Victoria police misconduct case prompts calls to change oversight system
The conclusion of a years-long misconduct case against a Victoria police officer is resulting in appeals to reform B.C.'s police oversight system.
The conclusion of a years-long misconduct case against a Victoria police officer is resulting in appeals to reform B.C.'s police oversight system.
Last week, Victoria Police Department Sgt. Ron Kirkwood was handed a seven-day, unpaid suspension after a retired judge found he abused his authority during a call in 2019.
Kirkwood fired an anti-riot weapon into a smoke-filled room, accidentally hitting 43-year-old Lisa Rauch in the head and killing her.
'It's been such a dragged-out process that it's excruciating,' Lisa's mother, Audrey Rauch, told CTV News.
Audrey and her husband, Ron Rauch, met with B.C.'s Police Complaint Commissioner on Wednesday to share their concerns about the oversight process. They said it was riddled with delays and disinformation about what happened to their daughter.
'It's a joke,' Audrey said.
While the Rauch family and police may feel differently about the outcome of the case, they're aligned in their calls for oversight reform.
Victoria City Police Union president Sgt. Angela Van Eerd said it can take months for members to learn whether a complaint against them will be investigated or dismissed.
'I would characterize the current oversight process as a long, drawn-out process that needs to be changed and needs to have tighter timelines for the mental health of our officers,' Van Eerd said.
'This has just been torment for the family of Sgt. Kirkwood and Lisa Rauch's family.'
The misconduct finding against Kirkwood followed a public hearing, where a retired judge reviewed evidence and heard from 20 witnesses.
The Rauch family requested the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) order the hearing because they doubted the integrity of three other oversight investigations that found no wrongdoing.
'I believe fully in accountability for police,' Van Eerd said. 'But do I believe in accountability after three adjudications have been unsubstantiated and then we're going to call a fourth because we don't get the answer that we want? I don't believe in that.'
'Problems often lurk in the gaps'
In B.C., there are several police watchdogs at play.
For the RCMP, misconduct allegations are handled by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, an independent agency in Ottawa.
The OPCC deals with misconduct cases against municipal officers. It does not conduct investigations, but oversees the probes it assigns to police departments.
'A lot of provinces are moving towards a model in which the actual oversight office body does at least some of the investigation, if not all of the investigation,' said Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. has its own investigators, who are dedicated to cases involving serious injury or death where an officer could be criminally charged.
'An efficiency may well be… that we have a central, single point of intake,' said IIO Chief Civilian Director Jessica Berglund.
In 2022, a legislative committee made a similar recommendation, calling for a single, civilian-led oversight agency.
WATCH: The heads of the IIO and the OPCC share their thoughts on upgrading the police oversight system.
Adam Olsen, the former B.C. Green Party MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, was one of 10 people appointed to the Committee on Reforming the Police Act.
'We have a lot of oversight bodies (and) not a lot of coherence between them,' Olsen said. 'When you see fragmented systems, the problems often lurk in the gaps between those systems.'
The committee formed amid calls for systemic change, following the death of George Floyd, who was murdered by a Minnesota police officer in 2020.
Recommendations include expediting minor misconduct complaints and establishing services to help victims and their loved ones navigate the system. The committee also called for additional resolution measures, such as mediation or direct conversations between complainants and officers.
'I lament the fact that we don't see the ministry doing this work in public,' Olsen said. 'Are they doing work? I can imagine that they are. Do we know what it is? No.'
Surrey-Guildford MLA and former Mountie Garry Begg was also part of the committee. He has since become B.C.'s Public Safety Minister.
CTV News requested an interview with Begg, but received a statement instead.
'Ministry staff are continuing to work with partners to address the recommendations from the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act, so we can make sure that police can serve British Columbians in the best way possible,' Begg said.
Signs of improvement
Last year, the province made changes to the Police Act, granting the OPCC the ability to conduct investigations into systemic issues that prompt multiple complaints of a similar nature.
The amendments also allow the OPCC to call public hearings earlier, which could have sped up the Kirkwood case.
'It would have shaved a year and a half to two years off the actual overall process,' Rajan said.
'We would all like things to happen much more quickly, but sometimes in complicated cases, you need some time to properly gather the information and analyze the information.'
While Rajan sees opportunities for improvement, he believes in the system.
'I don't want anybody left with the sense that it's not a good process. In fact, it is quite good,' he said.
At the IIO, year-over-year data show the average number of days to conclude a case has fallen from 103 to 52.
'A couple of years ago, my predecessor was successful in obtaining additional investigative resources for the IIO. So currently, I think timeliness is less of an issue than it was,' Berglund said.
Still, Berglund said she appreciates the toll multiple prolonged investigations can take on people.
'The key in so much of this is good communication and being sensitive and empathetic to the needs of all the parties who are involved,' she said.
The Rauch family said at the time of Lisa's death, they weren't even aware B.C.'s oversight bodies existed.
'How can we, as agencies, do better to support those families, to explain the processes, (and) explain that this may take several years to reach final resolution?' Berglund said.
She expects the system will continue to evolve due to the collective desire to upgrade it.
'We are all working towards improved civilian oversight and keeping our focus on the bigger picture of why we have civilian oversight, which is to improve the accountability of the police and really improve the trust that the public has in the police forces in British Columbia,' she said.
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