Tough lawyer to lead BC’s independent police investigations

By

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The man chosen to lead BC’s new civilian agency overseeing police-involved injuries or deaths says he wants to be as fair as he can.

American lawyer Richard Rosenthal has been appointed to lead BC’s new Independent Investigations Office (IIO).

Rosenthal spent 15 years as the Los Angeles county deputy district attorney before becoming the independent monitor over police and sheriffs in Denver in 2005, where he earned a reputation for toughness.
    
“When I got there, we had anywhere from 12 to 15 shootings a year, and it’s gone down dramatically to between three and five a year,” said Rosenthal.  “Obviously [BC] is a much larger jurisdiction, but that’s my goal.”
    
It’s a big job in a province where police have endured severe criticism for several high-profile deaths, including the tasering of Robert Dziekanski at YVR in 2007 and the shooting death of Ian Bush inside the Houston RCMP detachment in 2005.

The province pledged to set up the IIO after recommendations came out of the public inquiry into the death of Frank Paul and the inquiry into Dziekanski’s death.

It’s expected to be up and running by mid-2012 but Rosenthal says the IIO won’t be looking over old cases, saying the office is not meant to be retrospective.

“The reality is that we’re going to have an enormous amount of work to do and we need to look forward. We’re not going to be in a position to look back,” he said.
    
“We’re going to work very hard so that officers know and believe the investigations that we conduct are not witch hunts.  And as we obtain that recognition, I think we’ll have investigations that people can rely on,” said Rosenthal.

Two RCMP officers are advising the IIO, but Rosenthal says they’re objective.

“I’ve been doing this long enough that I know when I’m getting good advice and when I’m not and I’ll be the ultimate decision-maker on any policy relating to this agency, protocols and procedures,” he said.  “And I’m willing to listen to everybody and anybody. But I’ll be making the decisions.”
    
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Fraser MacRae says Rosenthal’s appointment is a good thing.

“Both the RCMP, and I know through the BCACP [BC Association of Chiefs of Police] and police organizations throughout the province, have advocated for this independent opportunity to review investigations,” MacRae said.  “We recognize that this is a critical element to public confidence.”
    
Tom Stamatakis with the Vancouver Police Union also supports Rosenthal.

“It’s all about transparency, timely reporting around these incidents. That then gives the police officers confidence that the process will be fair, which means that they’ll be happy to participate in any investigation that occurs,” he said.

He says that will also help boost public confidence when the IIO looks into police-involved injuries and deaths.

David Eby with the BC Civil Liberties Association says Rosenthal appears very qualified for the job but has a lot of work to do.

“There is an important difference for him here in that he’s not going to have to prove his necessity or that he’ll do objective investigations, the bar is very low,” said Eby.  “What he needs to do is prove to the public that he will hold the police accountable.”

Eby says he would like Rosenthal to look over some old police-involved deaths.

“The [Ian] Bush file, the [Kevin] St. Arnaud file, the Clayton Alvin Wiley file. Having a very careful review of those files to see whether or not there isn’t some investigation still to be done.”

Premier Christy Clark says the government is still finalizing the IIO’s budget, but it could cost taxpayers up to $10 million a year.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today