The Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act have released their final report, recommending the need for culturally appropriate restorative justice programs and enhanced police education and training. The report also outlines the need to collect disaggregated data to address racism in policing and have a single oversight agency responsible for addressing complaints and disciplinary matters for all police.
The Special Committee was formed by the BC Government in 2021. Through public consultations they identified significant challenges in the delivery of police services. Numerous groups called on the Government to make changes and ensure high quality police and community safety services would be available across the province.
In April 2021, CBABC released our written submission to the Special Committee included 16 detailed recommendations to improve policing. The Special Committee report made note of several CBABC recommendations:
- The need to collect and analyze disaggregated data to identify patterns of violence that could aid in prevention
- The need for sanction-backed duties to cooperate with IIO investigations and civil negligence suits where a death is involved
- Reducing the discretion of police to seize personal items where people are in possession of most of their belongings in public spaces
- Improvements to the disciplinary process and assistance to those who file complaints against police
- Exploring the use of less-lethal weapons such as Bola Wrap
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