One of the BC police vigilantes says he wants to get out of the province to find an investigator in an astonishing series of allegations about what happened in a course that trains undercover police officers.
CTV News has learned that the course, BC’s undercover municipal program, closed abruptly earlier this month following allegations that several officers went to extremes in a course setting to prove they were not a cop .
These actions include exposing the genitals, defecating another agent, penetrating an agent with a vegetable, and removing feminine hygiene products, several sources confirmed to CTV News.
“That sounds disgusting if these allegations are correct. It’s frightening, frankly,” BC Attorney General Mike Farnworth said in the audio of the interview provided to CTV News.
“This is an investigation that needs to be done. We want it done quickly. We want it done well. That’s what will happen,” he said.
About two dozen officers attended the course at the Sheraton Wall Center in downtown Vancouver, according to sources. They came from a variety of agencies, including the Vancouver Police Department and the Vancouver Metro Traffic Police.
The course itself runs under the BC Association of Municipal Police Chiefs, unlike the BC Institute of Justice.
Police agencies sent CTV News questions last week to traffic police, who responded with a statement saying: “Police agencies involved in the recent BC Municipal Undercover training course are aware of the allegations that have been made. presented on the behavior of various agents during the course. “
“As a result of the review, a request has been drafted … to the Office of the Commissioner of Police Complaints to request an investigation order,” spokesman Const. Amanda Steed.
That order would have kept the investigation in the province, but given the large number of municipal police forces involved, the agency overseeing the police misconduct investigations said it would leave the province.
“The alleged misconduct involves police officers from various BC municipal police departments and is alleged to have occurred within the course activities,” said Cameron Loveless of the OPCC. “In view of the number of BC municipal police agencies involved, the commissioner has written to the Ministry of Public Security and Attorney General to ask for help in identifying a properly investigative body independent of any BC agency.”
Critics say they want an independent investigation into a top-secret area of policing and raised questions about what financial resources were spent and whether it was necessary to be in a downtown Vancouver hotel.
“Knowing the reports of really disturbing and inappropriate behavior being made under the guise of police training is deeply troubling. This is something that BC residents are funding,” said Meenakshi Mannoe of Pivot Legal Society.