Complaints about B.C. police conduct increased this year, report finds

Complaints about police officer conduct in British Columbia are on the rise, according to the latest annual report from the Office of the Police Complaint Commission (OPCC).

Between 2020 and 2021, the civilian oversight agency received 583 complaints — an increase of nine per cent from 537 — from 2019 to 2020.

Most of them — 53 per cent, or 309 complaints — were directed at the Vancouver Police Department.

The Abbotsford Police Department had the second-highest number of complaints at 58, followed by the Victoria Police Department at 55.

There were also more reportable injuries this year — 448, according to the report, compared to 419 last year.

A “significant” number of those were from use of force without a weapon and “less-lethal” firearms, such as bean bag shotguns.

“Core to the modernisation (sic) of policing is ensuring that the civilian governance of police is robust and that municipal police boards are equipped to do their work,” wrote Commissioner Clayton Pecknold.

“Good governance is foundational to preventing and addressing systemic racism and repeated misconduct.”

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The OPCC reports to the B.C. legislature but is an independent body.

In 2020-2021, it launched 62 investigations into police officer conduct — 36 per cent less than the previous year. Forty-one of them were requested by the police department involved in the complaint, it said.

It also made fewer recommendations to government — eight in total — on matters that include police and youth, the handling of police complaints, warrantless entries into residences, and the need for diversity and sensitivity training. It made 11 recommendations in 2019-2020.