November 20, 2009
The Time for Independent Civilian InvestigationsFrançais
The Civilian Oversight Act (Bill C-472) was introduced in the House of Commons by Member of Parliament Nathan Cullen. It would create a professional and fully independent civilian investigative service to conduct all investigations involving the death or serious injury of a civilian while in RCMP custody. This would put a stop to the current practice of police investigating police and create a true system of oversight that will restore the public confidence in the force.
The entire New Democratic caucus stands in strong support of the bill and the Liberal Public Safety Critic has also declared his support. The former Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP supports the change, as does the Auditor General of Canada. In reaction to the introduction of the bill, even RCMP Commissioner William Elliott publicly announced that the RCMP does not want to investigate itself any longer.
It is time for the Federal Government to heed the call and introduce the fully independent civilian investigations proposed in Bill C-472.
News Stories on the Civilian Oversight Act
Click on the title to jump down or scroll down the page to read all
BC ‘Close’ to Better Police Oversight
Georgia Strait, November 19 2009
Bill to End RCMP Self Investigations in Discussion
Houston Today, November 11 2009
Police-shooting Victim’s Mother Urges Civilian Probes
Victoria Times Colonist, November 09 2009
Transparency Key to Restoring Faith in Police
The Guardian, November 05 2009
MP Proposes RCMP Watchdog
Canwest News, November 03 2009
Bill Proposes Civilian Probes of Custody Deaths
Vancouver Sun, November 02 2009
The Only Way Public Trust in the RCMP Can be Restored
The Globe and Mail, October 22 2009
Cullen introduces bill to improve RCMP oversight
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 2, 2009
Office of Nathan Cullen
OTTAWA – Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says he hopes his Private Members’ Bill that he introduced into Parliament this morning will help restore diminishing public trust in the RCMP.
The Civilian Oversight Act would create a Civilian Investigation Service that would be empowered to conduct investigations following death or serious bodily harm occurring in RCMP custody.
“The goal is to restore public trust in the RCMP,” said Cullen. “We ask these brave men and women to do a dangerous and difficult job. We must support them with a system that puts any investigation beyond doubt.”
The legislation responds to a growing chorus of calls from all corners of society for reform to police internal investigations in Canada. Civil Liberties groups across the country have long called for an end to police self-investigations, calls now echoed by the police themselves.
In September, precipitated by a major report by Paul Kennedy, Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP, the BC Association of Chiefs of Police, and top BC RCMP brass called for major reform to fix a dangerous growing deficit of public trust in the force. The Auditor General of Canada has also indicated that stronger civilian oversight is necessary.
For Cullen, the inspiration for the bill came from watching the inquiry into the 2005 death of Ian Bush while in custody at the Houston BC RCMP Detachment.
“It is not a matter of guilt or innocence of any of the people involved in that case,” said Cullen, “but I was deeply struck by the problems created when we ask the RCMP to investigate themselves.
“It is impossible for the public to have faith in the process.”
Ian’s mother Linda Bush, who has dedicated herself to reforming the system since her son’s death, joined Cullen in Ottawa today to call for stronger civilian oversight of the RCMP.
“I truly hope that we get a totally civilian body. It is the key to increasing accountability and boosting public confidence in the RCMP,” Bush said.
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For more information, please contact:
Tim Howlett, Legislative Assistant 613-993-8662 cullen0@parl.gc.ca
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B.C. “close” to better police oversight
November 19, 2009
Georgia Straight
by Matthew Burrows
David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, says that B.C. is “really close” to seeing better oversight of investigations into police-related deaths.
“We have that private member’s bill that [Skeena–Bulkley Valley NDP MP] Nathan Cullen is bringing forward in the federal Parliament,” Eby told the Straight by phone on November 16. “And we had the police chiefs here in British Columbia hold a press conference, in which they said they no longer have the confidence of the public in doing these kinds of investigations. We all agree that the system is broken; it’s just [a question of] the kind of reform that’s going to come in.”
Eby added that he wants to see B.C. adopt reforms seen in Ontario, where “civilians do the investigations, and not police officers”.
His comments came the same day that Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, told a news conference that his organization is “demanding the full disclosure of the entire video” that shows RCMP officers using a taser to subdue a shackled man at their Prince George detachment in 2003. The following day, the RCMP agreed to release the uncut version, pending approval from the aboriginal man’s family.
“The video that we saw was obviously a very heavily edited version,” Phillip said by phone following the joint UBCIC–BCCLA news conference and screening of the video. “Even though it was edited, it was very difficult to watch.”
Clayton Alvin Willey, 33, died on July 22, 2003, after he was picked up by police for causing a disturbance on the streets of Prince George. The coroner’s report attributed his death to a heart attack brought on by a cocaine overdose, but Phillip said the taser use provokes suspicion.
“Mr. Willey was completely and fully incapacitated,” Phillip said. “He was immobilized by handcuffs. He was completely hog-tied, was incapable of moving his arms and his legs, and then he was repeatedly tasered by a couple of officers who both had tasers.”
In the wake of the 2007 tasering death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport, the Braidwood commission concluded in June that the threshold for use of “conducted energy weapons” should be “significantly revised” from “active resistance” to “causing bodily harm”.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Tim Shields did not return a message left by the Straight.
Bill to End RCMP Self Investigations in Discussion
November 11, 2009
Houston Today
By Rikki Schierer
In a changing world of RCMP perceptions, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen introduced a bill which would create a Civilian Investigative Service last week.
“I know the public mood is strong for having real oversight of the RCMP and no longer allowing the RCMP to investigate themselves,” Cullen said.
This bill, Cullen said, has been on his mind for awhile now, and it’s not only the public who are showing interest in it, but RCMP officers themselves. It would help make their job easier, Cullen said, and to restore public confidence that, if anything were to go wrong, there is a special investigations unit to take over from the RCMP.
“The lack of transparency when it’s police investigating themselves erodes public confidence,” Cullen said. “Other jurisdictions do it, it’s done in Ontario and in England and I think it’s time for the RCMP to step into the modern world.”
The bill is being introduced to Parliament this week, Cullen said, who has invited Linda Bush to the reading of the bill to show her support as well. The proposed legislation would be called Ian’s Law in honour of her son, Cullen said, who died after an altercation with an RCMP officer in Houston in 2005.
“I’m actually quite touched, and I think that’s a good thing,” Bush said about how she feels about the legislation being named Ian’s Law. “ It puts a human face, it puts some body attached to it which make it more meaningful to some.”
The need for an independant investigation unit is what the family has been lobbying for since 2005, Bush added, and while this bill may not pass at this time, it’s great that this is opening up the conversation and moving forward, she said.
“It’s a difficult issue… the conservatives aren’t necessarily comfortable looking at any of these reforms,” Cullen said. “We think we can be more mature than that and get this change done for the better.”
Cullen echoed Bush’s optimism on how police reform is being openly discussed and the need for reform is circulating around in many circles. While the roots of the discussion come from unfortunate circumstances, it’s time, Cullen said, for the issue to be dealt with and confidence in the RCMP restored.
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Police-shooting victim’s mother urges civilian probes
November 09
Matthew Pearson and Rob Shaw
Victoria Times Colonist
B.C. should follow Ontario’s lead, Linda Bush tells solicitor general
The mother of a man shot and killed by an RCMP officer in northern B.C. pushed provincial lawmakers yesterday to create an independent civilian unit for investigating deaths involving police.
Linda Bush, whose son Ian died Oct. 30, 2005, following an altercation with a Mountie in Houston, wants B.C. to adopt a model similar to the one used in Ontario.
Complaints against municipal police forces in B.C. are currently heard by Stan Lowe, the province’s Police Complaint Commissioner, while issues with the RCMP — which polices more than 70 per cent of the province, including Houston — are handled by a federal complaint process. In Bush’s case, the complaint was investigated by the Prince George-based North District Major Crime Unit, which includes officers from northwestern B.C.
Bush believes it’s unreasonable to expect police officers to adequately investigate each other, even if they are from different forces.
“There’s an affinity there because they’re still police,” she said yesterday.
a half-hour meeting with Solicitor General Kash Heed, Bush said she urged him to follow Ontario’s lead.
In that province, an independent law-enforcement agency called the Special Investigations Unit examines cases involving police and civilians that have resulted in serious injury or death.
Last year, the SIU led 246 investigations and laid charges against 10 police officers.
After the meeting, Heed said he told Bush he was proud of recent amendments to the province’s Police Act that boost the power of the independent Police Complaint Commissioner.
That legislation would allow Lowe’s office to continue disciplinary proceedings against police officers or police chiefs — even if they resign — force officers to co-operate with internal investigations and launch investigations where no complaint has been filed.
Heed has said that he wants to see the RCMP in B.C. fall under provincial police rules when it comes to investigating complaints. While the suggestion has been publicly backed by senior RCMP commanders in B.C., the idea has yet to become a reality.
Heed said he understands public criticism of cops investigating cops, but he feels the province has moved to improve the complaint process in recent months.
Earlier this month, New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen — whose riding includes Houston — introduced a private member’s bill calling for the creation of a civilian investigation service to look into cases of death or injury allegedly caused by RCMP officers.
Bush travelled to Ottawa to witness the introduction of the bill and has plans to launch a letter-writing campaign this fall.
“I think there’s change coming,” she said.
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Transparency key to restoring faith in police
Thursday, November 05, 2009
THE GUARDIAN (CHARLOTTETOWN)
OPINION, Page: A7
Transparency key to restoring faith in police
A private member’s bill to take away the RCMP’s responsibility for investigating members accused of causing a death or injury should be welcome relief to police officers.
No matter how thorough the police investigation into an offence that involves one of its own, the public will be skeptical. Public trust in the RCMP has been badly eroded by a series of incidents from the shooting death of Ian Bush in northern B.C. to the airport death of Robert Dziekanski.
Coroner’s inquests and commissions of inquiry after the face only served to reveal how many errors were made by investigators ill-equipped to deal with the internal process.
New Democratic MP Nathan Cullen introduced a bill Monday that, if approved, will create a civilian investigation service similar to one in place in Ontario.
Some provinces have already established an independent service to review cases when an RCMP officer is accused of killing or injuring someone. In B.C., the RCMP continues to investigate all criminal cases regardless of the accused.
Some concern has been expressed that Cullen’s proposal for a national investigation service may be too all encompassing considering the size of Canada. However, other national boards have no difficulty with their duties and neither will a service dealing with RCMP issues.
Federal, provincial and municipal governments who oversee and fund police forces should work together to develop the best organization possible to handle serious matters involving law enforcement officials.
The legislation should not be restricted to death and injury cases either, but incorporate any incidents of serious misconduct. Despite suggestions otherwise, the law will be more credible if the service is entirely independent. The public will have little faith in an investigation conducted by police officers but overseen by civilians.
Crown prosecutors already have the last look at cases investigated by the RCMP, but there is little they can do to change the interview tactics once conducted. The same would be true of civilians overseeing an investigation but not actually participating in the crucial first look.
The reputations of the RCMP and municipal police forces have been tarnished by bad behaviour by a few members. It was made worse by the investigations that followed.
Transparency in the investigation process is the only way to restore public faith in the police – RCMP or municipal – and that means an independent service.
MP proposes RCMP watchdog
November 03
Canwest News Service
A New Democrat MP introduced a private member’s bill on Monday that proposes the appointment of an independent watchdog to investigate any cases of people dying while in RCMP custody.
Nathan Cullen said the bill would create a “civilian investigation service” modelled after Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, a civilian agency that looks into all of the Ontario Provincial Police’s in-custody deaths.
“The trust that the RCMP has lost over the last number of years has been tragic. It’s a proud and long-serving force that does a very difficult job. This could help reverse that trend,” said Cullen, who represents the northwestern B.C. riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley.
Currently, RCMP officers helm investigations into all of the national force’s in-custody deaths.
A number of other high-profile in-custody deaths, such as the death of Polish citizen Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport in 2007, have brought the practice of “cop-on-cop” investigations into question.
Cullen said the bill was inspired by the death of Ian Bush, a 22-year-old who succumbed to a gunshot wound to the back of the head following a struggle with Const. Paul Koester at the Houston, B.C., RCMP detachment in July 2005.
Bush had been arrested for having an open container of alcohol at an outdoor hockey game and for giving Koester a false name. The RCMP investigated the incident in 2007 and cleared Koester of all wrongdoing.
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Bill proposes civilian probes of custody deaths
November 02
Vancouver Sun
A B.C. member of Parliament is introducing a bill today that would end the RCMP’s power to investigate itself when someone dies or is injured while in custody.
New Democrat Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley) will introduce a private members’ bill that would create a civilian investigation service to look into cases of death or injury allegedly caused by RCMP officers. The unit would be modelled after other civilian teams like in Ontario, Cullen said.
Now, RCMP officers in many places in Canada, including B.C., have the authority to investigate cases where other RCMP officers are accused of killing or injuring people.
“[We] are attempting to restore public confidence in the RCMP,” Cullen said. “A system where police investigate police is no longer good enough. It raises doubts among the public, and robs RCMP officers of one of their most important assets: public trust.”
Cullen said details about logistics and the team’s makeup would be worked out with the government.
Linda Bush, the mother of Ian Bush, who was shot by an RCMP officer on Oct. 29, 2005, will be on Parliament Hill to support Cullen.
It was Ian Bush’s case that prompted Cullen to take action. Bush, 22, was taken into RCMP custody after he gave officers a false name when they found him holding a beer outside the local hockey rink in Houston.
Bush was later shot inside the Houston RCMP detachment. The incident was investigated by RCMP officers from nearby Prince George. The officer who shot Bush was never charged.
“Right from the very moment after Ian was shot, the officer who shot Ian was treated like the victim [by investigators],” said Bush. “There cannot help but be bias when you are investigating one of your own.”
Police officials themselves have been questioning the RCMP’s investigation practices in recent months. Paul Kennedy, chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC), released a report in August that found the system “flawed and inconsistent.” Kennedy recommended investigations involving death should be referred to another police force or provincial investigation body.
CPC spokesman Nelson Kalil said Kennedy has seen Cullen’s proposed bill and supports the concept. “He’s supportive of any measures that would enhance the transparency and the integrity of the investigation process,” Kalil said. Still, Cullen’s proposal to create a national investigation team may prove impractical, especially in remote areas, Kalil said.
The RCMP was unavailable Sunday for comment on Cullen’s proposal. However, in September, the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police — which includes B.C. RCMP officials — adopted a proposal to create civilian-led investigation units to examine allegations of serious misconduct. Police officers would still do the investigating, but would do so under civilian leadership.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but they still would have an affinity towards other police officers,” Bush said of the proposal. “I hope we do have a [completely] civilian body. It will bring accountability and boost public confidence in the RCMP.”
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The only way public trust in the RCMP can be restored
October 22
By Gary Mason
The Globe and Mail
About this time every year, Linda Bush isn’t the same.
She finds she has less patience with her grandchildren. She isn’t as focused on the job. The most arbitrary comments can reduce her to tears. Like the other day when she walked into the A&W in Houston, B.C., and overheard a conversation between two women. “Oh,” one said. “I hear your son is coming home.”
That was all it took. Linda Bush fled the restaurant in tears.
Her son is never coming home. Ian Bush was shot by an RCMP officer in the Houston detachment on Oct. 29, 2005, after being arrested for holding an open bottle of beer outside a hockey arena. His death provoked a nationwide fury. An inquest revealed serious problems with the way the RCMP conducted their investigation into the matter. The officer who shot Mr. Bush was never charged even though there were serious questions about the credibility of his story.
Since then, there have been other in-custody deaths involving the RCMP that have raised doubts about the Mounties’ ability to conduct unbiased investigations into the conduct of their own.
Early next month, Ms. Bush will travel to Ottawa to be on hand when NDP MP Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley) introduces a bill that would create a national civilian oversight force that would take over all investigations of in-custody deaths or serious incidents involving the RCMP.
Mr. Cullen attended the coroner’s inquest into Mr. Bush’s death three years ago. That is when the idea for this bill first took seed.
“The name we have come up with for this unit is the Civilian Investigative Service,” he said in an interview. “It is modelled on similar civilian units in Ontario, but also in Europe and other jurisdictions.
“The time has come for this. The public is demanding it. Even the country’s RCMP Complaints Commissioner recognizes it. We need an arm’s-length unit so public trust can be restored in our national police force.”
The bill contains little information about such things as how many officers would be needed for the new unit or what it would cost the government. Those details, Mr. Cullen said, can be worked out later. The important thing is getting the government to commit to the principle of true civilian oversight, he said. Even though it seems unlikely that the Conservatives will embrace the bill, it shouldn’t preclude a national discussion around the idea.
Mr. Cullen is right. The public’s estimation of the RCMP has plummeted in recent years, and it’s mostly due to high-profile cases in which the force has demonstrated a questionable ability to conduct neutral investigations into the conduct of Mounties.
The Braidwood inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski has raised several questions about the way the RCMP handled that investigation.
The four officers who were present when Mr. Dziekanski was tasered five times gave stories to RCMP investigators immediately afterward that were dramatically at odds with video evidence that would surface later. The officers were never asked to explain the discrepancies.
And that is just one of many problems with that investigation that have come up at the inquiry.
The time for a true civilian oversight unit is long overdue. Mr. Cullen said he has been contacted by several Mounties who have told him that they would welcome such a move. I don’t doubt it. Even the RCMP superintendent who led the investigation into Mr. Dziekanski’s death has said a civilian oversight body is probably the only way public trust in the force is going to be restored.
Linda Bush believes so too. That is the message she will be taking with her when she sits down with politicians in Ottawa next month to lobby for Mr. Cullen’s bill on behalf of parents like herself.
Mr. Cullen said his proposed legislation will be called Ian’s Law. Ms. Bush said that while it is an honour, she isn’t ready to accept that the passing of such legislation would mean that at least something good came of her son’s death.
“I’m not at the point where I’m prepared to accept that it’s a good trade,” she said.
