The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (“OPCC”) has just released its Annual Report for 2008. Although many of the numbers have remained largely unchanged since 2007, there has been a significant increase in the number of complaints filed in New Westminster (from 17 in 2007 to 45 in 2008)

In addition to New Westminster, South Coast of British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service officers (“SCBCTAPS”), also known as the Transit cops, have received significantly more complaints this year than last year - 18 in 2007 compared to 28 in 2008.

The transit police also received notably more complaints than any other region for Excessive use of Force with Tasers (18 out of 34 complaints for Taser use were directed to SCBCTAPS).

Finally, as has been the trend in recent years, of all of the various categories of complaints, the OPCC received the most complaints for Abuse of Authority (514 out of 989 complaints).

The BCCLA and Pivot Legal Society boycott of the police complaint process continues, which may explain why Vancouver’s numbers have been flat as of late. Either that, or the local police are just doing a better job of behaving themselves.

Tags: Transparency

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