source. Meanwhile, his paper has barred me from commenting. More…

The OPCC/VPD Taylor Robinson cover-up:
Stan Lowe’s OPCC responds

Two vague, obfuscatory and dishonest denials constitute the only defence
from B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More…

Has the Georgia Straight gone
lamestream on police accountability?

The paper let B.C.’s deputy police complaint commissioner get away
with lying and passed up opportunities to ask questions about the
Taylor Robinson cover-up. More…

Stan Lowe reappointed
B.C. police complaint commissioner

No surprise there, given the way B.C.’s establishment consistently thwarts
police accountability. So was Lowe’s sinecure renewed despite, or because of,
his disreputable conduct? More…

Mounties sting Mountie

Ken Kenrick Whitney proved himself too odious even for the RCMP.
For a cop, that must be the ultimate disgrace. More…

Killer Kwesi Millington found guilty

It took seven years but one member of the RCMP’s Robert Dziekanski
death squad has finally been convicted—of perjury, however, not manslaughter.
Even for that we should be relieved that Millington’s staunchest supporter,
B.C. police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe, had no part in the decision. More…

Corrupt cop oversight agency to oversee
investigations into cop corruption

Even if they wanted to, could Stan Lowe and his crew
handle the Abbotsford allegations competently? More…

Does Vancouver police disinterest
encourage property crime?

Vancouver cops suggest to criminals—“stupidly,” a repeat victim says—
“Hey, guys! Here’s a bunch of crimes we basically don’t investigate.” More…

An investigation into B.C.’s
Independent Investigations Office

Are cops behind the IIO dissension? And who’s going to conduct
this investigation—B.C.’s corrupt police complaint commissioner? More...

A poverty pimp who surpasses even
the BCCLA’s establishment ambitions

Pivot Legal Society lawyer Doug King lavishes praise on police complaint commissioner
Stan Lowe—who helped Vancouver cops cover up police brutality against King’s client. More…

An “informal investigation” or a cover-up?

Vancouver Police Professional Standards and B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner have questions
to answer regarding VPD constable Taylor Robinson. More…

IIO’s appointed civilian monitor
downplays key faults with IIO’s investigation

The RCMP shot Gregory Matters in the back, not in the chest
as IIO director Richard Rosenthal claimed. Why did Rosenthal’s
appointee let him off the hook? More...

B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office
screws up its first case

The fiasco was so obvious even the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and
Pivot Legal Society establishment wannabes spoke up. But unlike
police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe, IIO director Richard Rosenthal
isn’t part of B.C.’s legal establishment. More...

Canadian cops resorting to tactics of war

A retired army major decries the “steady escalation
of military manoeuvres by police forces in our society.” More...

B.C. MLAs hold inquiry into the
Independent Investigations Office

A legislative committee hears civilian investigators and ex-cops
clash at the IIO. But don’t expect much from MLAs or the media. More...

B.C. Independent Investigations Office
orders Greg Matters review

IIO director Richard Rosenthal changes course
after ex-employee criticizes the agency’s investigation. More...

IIO chief under fire

B.C. Independent Investigations Office director Richard Rosenthal
faces internal revolt, criticism over Greg Matters case. More...

What’s the Pivot Legal Society saying
about the Taylor Robinson case?

Evidence indicates a cover-up by the Office of the Police
Complaint Commissioner. But if not, additional questions arise. More…

Just how powerful are private police?

Somebody has given Genesis Security extraordinary powers that it can’t handle
and doesn’t have to answer for. How widespread is this problem? More…

Will anyone scrutinize this OPCC/VPD cover-up?

Some questions arise as the public hearing into Vancouver
police constable Taylor Robinson (supposedly) approaches. More…

B.C.’s OPCC rules
on witness tampering

B.C. police complaint commissioner Stan T. Lowe and his
deputy Rollie Woods actually approve of the process. More…

B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint
Commissioner abuses the Police Act

The OPCC refuses to order an investigation into the Vancouver police
Taylor Robinson cover-up—in which the OPCC colluded. More…

Law Society of British Columbia supports
corrupt lawyer Stanley Thomas Lowe

With arrogance matching her dishonesty,
Law Society liar Beverly Gallagher ignores evidence
against B.C.’s disgraceful police complaint commissioner. More…

Two textbook cases of OPCC corruption:

The OPCC cover-ups of Vancouver police constable Taylor Robinson
and New Westminster officer Sukhwinder “Vinnie” Singh Dosanjh. More…

A question Stan Lowe won’t answer

Why did B.C.’s police complaint commissioner stay silent about
Vancouver cop Taylor Robinson shoving a disabled woman to the ground? More...

A contradiction further exposes
the OPCC whitewash

The legislative committee’s final report confirms seven MLAs deliberately
blocked public input from their sham inquiry into police complaints. More...

BC Liberal MLA Gordon Hogg’s hypocrisy
about “fiduciary duty”

He spurned his duty to act on OPCC corruption. But to save his political skin
Hogg calls for an inquiry into a much lesser scandal. More...

Crown lets cops get away with
Tasering and assaulting 74-year-old

B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office has to depend on the
same police-friendly prosecutors. That’s the way the BC Liberals,
NDP and BCCLA want it. More...

MLAs Murray Coell and
Kathy Corrigan lie to the media

Such is their determination to whitewash B.C.’s Office of the Police
Complaint Commissioner that they resort to obvious dishonesty. More...

Police interests welcomed
but public input ignored

B.C.’s auditor general and seven MLAs set out to whitewash
the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
But they inadvertently confirmed the OPCC lacks
transparency and accountability. More...

SkyTrain police lose bomb
on Air Canada passenger plane

One more reason to disband Vancouver’s
dishonest, dangerously dumb transit cops. More...

Read about cowardly SkyTrain cops hiding from danger here and here.

This BCCLA lie has legs

Media proliferate the B.C. Civil Liberties Association’s
disinformation about police accountability. More...

B.C.’s auditor general praises the OPCC.
But how was the audit conducted?

The auditor general and a committee of MLAs seem to have evaded public input
into the audit of B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

Lobbyist registrar investigating B.C. police chiefs

Secretive, unregistered police lobbyists use tax-funded resources
to push their cop agenda. More here and here.

Why do B.C.’s Ministry of Justice and Coroners Service
take part in a police lobby group? More…

Time to examine B.C.’s secretive OPCC

Legislative committee asked to call an inquiry
into the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

Four cases that show the dishonesty
of B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

Stan T. Lowe, Rollie Woods, Dirk Ryneveld and Bruce M. Brown are liars.
They lie obviously, complacently and arrogantly. More...

This OPCC cover-up was just temporary

Why did Stan T. Lowe and his crew of ex-cops
take so long to issue their 2011 annual report? More...

Right from the beginning,
Richard Rosenthal tainted the IIO

B.C.’s new police watchdog hired OPCC cop retreads
from Stan T. Lowe’s crooked crew of ex-cops. More...

More reason for cynicism
about the MLAs who will audit the OPCC

Another MLA committee sees nothing wrong with B.C.’s
conflict of interest commissioner being in a conflict of interest himself. More...

The RCMP’s ‘bad apples’ run the force

A heavy-handed police raid on the home of a dissident Mountie
shows powerful support for the RCMP’s most despicable characters. More...

An unprecedented blow
to B.C.’s police status quo

The CBC investigation into a consistently pro-police witness-for-hire
is the first real scrutiny the OPCC has ever had. More...

How far did Stan Lowe go
to clear the cop who killed Paul Boyd?

Eight gunshots were justified by the OPCC’s imported witness.
“He’s partisan, he’s paid for, he always testifies for the police officer
and he will always justify a shooting.” More...

Legislative committee to examine
B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

Will that mean long-overdue scrutiny or a whitewash
of this secretive, unaccountable agency? More...

Why did the OPCC delete
its archive of media releases?

Probably because Police Complaint Commissioner Stan T. Lowe
and his crew of ex-cops are covering up their cover-ups. More...

The Paul Boyd shooting:
Was Boyd’s behaviour provoked by a gun-wielding
undercover cop who didn’t identify himself?

“This evidence is public knowledge as it is part of the evidence
presented at the coroner’s inquest.” More...

Vann Hubbard inquest misses the point:
The problem is police recruiting

VPD Const. Estilize Wicks couldn’t handle the day shift at a 7/11.
But Vancouver police gave her a gun and a licence to kill. More...

Benjamin Montgomery Monty Robinson
just got a pay raise

RCMP salary increases apply to all Mounties, even the
convicted criminals who spend years on paid vacation. More...

Terror and trauma
in wake of revenue agency raid

RCMP and Revenue Canada target a family with tactics
of Communist secret police and home-invasion gangsters.
They might have been politically motivated. More...

Secrecy, dishonesty and zero accountability:
Yet another OPCC cover-up

New Westminster police constable Sukhwinder “Vinnie” Singh Dosanjh
benefited from the corruption of Stan T. Lowe and Rollie Woods
at B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

Last post

After having temporarily revived this project,
I’m once again wrapping it up. Thanks for reading...

B.C. is set to repeat Ontario’s mistakes,
but on a bigger scale

An investigation into Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit
shows the danger of attorney-general interference and the
importance of an Ombudsperson’s oversight. More...

An appeal to B.C.’s media:

Okay, you told us about
IIO chief Richard Rosenthal.
Now what about OPCC boss Stan Lowe?

In just five days, B.C.’s media gave the new guy much more
scrutiny than ever devoted to Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops.
But they have a lot to answer for, starting with their cover-up
of a VPD assault on a disabled woman. More...

Lowe integrity:
Police complaint commissioner
Stan T. Lowe and his deputy,
Rollie Woods, are corrupt

Their lies, cover-ups, breach of public trust
and support for gratuitous police violence
will bring them millions of dollars. More...

Welcome to Canada and the
Independent Investigations Office,
Richard Rosenthal

This job calls for an outsider.
Here’s hoping you’re the right one. More...

Dziekanski ‘justice’ delayed — again

Each of the cops gets a separate trial.
By the time Kwesi “Killer” Millington shows up in court
he’ll have benefited from six years of lies, delays, cover-ups,
delays, special treatment, delays, watered-down charges,
delays, delays and more delays. More...

So much for our official activists,
the B.C. Civil Liberties Association

The BCCLA co-operate with corrupt bigshots and support
the BC Liberal con job on police accountability. More...

A murder attempt notwithstanding,
inmate/ex-cop Peter Hodson
received special privileges

But the death of another inmate, Jeremy Phillips,
shows what regular cons can face in the prison system. More...

Ex-police complaint commissioner
Ryneveld gets another lucrative
government gig

Ironically, challenging an alleged gangster.
But Dirty Dirk’s a liar who lacks the integrity
to practise law. More...

Bus drivers face vicious beatings,
transit cops nowhere to be found

The Greater Vancouver transit police force
is a retirement perk for do-nothing double-dippers. More...

Chokehold Chong
— a twice-convicted violent criminal
and upstanding Victoria police officer

VicPD Sergeant George Chong committed his second assault
around the time his probation was ending for his first offence.
The judge said a civilian would have got prison time.
More (with video)...

Meet the new boss

Commissioner Bob Paulson won’t fix the RCMP.
Even if he wanted to try, Ottawa wouldn’t let him.
And by now, it’s probably too late. More...

The OPCC to the rescue?

Cop-cover-up king Stan Lowe and his corrupt crew of ex-cops
will review the cop-on-cop investigation into the cop shooting
of Alvin Wright. But maybe this time...

B.C.’s mainstream media
just can’t get it right

Once again the BC government fools
our fourth estate about police accountability. More...

For the second time in four days,
dozens of B.C. papers misrepresent the OPCC. More...

A green light to kill

Jeff Hughes’ death is an indictment
of callous, cowardly Canadian police. More...

Jim Chu
Vancouver police liar-in-chief

If this guy ever had any credibility, it’s shot now.
But no matter what happens, Chu has a secure job for life.
He’s a cop. More here, here and here.

In an especially desperate move, Chu and his platoon of PR flacks
blame the Stanley Cup riot on the media. More...

(For another example of Chu’s rampant dishonesty, read about
his response to the VPD killing of Michael Vann Hubbard here.)

‘Attorney General Shirley Bond’

Four words that question the independence of a key ministry. More...

Defeating justice with power

Do cop lobbyists account for the BC Liberal/NDP coalition
against police accountability? More...

Police ‘accountability’:
The cops are still in control

In keeping with longstanding OPCC practice,
former B.C. police are heavily involved in creating
the Independent Investigations Office. More...

Read the B.C. Civil Liberties Association press release here...

Right from the beginning, the IIO is tainted
with the OPCC’s corruption and cop cronyism. More...

PRIMECorp’s defamation database

B.C. police use false info to smear people.
The operation’s run by Russell Sanderson,
a proven liar and disgraced ex-cop. More...

Fusion Security guards sued for handcuffing
and beating low-income people

Despite credible evidence of ongoing violence,
Vancouver police refused to lay charges — as usual. More...

Equality before the law? Not with the VPD

Vancouver police treat people according to their
power and social status, a cop admits. More...

Thomas Braidwood sells out

His support notwithstanding, B.C.’s
new Independent Investigations Office
isn’t what he recommended. More...

The B.C. Liberals’ handling of this issue shows they can now
pass off any odious policy with political aplomb. More...

Richard Peck sidesteps the central issue

The Dziekanski death squad will be charged with perjury, not manslaughter.
Among other things, that lets Stan Lowe off the hook. More...

The BCCLA’s establishment ambitions
compromise its stance on police accountability

Cops make relatively easy targets but no one in B.C.
criticizes the OPCC — at least no one with any aspirations
as a politician, Crown attorney or mainstream journalist. More...

The BCCLA co-operate with corrupt bigshots and support
the BC Liberal con job on police accountability. More...

Rehabilitating Rollie Woods (II)

A media puff piece praises the latest corrupt ex-cop
to be named B.C.’s deputy police complaint commissioner. More...

A few final (and marginal) notes

Political involvement is for designated victims, special interest groups
and powerful individuals. The rest of us get marginalized. More...

The Buddy Tavares assault:
Protests speak louder than words

It was just another routine kick in the face
but someone caught it on video. Now a planned
demonstration has Kelowna Mounties worried. More...

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (VI)

You won’t read this in B.C.’s mainstream media.
And that’s part of the reason we’ll never have
effective police oversight. More...

Mike Farnworth’s hypocrisy on police accountability

The would-be NDP leader attended a fundraiser for Zofia Cisowski
after implicitly supporting the Mounties involved in the death of her son,
Robert Dziekanski. More here and here.

The glacial pace of calling cops to account

Over 18 months after a judge called him a liar,
now-retired RCMP Staff Sgt. Ross Spenard
finally faces perjury charges. More...

More about this misleading Mountie’s misdeeds
here and here.

The case dragged on long enough for Spenard to retire.
When he finally got convicted, a judge let him off easy. More...

Refuting the fallacies

Here’s some clarification to counter
misinformation about police accountability. More...

What part did the RCMP play
in the BC Rail outrage?

The government sells a public railway to a company
led by an associate of the premier, the Crown prosecutes
two small-time hacks and the government suddenly pays
$6 million to stop their trial, which resulted from an investigation
by a cop with BC Liberal connections — who follows up with
unreasonable demands to a defence lawyer. Details of an
especially big scandal are bursting out of the blogosphere. More...

Drugs, guns and the latest RCMP scandal

Yet another really stinking Mountie mess proves a few points:
Cops can’t be trusted to investigate cops.
Lawsuits, onerous as they are, can bring results.
The media have a strong role to play in police accountability. More...

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (V):

Ontario’s SIU faces public criticism and a
second investigation by the provincial Ombudsman.
B.C.’s OPCC continues to escape scrutiny. More...

VPD Const. Taylor Robinson charged with assault
but the OPCC gang have questions to answer

Where was B.C.’s police ‘watchdog’ for six weeks
after the Vancouver police assault on a disabled woman? More...

Not fit to print?

B.C.’s media neglect some important problems
concerning police accountability. More...

Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops:
A major obstacle to police accountability

Download a leaflet here.

Time heals all things
— or so the police hope

Those inexcusably long cop-on-cop investigations
have to be a deliberate ploy to compromise justice. More...

The Yao Wei Wu verdict:
Anyone surprised?

An innocent man answers a 2 a.m. knock at the door
only to get a shit-kicking from two Vancouver cops.
A police investigation clears them. As a result, cops now
have more power than ever to beat people up. More...

The problem goes beyond biased investigations

William Davies’ report on Frank Paul’s death finds
B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch, Crown attorneys cosy with the cops.
The government wants to keep it that way. More...

Thanks to favourable treatment from prosecutors and courts,
cops walk free when civilians wouldn’t. More...

B.C. Crown attorneys won’t blow the whistle
on blatantly incompetent cop-on-cop investigations.
They say it’s not their job. More...

A Crown attorney presents ‘watered-down’ evidence
against violent Vancouver cop Darcy Taylor. More here and here.

Police-involved deaths:
The failure of self-investigation

Ontario has three times the population of B.C.
But B.C. has twice as many in-custody deaths and an
oversight agency that’s closely tied to the police it oversees.
More...

Another cop investigation
into another cop shooting
drags on to another year

Just what are police doing with the Jeff Hughes case
— other than proving, for the umpteenth time, that
police have no business investigating police? More...

It’s an airtight cover-up, but it still stinks.
Police say their trigger-happy colleague is innocent — period.
They flatly refuse to release even the most basic facts
about Jeff Hughes’ death. More...

A green light to kill: Jeff Hughes’ death
is an indictment of callous, cowardly Canadian police. More...

Who’s watching the police?

Ex-cops and cop culture prevail at the OPCC.
Will B.C.’s new police oversight agency be any different? More...

Fearless Coquitlam Mounties
show their para-military mettle
at a family’s Thanksgiving dinner

Screaming tough guys brandish weapons and order a family
face-down on the wet ground. As a woman tries to comfort
her 60-year-old mother, a cop sticks a gun at her head
and tells her to shut up. More...

Lack of confidence in police
undermines confidence in the law

B.C.’s new DUI rules give cops extra powers
that can’t be scrutinized in court — and at a time
when police hiring standards have plummeted. More...

The OPCC has a big problem
but it’s not money

No budget increase will fix B.C.’s system of police accountability
as long as Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops run the show. More...

What’s behind Chief Jim Chu’s proposal?

An expanded IIO could improve police accountability
or do the opposite, depending on what happens with the OPCC. More...

Private security guards in B.C.:
Your rights and their responsibilities

Some of the info’s available after all,
no thanks to the B.C. government. More...

The Mounties always get their money

Suspended RCMP officers get full salary and pay raises too
for three or more years while going through their
impossibly slow but highly remunerative review process.
More here and here.

Then, in the unlikely event that a Mountie is ever found guilty,
nothing much happens. More here and here.

So if getting caught is little deterrent, why shouldn’t a Mountie’s
under-age girlfriends post his misdeeds on Facebook? More...

Sue for your civil rights

Standing up to arrogant, abusive cops isn’t easy.
But Cameron Ward’s eight-year battle against Vancouver police
was a matter of principle — and necessity. More...

More about suing the cops here.

This cover-up has been another
VPD/OPCC co-production

Looks like the OPCC helped Vancouver cops cover up
an especially troubling assault. Yet the B.C. government wants
the OPCC to run the new Independent Investigation Office. More...

When you see them comin’,
better step aside

A disabled woman didn’t, and a rough, tough Vancouver cop
shoved her to the ground. The VPD cover-up lasted
six weeks, until the BCCLA released the video.
The OPCC won’t answer media inquiries.
Read about it here. Watch the video here.

Justice compromised, with OPCC approval

Cops drag out the seven-month-long Yao Wei Wu
police brutality investigation for another two months,
putting a lawsuit on hold. Stan Lowe and his crew approve. More...

More about the dubious investigation into the
Vancouver police beating of Yao Wei Wu here and here.

Sept. 20, 2010 update:
And another delay, with OPCC approval. More...

Oct. 5, 2010 update: The OPCC grants yet another delay.
“This case starkly illustrates why police
should not be investigating other police officers”
— and also why their investigations shouldn’t be
reviewed by ex-police officers. More...

Nov. 3, 2010 update:
The cops are cleared by other cops. Anyone surprised? More...

Welcome to the OPCC, Poulton and Collins.
You should feel right at home

The newest additions to Stan Lowe’s crew of ex-cops
help maintain the OPCC’s police culture. More...

Is special prosecutor Richard Peck
whitewashing ex-prosecutor Stan Lowe?

Lowe’s Dziekanski decision could get in the way
of his appointment to the IIO. Unless, maybe,
somebody comes up with some revisionist history. More...

May 4, 2011 update: Richard Peck has dragged out his Dziekanski review
for nearly a year. Meanwhile he supported the Criminal Justice Branch decision
to defend police misconduct in Frank Paul’s death. More...

May 6, 2011 update: Peck sidesteps the central issue,
charging the Dziekanski death squad with perjury, not manslaughter.
Among other things, that lets Stan Lowe off the hook. More...

Will the B.C. government defeat Braidwood’s purpose?

Against his recommendations, they might put
B.C.’s new police oversight agency under the jurisdiction
of Stan Lowe, Canada’s most outspoken supporter
of the Dziekanski death squad. More...

The province’s hesitation on a key Braidwood recommendation
— that the new Independent Investigation Office answer
to the ombudsperson — is “curious and worrying.” More...

Well, the government defeated Braidwood’s purpose alright
— with more than a little help from Braidwood himself. More...

The RCMP’s laughable new oversight agency:
Ottawa couldn’t get more cynical

Details are scarce but one big, big flaw has already emerged.
The agency can only make recommendations
which the Mounties and feds are free to ignore. More...

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (IV)

Ontario’s NDP criticizes the AG for
‘buckling under a very powerful police lobby.’
Meanwhile B.C.’s NDP, Liberals and cops
stand united against police accountability. More...

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (III)

A conflict between Ontario police and the SIU
contrasts with the very chummy relationship
between B.C. cops and the OPCC. More...

Kash out again

Our recently re-appointed top cop
heeds the call to re-resign. More...

Blunders, screw-ups and scandal:
Kash Heed graces politics with police experience. More...

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (II)

Without an ombudsperson’s strong oversight
B.C.’s police ‘watchdog’ will remain B.C.’s police lapdog.
More...

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (I)

Their system is a flawed work in progress
but it surpasses ours in three crucial areas. More...

Another Jamie Graham screw-up,
another formal complaint

Victoria’s blundering police chief
is a one-man make-work project for
B.C.’s useless police complaint system. More...

Peter Hodson and Vancouver police:
Just one bad apple?

Decisive action against a ‘rogue’ officer
proves the VPD’s commitment
to accountability. Or does it? More...

A murder attempt notwithstanding,
inmate/ex-cop Peter Hodson
received special privileges

But the death of another inmate, Jeremy Phillips,
shows what regular cons can face in the prison system. More...

Linda Bush addresses the issues sincerely.
But the RCMP?

Mounties will gladly accept legislative changes
as long as Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops
continue to run the show. More...

A typical solicitor general

Kash Heed claims he didn’t know
what was going on — standard procedure
for the minister in charge of cops and security guards.
More here and here.

Even more about our most recent ex-top cop here.

Police use unreliable stats
from an unreliable source

The OPCC cooks its books for cops,
who may have created the OPCC in the first place.
More...

Quesnel cops show their mettle

While one Mountie had him in her gunsights,
another bravely tackled him from behind.
And for good reason — the suspect was 49 years old,
90 pounds in weight, mentally handicapped and
armed with a big orange-and-silver plastic toy space gun
complete with flashing lights and Star Trek sound effects.
More...

The Dziekanski payout... What now?

The Mounties sound conciliatory
but they’re determined to keep their people
in control of the police complaint process. More...

B.C. moves further
from police accountability

New legislation will give the chief coroner
more power to do less about in-custody deaths. More...

Gratuitous violence in front of a crowd:
Imagine what the cops would have done
if no one was watching

Jacked-up, out-of-control cops will be investigated by
former colleagues of their police chief. The investigation will be
monitored by B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
How reassuring. More...

Watch the video here.

Kicking people ‘is what we’re trained to do,’
says Victoria’s police chief. That’s what cops did
to one victim who says he was seeking police help.
He also says they left him handcuffed face-down
on the ground for 40 minutes. More...

An RCMP PR coup

Canada’s top Mountie gets lots of media for a misleading message
that avoids some embarrassing questions —
like why he’s keeping a rapist on the payroll. More...

Rehabilitating Rollie Woods (I)

B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner might be
building a positive media image for this biased ex-cop
while it hires five more ex-cops just like him. More...

Stan Lowe is part of the problem
with our police complaints process

The system doesn’t work, it’s long needed reform
and B.C.’s police complaint commissioner is a
prime example of what’s wrong with it. More...

Some unintended consequences
of cops investigating cops

Police have no one to blame but themselves
when their self-serving system backfires. More...

Much ado about the RCMP

Media buzz notwithstanding,
proposals to make the Mounties more accountable
amount to almost nothing. Meanwhile B.C.’s biased
complaint system for municipal cops escapes media scrutiny.
More...

The police bond is stronger than shame

West Vancouver constable Griffin Gillan
disgraced all police by acting out
a vicious cop fantasy on an innocent man.
But police see no reason why he should lose his job.
More...

More on Griffin Gillan’s vicious cop fantasy
and the other police involved.

Griffin Gillan has a job for life
— luckily for him, because the vicious punk
probably couldn’t work anywhere else. More...

The shadowy world of private police

Few people know what B.C. security guards
legally can and can’t do. Their employers, regular police
and the solicitor general often don’t care. More...

Info about laws and regulations governing security guards
is available, no thanks to the B.C. government. More...

Unaccountable cops out of control

Provincial politicians take orders
from a powerful police lobby. More...

More on how the police lobby
opposes accountability in other provinces.

The RCMP thumbs its nose
at Solicitor General Kash Heed. More...

More about our sad sack Sol-Gen.

Vancouver police response to Vancouver police brutality
shows police shouldn’t investigate police. More...

After beating the shit out of Yao Wei Wu,
Vancouver police try to dissuade him
from suing them. More...

Lesson 1:
Don’t go near a stapler

OPCC boss and Dziekanski death squad supporter
Stan Lowe will advise immigrants
on dealing with police. More...

B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner
wants five new recruits for its crew of ex-cops

This time, will the OPCC hire people with ability and integrity?
Or will it hire more people like Rollie Woods and Bruce M. Brown?
More...

Andre Marin was here
but the media weren’t

Possibly Canada’s strongest advocate of police accountability,
Ontario’s ombudsman addressed a Vancouver forum.
His talk rated less than a minute of news time
on just one radio station. More...

Last April, referring to Manitoba’s proposed
Independent Investigations Unit, Marin stated the case
for civilian investigations of police. More...

More on civilian investigations here.

‘The VPD regrets any inconvenience
or trauma this may have caused.’

After two of their boot boys
beat the shit out of an innocent man,
Vancouver police play down the injuries
and issue a weasel-word apology. More...

There’s a human cost to our
biased system of police complaints

People like Ian Upton, Rollie Woods and Bruce M. Brown
might think they’re just sticking up for their buddies.
But their dishonesty takes a toll on the welfare
of people they’re paid to serve. More...

All’s well here, claims B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

We’re doing a great job — trust us,
their 2009 report implies. More...

Vancouver cops betray their police bias
even when investigating another police force

A really dumb remark from Const. Lindsey Houghton
reinforces the need for civilian investigation of police. More...

Getting beaten up, Tasered or shot?
Ask the cops to do it on video

When police are the ones being investigated,
the standards for evidence are incomparably higher.
But even that isn’t always enough. More...

No changes after all
at Vancouver Police Professional Standards

Despite any illusion created by the
Darcy Taylor damage-control exercise,
VPD internal investigations continue
the Ian Upton/Rollie Woods approach:
The police are 100-per-cent right
and the complainant 100-per-cent wrong.
More...

Feb. 18, 2010 update:
Vancouver Police Professional Standards officers
Glenn Newman and Mario Giardini did their job.
They found their fellow cops totally right
and the complainant totally wrong. More...

Now this is surprising

Vancouver Police Professional Standards
has actually recommended a criminal charge
against a VPD officer. More...

The Vann Hubbard shooting:
Vancouver Police respond by attacking their critics

VPD Chief Jim Chu and
police union boss Tom Stamatakis
divert attention from a dubious investigation
by lashing out at those who criticize cops. More...

Stan Lowe states his guiding principle:
Bigshots should be accountable to no one

“People will not be able to freely exercise their discretion
because they’re concerned about one day
being brought to an inquiry.” More...

Police extend their powers
to spy on dissidents

Legal demonstrators were infiltrated by a police spy,
said Victoria’s bungling braggart of a police chief.
But no one’s revealing which police force was involved,
why they did this and who authorized it. More...

News flash:
RCMP complaint commissioner
concedes what everybody else knows

Meanwhile Taser trigger-man Kwesi Millington
and killer Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson
remain on the Mountie payroll. More...

Why can’t cops get their act together?

Two ex-cops who allegedly evaded police complaints
about their investigation into a police complaint
about a drunken cop sue an ex-cop
who allegedly evaded two police complaints
and then became solicitor general. More...

More about our solicitor general.

A Victoria police chief
who was once a Vancouver police chief
who evaded discipline for a police complaint
now faces another police complaint,
this time for endangering a police officer. More...

From Sam Steele to this: Somewhere along the way
Canada’s legendary Mounties became the poster boys of dysfunction.
But B.C.’s committed to renewing their contract. More...

We need an independent review
of the decisions and hiring practices
of B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

No one can screw up the way
Rollie Woods and Bruce M. Brown
screwed up unless it’s deliberate
and they know they can get away with it.
More...

What constitutes gross misconduct for the RCMP?

Not gratuitous violence nor even manslaughter
at the hands of Mounties like Benjamin Montgomery Robinson,
John Graham, Donovan Tait and Kenrick Whitney. More...

One cunning, callous cop

RCMP Corporal Benjamin Montgomery Robinson
evaded serious charges by going home for more booze
while leaving his most recent victim to die.
B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch is playing along
with Robinson’s scheme. More here and here.

Is RCMP Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson
getting a sweet deal?

The leader of the Dziekanski death squad
will only face a charge of attempting to obstruct justice
after a traffic accident that left 21-year-old Orion Hutchinson dead.
But evidence strongly suggests Robinson killed Hutchinson
while driving drunk. More...

And why did B.C.’s cop-friendly Criminal Justice Branch
take so long to do so little? More...

“The manner in which the criminal justice system
handles fatality cases involving police officers
is driven by fear, favouritism or who knows what —
anything but the principle that we are all equal
in the eyes of the law.” More...

Two and a half years after Orion Hutchinson’s death
Robinson finally faces a watered-down charge. More...

And three and a half years after Robert Dziekanski’s death,
another watered-down charge. More...

Watered-down charges and delay after delay, thanks to
B.C.’s “justice” system. The Dziekanski death squad won’t face
their first trial date until four years after they killed an unarmed man. More...

Good riddance to Paul Kennedy

Supposedly the RCMP watchdog,
Kennedy cleared the cops by creating scenarios
that didn’t match the evidence. More...

Taser death cop John Graham
has a history of allegations and one conviction
for gratuitous violence

Canada’s legendary Mounties sink even lower
in their cesspool of lies, cover-ups, violence and killing. More...

Kash Heed rejects a personal appeal
from Linda Bush

Although he keeps blathering about his “thirty years of integrity”
the solicitor general remains committed to a
thoroughly biased police complaint process. More...

But, as a BC Liberal, Heed has no say in the matter anyway. More...

As for the NDP, they’re with Gord on this one. More...

Did Nanaimo cops kill
a harmless, unarmed man?

Contradictory, sensational and even demonizing
descriptions of Jeff Hughes might conceal the real story. More...

May 27, 2010 update: Seven months later, police still can’t
— or won’t — explain why they pumped bullets into a
frail and apparently unarmed man. More...

Oct. 24, 2010 update: As their investigation drags on
to a second year, police still have nothing to say. More...

May 21, 2011 update:
The cops find their fellow cop innocent, of course.
But they flatly refuse to say why. More...

Jeff Hughes’ death is an indictment
of callous, cowardly Canadian police. More...

Nathan Cullen’s inadequate proposal

His private member’s bill could
inhibit real accountability for the RCMP. More...

B.C. prosecutors give special treatment
to law-breaking cops

RCMP Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson, leader of the Dziekanski death squad,
remains on paid leave over a year after allegedly killing another man
while driving drunk. No charges have been laid. More...

December 2009 update: Robinson evaded more serious charges
and will be tried only for attempting to obstruct justice.

Watered-down charges and delay after delay, thanks to
B.C.’s “justice” system. The Dziekanski death squad won’t face
their first trial date until four years after they killed an unarmed man. More...

Tasered, pepper-sprayed, beaten with truncheons,
handcuffed face-down — another in-custody death

These aren’t isolated incidents.
Far too many arrests go horribly wrong. More...

Hog-tied, dropped, dragged and repeatedly Tasered
— yet another in-custody death

Disturbing details of a 2003 incident have now come to light.
Two of the same cops were later accused of torturing
another man with up to 50 Taser blasts. More here and here.

Death by cop:
The Criminal Justice Branch
backs another VPD self-investigation

Eight Vancouver police officers were present.
Paul Boyd hit two of them with a chain.
An officer then shot Boyd eight times, killing him.
The officer fired at least four of those shots after Boyd
was disarmed and the officer was ordered
to hold his fire. No charges will be laid.
More here and here.

July 9, 2010 update:
The Vancouver police self-investigation dragged on
for a year, Crown attorneys stalled for another year
before clearing the cops, then a third year passed.
Now B.C.’s new coroner has called an inquest. More...

March 19, 2012 update:
True to form, B.C. police complaint commissioner Stan T. Lowe
absolves Const. Lee Chipperfield for shooting Boyd eight times. More...
The only news is the B.C. Civil Liberties Association’s criticism.
David Eby and the BCCLA normally co-operate with Lowe and his corrupt ex-cops.
They also congratulate the BC Liberals for their con job on police accountability.
More on the BCCLA...

May 30, 2012 update:
Was Boyd’s behaviour provoked by a gun-wielding
undercover cop who didn’t identify himself? More...

Eight gunshots were justified by Stan Lowe’s imported witness.
“He’s partisan, he’s paid for, he always testifies for the police officer
and he will always justify a shooting.” More...

The OPCC backs off on their “expert witness” following a CBC exposé
that’s the first real scrutiny Lowe and his ex-cops have ever had. More...

From lethal force to libel chill

Kwesi Millington, trigger man for the Dziekanski death squad,
is suing the CBC for libel. In a Kafkaesque ploy that could
cast a pall over all media, Millington hasn’t even specified
what the CBC said that allegedly defamed him. More...

When the RCMP pulls the trigger

CTV’s W5 reports jarring inconsistencies between RCMP self-investigations
and the facts that come out in coroner’s inquests, video evidence
and the Braidwood Inquiry. Nevertheless the Criminal Justice Branch
and the Commissioner of Public Complaints consistently side with the cops.

Some highlights: Stan Lowe telling lies about Robert Dziekanski
one week before Lowe was appointed police complaint commissioner.
And a really smug Paul Kennedy creating his own scenarios
on behalf of the RCMP while dismissing criticism as “tweet tweet.”
Watch W5 online...

A 2010 dystopia

February looks bleak with 7,000 cops,
5,000 security guards and 4,500 soldiers patrolling the streets
while different levels of government shrug off concerns about civil rights.
How much of this will be the Olympics’ lasting legacy?
More from a March 2, 2009 article...

The rising cost of rubber stamps

Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops at B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner want more money.
But our tax dollars would be better spent on an independent review
of the OPCC’s decisions, as well as its hiring practices.

What would Lowe and his crew do with a budget boost, anyway? More...

Oct. 11, 2010 update:
The OPCC has a big problem but it’s not money. More...

Bill 7: Where’s B.C.’s opposition party?

The NDP opposition joins the BC Liberal government
in supporting a biased police complaint system. More...

Against all evidence,
Stan Lowe sided with the cops.
But would an independent prosecutor do the same?

Lawyer and former judge William Sundhu
continues the campaign to lay criminal charges
against the Dziekanski death squad. More...

July 1, 2010 update: Is special prosecutor Richard Peck
whitewashing ex-prosecutor Stan Lowe? More...

Cops act tough with the easy cases

There’s nothing like a couple of lightweights
lying with their faces in the dirt to bring out
the gratuitous violence of a cop fantasy.
Watch the video; read a news report.

But how do cops behave when confronted by someone scary?
I’ve seen Vancouver police deal very respectfully
with a big, tough attempted rapist. And RCMP
did nothing for five hours during the gruesome
aftermath of the Greyhound bus beheading.
Warning: graphic content...

Did Rollie Woods
work on the Reuben Coleman file?

The Vancouver police investigation into a Vancouver police shooting
was approved by the ex-cops at B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
At least one of them might have been a crony
of the cops involved. More...

Defending the indefensible

Taxpayers have shelled out over half a million dollars — so far —
for lawyers to represent the RCMP and each member of the Dziekanski death squad.
But we should also ask how much the Mounties spent
trying to dig up dirt in Poland. More...

Smearing Dziekanski:
Mountie inquisitors nearly got kicked out of Poland

An RCMP expeditionary force conducted such heavy-handed interrogations
that they nearly got expelled by Polish authorities. More...

Keeping a Lowe profile

Stan Lowe finally made his public debut
as police complaint commissioner.
But he needn’t have put if off
if this is the kind of media coverage he gets.
More...

Lawsuits work, police complaints don’t

Assault, battery and false imprisonment
bring $13,000 in damages against Vancouver police. More...

Cop gets three-day suspension
for assault causing permanent injuries

Even on those very rare occasions when
B.C.’s police complaint commissioner
does suggest a penalty, it’s insignificant.
Meanwhile, the victim’s lawsuit brought changes
in police procedure as well as a financial settlement. More...

Laughably heavy-handed — but scary too

Olympics police kept a clandestine watch
before confronting a student between classes. Why?
She knows someone who opposes the Olympics. More...

Police must have spent considerable time monitoring this student
prior to their good-cop/bad-cop interrogation. More...

Read other reports of harassment and amateur skullduggery
from Vancouver’s politicized Olympics police here.

Police launch a pre-emptive strike
against civilian investigation

The proposals from B.C. police chiefs and RCMP
look like an effort to retain cop control
over complaints against cops. More...

When it comes to investigating
police-involved incidents,
B.C. is ‘in the Dark Ages’

Linda Bush, the BCCLA and the Ontario ombudsman
are among those calling for civilian investigation of cop complaints.
But the RCMP and B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police
just want to fiddle with a failed system. More...

An open letter to
police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe

It was nice meeting you, but your Dziekanski decision
and your staff of ex-cops hardly inspire confidence. More...

Why should civilians
investigate complaints against police?

Unlike lawyers, doctors and teachers,
paramilitary groups foster a culture that discourages
impartial investigation within the ranks.
More from a Sept. 27, 2007 article...

Cops who investigate cops honestly
can face the wrath of other cops. More...

Many cops actively oppose impartial investigations. More...

Civilians who aren’t ex-cops can become
excellent investigators without conflicting loyalties. More...

VPD inspector Ian Upton’s disreputable career
illustrates the inherent corruption of
cops investigating cops. More...

A civil suit succeeded
after a police complaint failed

A court found West Vancouver liable
for false detention, arrest and imprisonment
after cops conducted a campaign of harassment. More...

Echoes of Dziekanski

A sequence of sordid actions by Burns Lake RCMP
shows that police brutality, police lies and police cover-ups
are not isolated incidents. More...

Referring to another violent Burns Lake RCMP incident,
Inspector Eric Brewer claims that cops investigating cops
constitutes an independent investigation. More...

Cops with criminal records

The next cop to confront you
could be a convicted criminal. More...

Despite vulgar, sexist, racist, violent sentiments,
they’re upstanding police officers

In 2004, after exchanging hundreds of offensive e-mails,
RCMP cops Deri Kinsey and Satnam Dhaliwal were ordered to resign.
They refused. Five years later the RCMP has decided
they can stay after all, largely because they
have the support of their superior officers.
More...

An investigation into Vancouver cops
drags on and on and on

More than two years after Vancouver police
killed a mentally ill man with multiple gunshots,
a coroner’s inquest has yet to be called, despite the legal requirement.
Instead, we get feeble excuses from B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch,
the same department that supported the Dziekanski death squad. More...

Updates about continuing developments here.

Another cop DUI

But at least it’s his first offence,
say Vancouver police. A criminal charge
may or may not be forthcoming. More...

Meanwhile Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson,
leader of the Dziekanski death squad,
continues his paid leave nearly a year after
allegedly killing a man while driving drunk.
He hasn’t been charged either,
although charges were recommended last June.
More from a June 10, 2009 report...

Just who are these guys?
More on the Dziekanski death squad...

Woman left dying for four days
after cops and 911 dispatcher screw up

Bleeding from bullet wounds and unable to move,
a woman spent four horrific days dying
beside her already dead husband.
The cop in charge was promoted afterwards.
The RCMP tried to keep the story secret. More...

Laughing Mountie Mike White’s “disgraceful conduct”
gets him a one-day suspension and a promotion soon after. More...

With zero accountability, even for a disgraced cop
like RCMP Const. Mike White, the victim’s family launches a lawsuit. More...

Surveillance video catches
VPD tough guys in action

A condo concierge says police assaulted him
to gain illegal entry to a suite.

Click here to read the CBC report.
A link to the video appears to the right of the CBC page.
Vancouver police make their entrance
around one and a half minutes into the video.
The assault takes place about a minute later.

Click here for the Vancouver Province report.

Vancouver police comedian Lindsey Houghton
claims the VPD take police complaints seriously. More...

Do Vancouver police protect their image
by beating up women?

Two women say cops beat them, jailed them and deleted their video
because they filmed the cops beating up a man. More...

The system is broken
— let’s keep it that way

An RCMP report acknowledges problems in police self-investigation,
but recommends only slight changes to the status quo. More...

When does causing a high-speed chase
not constitute a criminal offence?

When the people speeding away from the pursuing police car
are three off-duty cops. More...

The sad saga of B.C.’s ex-solicitor general includes
police complaints, lawsuits, screw-ups and scandal
— as well as his opposition to police accountability. More...

Kenrick ‘Ken’ Whitney:
From offensive tackle to offensive cop

The RCMP stick by the former CFL player
despite his record for assaulting people
over trivial incidents. More...

Drunken cop attacks innocent man,
then calls for backup

“Help, please help... call the police,” the victim pleads.
“We are the police,” answers one of his assailants. More...

The prosecutor raised some questions applicable to cop culture:
“Why did [Griffin] Gillan, drunk and off duty, and obviously in a bullying mood,
feel empowered to arrest Khan? Why did the other two [cops]
so willingly join in?” More...

But cops want Griffin Gillan to keep his job. More...

West Vancouver Police grant Griffin Gillan a job for life
— luckily for him, because the vicious punk
probably couldn’t work anywhere else. More...

Police evidence:
lies, lies and more lies

Accused gangsters go free because
cops lied to get wiretaps and then lied repeatedly in court. More...

Cops lie so often that “any police officer’s testimony
must now be treated with suspicion.” More...

RCMP Staff Sgt. Ross Spenard faces investigation for perjury
as a judge says the cop “clearly lied under oath.” More...

Spenard’s supposed competence and honesty collapse
while the work of RCMP Sgt. James Gallant
also comes under scrutiny. More...

Jan. 11, 2011 update: Over 18 months later,
Spenard finally faces perjury charges. More...

The case dragged on long enough for Spenard to retire.
When he finally got convicted, a judge let him off easy. More...

An ex-cop’s trial is put on hold
while his lawyer challenges the honesty of a witness,
RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout, due to his work
on the Dziekanski investigation. More...

A culture of dishonesty “raises doubts about the veracity
of RCMP testimony in thousands of court cases
heard across this country every year.” More...

Jim Chu: Vancouver police liar-in-chief.
More here, here and here.

No peace from Peace region police

Clueless cops repeatedly use
harassment, intimidation and defamation
against innocent people. More...

June 17, 2010 update:
How did Mounties divert attention from their
harassment, intimidation and defamation of innocent people?
They sent 100 cops to swarm all over a family farm. More...

Questions arise about
police complaint commissioner

How can Stan Lowe hold public confidence
as police complaint commissioner and
why did five MLAs appoint him in the first place?
More...

7,000 cops, 5,000 security guards and 4,500 soldiers
will swoop down on Vancouver and Whistler

Police harassment and civil liberties violations
are just the beginning of what looks like
an ugly chapter in B.C. history. More...

Canadians shouldn’t accept
repressive Olympic security

“The Games don’t even start for another seven months,
yet the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
has been all but thrown aside” by Vancouver police and the RCMP.
More...

Anti-Olympics activists to police:
Stop harassing us or we’ll sue. More...

Just expressing his opinion in a letter
brought Vancouver cops down on a 73-year-old man. More...

Cops want to muzzle Braidwood

Unlike Police Complaint Commissioner Stan Lowe,
Tom Braidwood seems to disapprove of
gratuitous violence, lethal force and lies.
So the Dziekanski death squad wants him silenced.
More...

Update: In a pathetic postscript to his very remunerative career,
Thomas Braidwood caved in to the police status quo. More...

MLA Mike Farnworth did what?

Farnworth attended the fundraiser for Robert Dziekanski’s mother.
Farnworth also helped appoint Stan Lowe police complaint commissioner.
Lowe took part in the decision to smear Dziekanski
and shield four cops from criminal responsibility for his death.
As a result, Dziekanski’s mother is campaigning to have Poland press charges.
So she held a fundraiser — which Farnworth attended.
More...

Don’t complain... sue!

According to a Vancouver Police internal investigation,
six cops did nothing wrong when they gave an innocent man
a broken nose, cuts and a ruptured spleen.
But a judge disagreed, awarding the victim $94,000. More...

Read more about suing the police here.

Lowe should go

After his disgraceful participation in the Dziekanski smear job/RCMP cover-up,
Stan Lowe can’t hold public confidence as police complaint commissioner.
And the five MLAs who appointed him should
answer some tough questions. More...

B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner
answers to no one

The OPCC is staffed by ex-cops
who serve their former colleagues, not the public. More...

‘Perception’ justifies lethal force,
according to VPD ‘expert’

The inquiry into Robert Dziekanski’s death
provides disturbing insight into police culture. More...

Vancouver Police has 17 PR flacks
working full time to polish its image

That doesn’t even include the cops’ cover-up squad,
Vancouver Police Professional Standards.
All that for a police force with a history
of misleading the public. More...

The VPD’s public affairs section uses its huge staff
and huge budget to control, or even conceal information. More...

Our rights can’t be sacrificed

We can’t let private security take on illegal powers. More...

Vancouver Police Professional Standards
covers up for police misconduct

And B.C.’s Office of the
Police Complaint Commissioner helps them. More...

Private security guards
are assuming illegal powers

Meanwhile police and other authorities
look the other way, or even assist them. More...

‘A Lowe point’

After an investigation of one of Canada’s most notorious cases of police brutality,
Stan Lowe smeared the victim and excused the cops.
Now he’s B.C.’s Police Complaint Commissioner, following the tradition
of Don Morrison, Dirk Ryneveld and Bruce M. Brown. More...

‘It’s easier to blame Robert Dziekanski’

Stan Lowe released a cover-up
worthy of Vancouver Police Professional Standards
and the B.C. Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner
— just one week before Lowe himself was appointed
Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

Stan Lowe’s ‘embarrassing damage control exercise’

After a shamefully obvious smear job and cover-up,
B.C.’s Police Complaint Commissioner Stan Lowe
will continue the work of Don Morrison,
Dirk Ryneveld and Bruce M. Brown. More...

Private police

The security industry is thriving,
but what does that mean for the rest of us? More...

The OPCC’s bias didn’t start with
Dirk Ryneveld and Bruce M. Brown

“Former police complaint commissioner Don Morrison would never
order an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the
Vancouver police unless he was forced to by the media...” More...

Go to top of page