For every decision Richard Rosenthal will make as the provinces new police watchdog, his experience suggests a likely reaction will follow.
It goes like this.
For every decision you make, you will make one temporary friend and one permanent enemy, said Rosenthal, the chief civilian director of the fledgling Independent Investigations Office, who spoke to the Courier Monday.
Or, as Rosenthal was to some in Los Angeles as a public corruption prosecutor, he will be the hero. To others, he will be the dog.
Thats Rosenthals analysisand one he carried from Los Angeles to Portland, where he set up a police oversight agency, and then to Denver, where he had his admirers and critics as that citys independent monitor of the police department and sheriffs office.
Heres a taste.
He did a fantastic job, said Cathy Reynolds, a member of Denvers Citizen Oversight Board. Law enforcement can be resistant to any change and the idea that they, for the first time, were going to have real civilian oversight was a tough pilland theyre still having a tough time swallowing it.
Maybe that explains the reticence of Nick Rogers, president of Denvers police union, to speak on the record when contacted by the Courier. The only thing Ill say on the record is thanks Canada [for hiring Rosenthal], said Rogers, whose union represents 1,400 Denver cops.
Now Rosenthal is in Vancouver, where he is setting up an independent agency tasked with investigating police incidents resulting in serious harm or death.
In other words, if a cop shoots someone, Rosenthals agency will investigate. If a cop beats someone, Rosenthals team will be there.
Serious incidents involving off-duty cops will also fall under Rosenthals watch, which really begins in the summer when his officelikely in Surreywill be fully functional.
He expects to hire at least 60 people and create four investigative teams and a forensic squad to probe incidents currently investigated by police departments.
Working with a budget of about $10 million a year, Rosenthals agency will have jurisdiction over the provinces municipal police departments and RCMP detachments.
But, he admits, the provinces size and geography will prove to be a challenge when his investigators may have to travel to a remote part of B.C.
That is one of the great challengesdealing with an area the size of mainland Europe and with areas that are fairly inaccessible, particularly during the winter, he said from a temporary office on Hornby Street. To help with the challenges, he will rely on the people he hires, some of whom will be former police officers; only those who have not been a cop for five years can apply.
Our goal is to civilianize the organization in the long term, he said. So the more competent civilians we can get at the front end, the better off well be.
The knock against the current system of police investigating police is that it presents a biasthis according to the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and Pivot Legal Society.
Though Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu and other senior police officials have pointed to cops being the best trained investigators, a VPD deputy chief, the VPDs union president and members of the RCMP were all present when Premier Christy Clark introduced Rosenthal to the media in December.
They all agree that an independent agency will restore the publics faith in investigations of police and bring transparency to an area that continues to be controversial.
And unlike the current Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which examines conduct in municipal police departments, Rosenthals office has the ability to recommend criminal charges to Crown counsel.
In addition to investigations that withstand public scrutiny, Rosenthal wants more public reporting of incidents, more transparency and evidence that all investigative bases were covered.
But when asked how he will accomplish his goal in a province heavy with privacy legislation, Rosenthal acknowledged the uncertainty of an end result.
Thats going to be a very interesting road to take to see how extensive my public reporting will be, he said, noting in Denver he was given a lot of leeway. The only real thing I wasnt able to do was name names.
Rosenthal said he expects to receive a high level of cooperation from police departments when investigating incidents. But thats not to say there wont be controversy.
So what I have to do is kind of put blinders on, he said. And I dont careI really dont care what people are going to say about me in the end, as long as Im doing the right thing and as long as I can live with myself and the decisions I make.
Twitter: @Howellings
