B.C. police complaints up, but ‘serious harm’ investigations fall by about half

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner says it dealt with more files last fiscal year than any time since 2020.

The office’s annual report released this week says the increase of files under investigation highlights how the need for police complaint oversight “is on the rise.”

The report says the commissioner’s office opened a total of 1,524 files in 2024-2025, up by about five per cent compared to the previous year, but the number of files involving “serious harm” investigations dropped to 13, less than half the average of the previous four years.

It says the commissioner made six recommendations to the Vancouver Police Board in response to complaints, including one about officers wearing “unauthorized patches with political connotations.”

The report says the Vancouver Police Department acted on the issue by posting bulletins about the ban on unauthorized patches, requiring officers to sign off on a policy reminder, delivering training on the implications of such patches and holding a yearly briefing to specifically address the force’s uniform policy.

The report says the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner is currently building a program to carry out “systemic investigations” after its mandate was expanded under the Police Act last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2025.