B.C.’s Office of the
Police Complaint Commissioner

News about British Columbia’s
most obviously corrupt agency

 

Meet the new OPCC boss:
Prabhu Rajan

Meanwhile Mike Farnworth keeps stalling
on his vague—and weird—Police Act changes.
More…

 

What’s wrong with the
Wong/Tong guilt-mongering?

Lots more people owe natives an apology.
Among them is B.C. human rights commissioner
Kasari Govender. More…

 

Decolonizing corruption

B.C. wants to retain cop cover-ups, but with
native participation under a confused, weird
and racially exclusive Police Act. More…

 

At last, a (partial) advocate
for police accountability

But the B.C. Human Rights Commission emphasizes
identity politics at the cost of some issues
—and some people. More…

 

That OPCC cliche “unsubstantiated”
once again looks unsupportable

Another cryptic incident shows cops need citizen investigation
and the OPCC needs transparency and accountability. More…

 

B.C. Police Act reform:
What MLAs don’t want to know

Another legislative committee will likely evade
the problem of OPCC secrecy and immunity. More…

 

Rollie Woods
heightens his hypocrisy

The liar and corrupt cop-turned-liar and corrupt
ex-cop comments on cop corruption. More…

 

The cop status quo matters

B.C. stands ready to manipulate identity politics
to support OPCC corruption. More...

 

Just following orders

Some reflections on how B.C.’s arrogant but subservient
political culture props up corrupt institutions. More...

 

The cop status quo stands,
thanks to five self-serving MLAs

Another sham legislative committee entrenches
the OPCC’s lack of transparency and accountability. More...

 

A newly proactive OPCC?

Whether it reflects a PR ploy or genuine reform,
B.C.’s police complaint commissioner now orders
investigations on his own initiative. More...

 

Cops covering up for cops,
with OPCC collusion

That was standard procedure under the Stan Lowe-Rollie Woods
regime. Here’s new police complaint commissioner
Clayton Pecknold’s initial response to three cases. More…

 

Rollie Woods’ legacy

He encouraged people to hate cops.
But his departure, like that of Stan Lowe,
relieves the OPCC of considerable baggage. More…

 

Rigged input, predictable output

A legislative committee will likely recommend
“arm’s-length” investigation of cops and distinct
consideration for natives. But expect the MLAs
to ignore the OPCC’s lack of transparency
and accountability. More…

 

Does ‘institutional knowledge’
refer to the OPCC as well as
Vancouver police?

A lawyer says Vancouver cop Jim Fisher got away with
sexual misconduct towards vulnerable women and girls
despite “institutional knowledge.” More…

 

Looks like yet another two
Stan Lowe/OPCC cover-ups

The case of Saanich cop Brent Wray shows
additional evidence of corruption at B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More…

 

How and why was B.C.’s new
police complaint commissioner chosen?

Alone of B.C.’s media, Georgia Straight editor
Charlie Smith questions Clayton Pecknold’s appointment:
Should three ex-cops be on five-member committee
recommending new police complaint commissioner? More…
Acting legislature clerk refuses to divulge demographic info
about B.C. police complaints commissioner applicants. More…

 

The OPCC’s cop-friendly tradition
continues with its fourth cop-friendly boss

Clayton Pecknold welcomed as B.C.’s
new police-compliant commissioner. More…

 

Living up to his name

Stan Lowe leaves a legacy of corruption
that taints B.C. politics, public agencies,
media and supposed “activists.” More…

 

Spin, smear and serve
to a compliant media

By shifting blame for his Frank Elsner cover-up,
police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe
tries to revise his disgraceful record. More…

 

Skeletons in the OPCC closet
put the corrupt agency in
a conflict of interest

Another investigation into New Westminster cop Sukhwinder “Vinnie” Singh Dosanjh
might bring to light the shortcomings of the last ones. Holding power to interfere,
Stan Lowe’s crooked crew can prevent that from happening. More…

 

Frank Elsner gets off thanks to Stan Lowe

But the guy who gets off easiest is B.C.’s
corrupt police complaint commissioner. More…

 

More evidence of OPCC cover-ups

They come in the form of continued lies from
deputy police complaint commissioner Rollie Woods. More…

 

Looks like another OPCC cover-up

Police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe waited four months
before calling an investigation into Victoria chief Frank Elsner.
But Lowe didn’t wait long once the media found out. More…

 

All hail Tom Stamatakis

Stakeholders respond as new director appointed
to B.C. Independent Investigations Office. More…

 

When police rape, can Stan Lowe
be trusted to oversee investigations?

Those are among the powers granted to B.C.’s police complaint
commissioner. But he colluded with Vancouver cops to cover up
gratuitous violence against a disabled woman. More…

 

Gloating Ontario ex-cop thanks police
for three-year paid suspension

Lots more cops owe B.C. police complaint commissioner
Stan Lowe gratitude for his cop-friendly corruption. More…

 

The OPCC/VPD Taylor Robinson cover-up:
Stan Lowe’s OPCC responds

Two vague, obfuscatory and dishonest denials constitute the only defence
from B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More…

 

Stan Lowe reappointed
B.C. police complaint commissioner

No surprise there, given the way B.C.’s establishment consistently thwarts
police accountability. So was Lowe’s sinecure renewed despite, or because of,
his disreputable conduct? More…

 

Taser trigger-goof
Kwesi Millington found guilty

It took eight years but one member of the RCMP’s Robert Dziekanski
death squad has finally been convicted—of perjury, however, not manslaughter.
Even for that we should be relieved that Millington’s staunchest supporter,
B.C. police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe
, had no part in the decision. More…

 

Corrupt cop oversight agency to oversee
investigations into cop corruption

Even if they wanted to, could Stan Lowe and his crew
handle the Abbotsford allegations competently? More…

 

An “informal investigation” or a cover-up?

Vancouver Police Professional Standards and B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner have questions
to answer regarding VPD constable Taylor Robinson. More…

 

Will anyone scrutinize this OPCC/VPD cover-up?

Some questions arise as the public hearing into Vancouver
police constable Taylor Robinson (supposedly) approaches. More…

 

B.C.’s OPCC rules
on witness tampering

B.C. police complaint commissioner Stan T. Lowe and his
deputy Rollie Woods actually approve of the process. More…

 

A question Stan Lowe won’t answer

Why did B.C.’s police complaint commissioner stay silent about
Vancouver cop Taylor Robinson shoving a disabled woman to the ground? More...

 

A contradiction further exposes
the OPCC whitewash

The legislative committee’s final report confirms seven MLAs deliberately
blocked public input from their sham inquiry into police complaints. More...

 

BC Liberal MLA Gordon Hogg’s hypocrisy
about “fiduciary duty”

He spurned his duty to act on OPCC corruption. But to save his political skin
Hogg calls for an inquiry into a much lesser scandal. More...

 

MLAs Murray Coell and
Kathy Corrigan lie to the media

Such is their determination to whitewash B.C.’s Office of the Police
Complaint Commissioner that they resort to obvious dishonesty. More...

 

Police interests welcomed
but public input ignored

B.C.’s auditor general and seven MLAs set out to whitewash
the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
But they inadvertently confirmed the OPCC lacks
transparency and accountability. More...

 

B.C.’s auditor general praises the OPCC.
But how was the audit conducted?

The auditor general and a committee of MLAs seem to have evaded public input
into the audit of B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

 

Time to examine B.C.’s secretive OPCC

Legislative committee asked to call an inquiry
into the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

 

Four cases that show the dishonesty
of B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

Stan T. Lowe, Rollie Woods, Dirk Ryneveld and Bruce M. Brown are liars.
They lie obviously, complacently and arrogantly. More...

 

This OPCC cover-up was just temporary

Why did Stan T. Lowe and his crew of ex-cops
take so long to issue their 2011 annual report? More...

 

Right from the beginning,
Richard Rosenthal tainted the IIO

B.C.’s new police watchdog hired OPCC cop retreads
from Stan T. Lowe’s crooked crew of ex-cops. More...

 

More reason for cynicism
about the MLAs who will audit the OPCC

Another MLA committee sees nothing wrong with B.C.’s
conflict of interest commissioner being in a conflict of interest himself. More...

 

An unprecedented blow
to B.C.’s police status quo

The CBC investigation into a consistently pro-police witness-for-hire
is the first real scrutiny the OPCC has ever had. More...

 

How far did Stan Lowe go
to clear the cop who killed Paul Boyd?

Eight gunshots were justified by the OPCC’s imported witness.
“He’s partisan, he’s paid for, he always testifies for the police officer
and he will always justify a shooting.” More...

 

Legislative committee to examine
B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

Will that mean long-overdue scrutiny or a whitewash
of this secretive, unaccountable agency? More...

 

Why did the OPCC delete
its archive of media releases?

Probably because Police Complaint Commissioner Stan T. Lowe
and his crew of ex-cops are covering up their cover-ups. More...

 

Secrecy, dishonesty and zero accountability:
Yet another OPCC cover-up

New Westminster police constable Sukhwinder “Vinnie” Singh Dosanjh
benefited from the corruption of Stan T. Lowe and Rollie Woods
at B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. More...

 

An appeal to B.C.’s media:

Okay, you told us about
IIO chief Richard Rosenthal.
Now what about OPCC boss Stan Lowe?

In just five days, B.C.’s media gave the new guy much more
scrutiny than ever devoted to Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops.
But they have a lot to answer for, starting with their cover-up
of a VPD assault on a disabled woman. More...

 

Lowe integrity:
Police complaint commissioner
Stan T. Lowe and his deputy,
Rollie Woods, are corrupt

Their lies, cover-ups, breach of public trust
and support for gratuitous police violence
will bring them millions of dollars. More...

 

Welcome to Canada and the
Independent Investigations Office,
Richard Rosenthal

This job calls for an outsider.
Here’s hoping you’re the right one. More...

 

Ex-police complaint commissioner
Ryneveld gets another lucrative
government gig

Ironically, challenging an alleged gangster.
But Dirty Dirk’s a liar who lacks the integrity
to practise law. More...

 

The OPCC to the rescue?

Cop-cover-up king Stan Lowe and his corrupt crew of ex-cops
will review the cop-on-cop investigation into the cop shooting
of Alvin Wright. But maybe this time...

 

Thomas Braidwood sells out

His support notwithstanding, B.C.’s
new Independent Investigations Office
isn’t what he recommended. More...
The B.C. Liberals’ handling of this issue shows they can now
pass off any odious policy with political aplomb. More...

 

Richard Peck sidesteps the central issue

The Dziekanski death squad will be charged with perjury, not manslaughter.
Among other things, that lets Stan Lowe off the hook. More...

 

Rehabilitating Rollie Woods (II)

A media puff piece praises the latest corrupt ex-cop
to be named B.C.’s deputy police complaint commissioner. More...

 

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (VI)

You won’t read this in B.C.’s mainstream media.
And that’s part of the reason we’ll never have
effective police oversight. More...

 

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (V):

Ontario’s SIU faces public criticism and a
second investigation by the provincial Ombudsman.
B.C.’s OPCC continues to escape scrutiny. More...

 

VPD Const. Taylor Robinson charged with assault
but the OPCC gang have questions to answer

Where was B.C.’s police ‘watchdog’ for six weeks
after the Vancouver police assault on a disabled woman? More...

 

Not fit to print?

B.C.’s media neglect some important problems
concerning police accountability. More...

 

Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops:
A major obstacle to police accountability

Download a leaflet here.

 

The problem goes beyond biased investigations

Thanks to favourable treatment from prosecutors and courts,
cops walk free when civilians wouldn’t. More...

 

Police-involved deaths:
The failure of self-investigation

Ontario has three times the population of B.C.
But B.C. has twice as many in-custody deaths and an
oversight agency that’s closely tied to the police it oversees.
More...

 

Who’s watching the police?

Ex-cops and cop culture prevail at the OPCC.
Will B.C.’s new police oversight agency be any different? More...

 

The OPCC has a big problem
but it’s not money

No budget increase will fix B.C.’s system of police accountability
as long as Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops run the show. More...

 

What’s behind Chief Jim Chu’s proposal?

An expanded IIO could improve police accountability
or do the opposite, depending on what happens with the OPCC. More...

 

This cover-up has been another
VPD/OPCC co-production

Looks like the OPCC helped Vancouver cops cover up
an especially troubling assault. Yet the B.C. government wants
the OPCC to run the new Independent Investigation Office. More...

 

When you see them comin’,
better step aside

A disabled woman didn’t, and a rough, tough Vancouver cop
shoved her to the ground. The VPD cover-up lasted
six weeks, until the BCCLA released the video.
The OPCC won’t answer media inquiries.
Read about it here. Watch the video here.

 

Justice compromised, with OPCC approval

Cops drag out the seven-month-long Yao Wei Wu
police brutality investigation for another two months,
putting a lawsuit on hold. Stan Lowe and his crew approve. More...
More about the dubious investigation into the
Vancouver police beating of Yao Wei Wu here and here.
Sept. 20, 2010 update:
And another delay, with OPCC approval. More...
Oct. 5, 2010 update: The OPCC grants yet another delay.
“This case starkly illustrates why police
should not be investigating other police officers”
— and also why their investigations shouldn’t be
reviewed by ex-police officers. More...

 

Welcome to the OPCC, Poulton and Collins.
You should feel right at home

The newest additions to Stan Lowe’s crew of ex-cops
help maintain the OPCC’s police culture. More...

 

Is special prosecutor Richard Peck
whitewashing ex-prosecutor Stan Lowe?

Lowe’s Dziekanski decision could get in the way
of his appointment to the IIO. Unless, maybe,
somebody comes up with some revisionist history. More...
May 4, 2011 update: Richard Peck has dragged out his Dziekanski review
for nearly a year. Meanwhile he supported the Criminal Justice Branch decision
to defend police misconduct in Frank Paul’s death. More...
May 6, 2011 update: Peck sidesteps the central issue,
charging the Dziekanski death squad with perjury, not manslaughter.
Among other things, that lets Stan Lowe off the hook. More...

 

Will the B.C. government defeat Braidwood’s purpose?

Against his recommendations, they might put
B.C.’s new police oversight agency under the jurisdiction
of Stan Lowe, Canada’s most outspoken supporter
of the Dziekanski death squad. More...
The province’s hesitation on a key Braidwood recommendation
— that the new Independent Investigation Office answer
to the ombudsperson — is “curious and worrying.” More...
Well, the government defeated Braidwood’s purpose alright
— with more than a little help from Braidwood himself. More...

 

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (IV)

Ontario’s NDP criticizes the AG for
‘buckling under a very powerful police lobby.’
Meanwhile B.C.’s NDP, Liberals and cops
stand united against police accountability. More...

 

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (III)

A conflict between Ontario police and the SIU
contrasts with the very chummy relationship
between B.C. cops and the OPCC. More...

 

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (II)

Without an ombudsperson’s strong oversight
B.C.’s police ‘watchdog’ will remain B.C.’s police lapdog.
More...

 

Police accountability:
Comparing B.C. with Ontario (I)

Their system is a flawed work in progress
but it surpasses ours in three crucial areas. More...

 

Linda Bush addresses the issues sincerely.
But the RCMP?

Mounties will gladly accept legislative changes
as long as Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops
continue to run the show. More...

 

Police use unreliable stats
from an unreliable source

The OPCC cooks its books for cops,
who may have created the OPCC in the first place.
More...

 

Rehabilitating Rollie Woods (I)

B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner might be
building a positive media image for this biased ex-cop
while it hires five more ex-cops just like him. More...

 

Stan Lowe is part of the problem
with our police complaints process

The system doesn’t work, it’s long needed reform
and B.C.’s police complaint commissioner is a
prime example of what’s wrong with it. More...

 

Much ado about the RCMP

Media buzz notwithstanding,
proposals to make the Mounties more accountable
amount to almost nothing. Meanwhile B.C.’s biased
complaint system for municipal cops escapes media scrutiny.
More...

 

Lesson 1:
Don’t go near a stapler

OPCC boss and Dziekanski death squad supporter
Stan Lowe will advise immigrants
on dealing with police. More...

 

Stan Lowe wants five new recruits
for his crew of ex-cops

This time, will the OPCC hire people with ability and integrity?
Or will it hire more people like Rollie Woods and Bruce M. Brown?
More...

 

There’s a human cost to our
biased system of police complaints

People like Ian Upton, Rollie Woods and Bruce M. Brown
might think they’re just sticking up for their buddies.
But their dishonesty takes a toll on the welfare
of people they’re paid to serve. More...

 

All’s well here,
claim Stan Lowe and his crew of ex-cops

We’re doing a great job — trust us,
their 2009 report implies. More...

 

Stan Lowe states his guiding principle:
Bigshots should be accountable to no one

“People will not be able to freely exercise their discretion
because they’re concerned about one day
being brought to an inquiry.” More...

 

We need an independent review
of the decisions and hiring practices
of B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner

No one can screw up the way
Rollie Woods and Bruce M. Brown
screwed up unless it’s deliberate
and they know they can get away with it.
More...

 

The rising cost of rubber stamps

Stan Lowe and the ex-cops at B.C.’s
Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner want more money.
But our tax dollars would be better spent on an independent review
of the OPCC’s decisions, as well as its hiring practices.
What would Lowe and his crew do with a budget boost, anyway? More...
Oct. 11, 2010 update:
The OPCC has a big problem but it’s not money. More...

 

Against all evidence,
Stan Lowe sided with the cops.
But would an independent prosecutor do the same?

Lawyer and former judge William Sundhu
continues the campaign to lay criminal charges
against the Dziekanski death squad. More...
July 1, 2010 update: Is special prosecutor Richard Peck
whitewashing ex-prosecutor Stan Lowe? More...

 

Did Rollie Woods
work on the Reuben Coleman file?

The Vancouver police investigation into a Vancouver police shooting
was approved by the ex-cops at B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
At least one of them might have been a crony
of the cops involved. More...

 

Bill 7: Where’s B.C.’s opposition party?

The NDP opposition joins the BC Liberal government
in supporting a biased police complaint system. More...

 

Keeping a Lowe profile

Stan Lowe finally made his public debut
as police complaint commissioner.
But he needn’t have put if off
if this is the kind of media coverage he gets.
More...

 

An open letter to
police complaint commissioner Stan Lowe

It was nice meeting you, but your Dziekanski decision
and your staff of ex-cops hardly inspire confidence. More...

 

MLA Mike Farnworth did what?

Farnworth attended the fundraiser for Robert Dziekanski’s mother.
Farnworth also helped appoint Stan Lowe police complaint commissioner.
Lowe took part in the decision to smear Dziekanski
and shield four cops from criminal responsibility for his death.
As a result, Dziekanski’s mother is campaigning to have Poland press charges.
So she held a fundraiser — which Farnworth attended.
More...

 

Questions arise about
police complaint commissioner

How can Stan Lowe hold public confidence
as police complaint commissioner and
why did five MLAs appoint him in the first place?
More...

 

‘A Lowe point’

An editorial in the Vancouver Province.

 

‘It’s easier to blame Robert Dziekanski’

A column by Les Leyne in the Victoria Victoria Times-Colonist.

 

Stan Lowe’s ‘embarrassing damage control exercise’

A column by Ian Mulgrew in the Vancouver Sun.

 

Read more about the Stan Lowe/Bruce Brown/Rollie Woods/OPCC cover-up
of VPD constable Taylor Robinson’s assault on a disabled woman
Download a leaflet about Stan Lowe
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