Have you had a negative interaction with police in BC?
The Pathways to Police Accountability toolkit will give you practical and realistic information about what police accountability pathways are available to you, how to use them, and what to expect along the way.
The toolkit is a companion publication to BCCLA’s Arrest Handbook, which has information on your rights when interacting with police on topics like arrest, detention, search and seizure, and youth and the law. This toolkit is your guide for what to do after these rights have been violated.
You can use the toolkit to compare which police accountability pathway is right for you, learn about how the pathways interact, and how to take action yourself using tools like checklists. The toolkit also explains legal terms, simplifies complex processes, and provides realistic information about how effective— or ineffective — each pathway might be.
The pathway(s) that you use will depend on:
- which police service was involved,
- what happened during the interaction,
- what outcome you’re hoping for, and
- what resources you have access to.
We want to help you make informed, realistic decisions about how to seek justice. The toolkit begins with a five-step guide to help you understand what pathways are available in your specific situation. Here’s a quick, top-level overview of that guide:
Step 1: Determine which police force you interacted with
Before you can start to look at which pathway to take, you must know which police service was involved in your incident. This will determine which pathways are available to you as there are different accountability processes for different police forces.Â
Step 2: Think about the focus of your complaint
What happened during your interaction with the police that you want to complain about? Your choice of pathway will depend on what you want the accountability process to review.
Step 3: Think about whether discrimination was a factor
Discrimination is the act of treating a person or group unfairly or in a harmful way because of personal traits such as race, gender, age, or disability. If you feel the police discriminated against you, this opens up more pathways.Â
Step 4: Decide what outcome you want
Each pathway offers different remedies or solutions. Before you decide which pathway to take, make sure you understand what possible remedies each one offers.
Step 5: Consider these other important factors
When you’re looking at each pathway and figuring out which one to use, you’ll need to think about:
- deadlines (these are different for each pathway and starting one does not automatically stop the clock for another)
- procedural steps (things you have to do to start a claim or complaint)
- how independent the decision-maker is (some pathways allow the police to look into a complaint against them)
- costs (for example, a lawyer’s fees or your emotional investment)
- how long each pathway might take
This toolkit covers the RCMP, municipal police in BC, Metro Vancouver Transit Police, and Stl’atl’imx Tribal Police. Although it has been created with a BC-based audience in mind, anyone in Canada can use the RCMP pathways described.
Ordering a Toolkit
Printed copies of the toolkit are available to order. Please complete the order form below. Please note that quantities are limited and that it may take a few weeks to receive the order.
The toolkit is free to order. If you can make a donation to help us cover the production and mailing costs, it would enable us to print more copies for those who can’t — thank you.
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (with funding provided by the Government of Canada) and the Law Foundation of BC.
