3843 replies to this topic

[pontcanna]

IIO is Investigating a Motor Vehicle Incident in Courtenay (2025-113)

May 4, 2025

Case: #2025-113

Incident Date: April 29, 2025

Detachment: Courtenay 

Location: Courtenay 

Agency: RCMP Incident 

Classification: Serious Harm 

Case Status: Open - Investigation in Progress

The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating a motor vehicle incident that occurred in Courtenay.

Information provided by the RCMP states that on April 29, 2025, an officer driving an unmarked police SUV was responding to a call. While driving, the officer was involved in a collision with an unrelated vehicle near the intersection of Piercy Avenue and 26th Street.

It was separately reported to the IIO that following the collision, the officer continued driving to the initial call for service, later returning to the scene of the collision and speaking with the man who had been driving the other vehicle. The man was later taken by ambulance to the hospital for assessment.

The IIO was notified on May 2 and is now investigating.

There are two factors that the IIO takes into account at the beginning of each investigation:

If there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or a death; and
If there is a connection between the serious harm/death and police action or inaction.

If there is a connection to police action or inaction and the person’s serious harm or death, the chief civilian director will determine if there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been committed.

[pontcanna]

cspolice

 

On Friday we welcomed our newest Police Constable for her swearing in. Cst Comerford brings a strong background in mental health and previously worked with vulnerable adults. She will be starting her training at the Justice Institute (Monday) and will be on patrol in the community in August.

Congratulations and welcome!

[pontcanna]

Central Saanich Police Service

Today we welcomed our newest Exempt Police Constable! Cst Bonneau brings a strong background in policing from his years with the BC RCMP in the Westshore and Sidney, and has education in mental health. He will be serving the #csaan community starting next week.

 

Congratulations and welcome!

 

 

 

[pontcanna]

Victoria Police Department

We were all smiles for #McHappyDay, supporting Ronald McDonald House and their incredible work providing a home away from home for families with sick children.

Thank you to the community for supporting such a meaningful cause, and for bearing with us as we traded traffic duty for tray duty.

 

[Victoria Watcher]

VicPD says that officers and reserve constables will be at the event helping to control traffic, and that the police department’s new surveillance drone, the RPAS, will be used to monitor for public safety.

 

“The RPAS camera does not record by default. If recordings need to take place to gather evidence, or capture an incident, the public will be notified, and that data will be stored for 30 days or longer,” said VicPD in a notice Thursday.

 

Esquimalt Buccaneer Days, which kicked off on Thursday and runs through Sunday, includes a midway carnival, a marketplace, a “Kid’s Pirate’s Den” – and on Sunday, a Mother’s Day brunch and skydivers, all centered around the Archie Browning Sports Centre at 1151 Esquimalt Rd.

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...turday-1254186/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 May 2025 - 02:36 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.vicnews....f-calls-8005896

Sooke RCMP trying to keep pace with a record number of calls

As of May 9, Sooke RCMP has received 2,258 calls for service this year








Wilcox contextualized the numbers by comparing Sooke with communities of similar size. Oak Bay and Central Saanich, which exceed Sooke’s population of 15,086 by 2,299 and 2,904 people respectively, each fielded roughly half the calls for service that Sooke did.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 May 2025 - 08:31 AM.

[Mike K.]

Sooke’s population was 15,086 in the 2021 census. It has grown by several thousand people since then. How much has Oak Bay’s population grown?

Also, what the media fails to cite here, is Sooke RCMP has the largest jurisdiction in the CRD, also serving East Sooke, Otter Point, Shirley, Jordan River, and Port Renfrew. That’s about 23,000-24,000 people today, not 15,086.

Classic misinformation journalism. If you can’t cite the context, don’t run the story.

[Victoria Watcher]

It still seems high, the number of calls. In the old days the RCMP would only attend Port Renfrew once per week, unless it was terribly urgent.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 May 2025 - 08:42 AM.

[Mike K.]

It’s just physics.

Sooke RCMP has a massive territory, and with that comes a lot of calls related to wilderness hijinks, campsite issues, trail accidents, beach parties, highway incidents, you’ve got a significant volume of tourism that travels past Sooke and heads into remote areas, stolen vehicles get dumped in Sooke when the thieves realize they can’t escape the CRD by going past Sooke, unless they want to run out of gas and walk back, and so on.

When cell services were extended from Sooke to Port Renfrew that led to more calls for service just due to access to 911. Police told me before the expansion went live they were concerned their resources would be unable to keep up by the projected increase in calls and the distances required to service them, and they were right.

[Mike K.]

This is the result when young adults fresh out of school work as journalists. They can’t parse the data, and lack an understanding of regional context.

Oak Bay’s population is falling. Central Saanich is static.

Sooke’s population is growing rapidly. And Sooke RCMP have a significantly larger population to serve (red boxes below) over a massive span, lots of tourism, etc. Context is important when making comparisons between two data points.

[Victoria Watcher]

I fairness, the cop brought it up. The comparisons.

[Mike K.]

Yes, I saw that.

But the role of the media is to provide context and dig a little, no? The cop misrepresented the info, unless he’s only speaking about in-Sooke calls for service, but he didn’t specify, at least the reporter didn’t mention it. The media should enquire and confirm details before running a story lacking context, by adding context. The cop could be misinformed or misinforming, or both.

[aastra]

 

Sooke RCMP has a massive territory, and with that comes a lot of calls related to wilderness hijinks, campsite issues, trail accidents, beach parties, highway incidents, you’ve got a significant volume of tourism that travels past Sooke and heads into remote areas, stolen vehicles get dumped in Sooke when the thieves realize they can’t escape the CRD by going past Sooke, unless they want to run out of gas and walk back, and so on.

 

On the other hand, the CoV is about 1/3 the land area of Sooke, which means Vic PD has a small territory, and with that comes a lot of calls related to...

[aastra]

File this under "Police forces in Greater Victoria trying to keep pace with a record number of calls... as per usual".

[LJ]

What's the number of police in Sooke compared to Oak Bay or Central Saanich?

 

I know the Sooke office is short of staff, the sergeant in charge is my neighbour.

[Victoria Watcher]

2020:

 

 

 

RCMP are looking to add another police officer to the Sooke detachment to get a step closer to accommodating 24-hour coverage.

 

Seventeen police officers are stationed in Sooke – 13 as municipal officers and four as provincial – not enough to serve the region around the clock, Staff Sgt. Brett Sinden told Sooke council recently.

 

Sooke needs 22 officers, Sinden said.

 

 

 

[...]

 

 

The Sooke detachment has consistently been behind in staffing for the region. The provincial standard for an RCMP member to the public is 1-for-744 residents, but Sooke is currently at 1-for-1,100.

 

If Sooke RCMP stay on track with the district’s official community plan to have one officer for every 1,000 people, they should have an additional officer in 2020 and 18 municipal officers by 2028.

 

If Sooke RCMP adopted one officer’s provincial standard for every 744 people in municipalities under 15,000, they should have had 19 municipal officers in 2019 and working towards 24 municipal officers by 2028.

 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....-coverage-77157

 

 

 

 

 

 

AI:

 

The Oak Bay Police Department in British Columbia has approximately 30 staff members, including sworn and civilian personnel. This includes police officers and support staff, such as administrative personnel. The department has been serving the community since 1906. 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 May 2025 - 01:27 AM.

[Mike K.]

What's the number of police in Sooke compared to Oak Bay or Central Saanich?

I know the Sooke office is short of staff, the sergeant in charge is my neighbour.

Yes, short of staff.

They also just started 24-hour policing, many years behind schedule. There was no overnight police at the detachment up until very recently. And there may still not be. It’s not all that clear if they have 7-day 24-hour staffing. The info is hard to nail down.

LJ, could you ask your neighbour to shed some light on that stat? That would be very helpful to know.

[pontcanna]

May 15, 2025 

 

25-07 BC Prosecution Service approves Motor Vehicle Act charge against Central Saanich Police Service officer

 

Victoria – The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) announced today that a charge under the Motor Vehicle Act has been approved against a member of the Central Saanich Police Service, Cpl. Phillip DiBattista, following an incident that occurred in Central Saanich on May 21, 2024. The incident was investigated by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) and referred to the BCPS for charge assessment. 

 

Times-Colonist 2022

 

An Information charging Phillip John DiBattista with one count of driving without due care and attention, contrary to section 144(1)(a) of the Motor Vehicle Act, was sworn on May 15, 2025, under Victoria provincial court file number 190316-1. 

 

The first appearance on this matter is scheduled for June 11, 2025, at Victoria Law Courts. The charges were approved by an experienced Crown Counsel who has no connection with the accused. 

 

The charge assessment guidelines applied by Crown Counsel in reviewing all Reports to Crown Counsel are established in the BC Prosecution Service Crown Counsel Policy Manual and are available online at: 

 

www.gov.bc.ca/charge-assessment-guidelines

 

 

[pontcanna]

May 15, 2025 

 

25-08 BC Prosecution Service approves Motor Vehicle Act charge against Vancouver Island RCMP officer 

 

Victoria – The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) announced today that a charge under the Motor Vehicle Act has been approved against a member of the RCMP currently serving with the North Cowichan/Duncan detachment, Staff Sergeant Steven Perret, following an incident that occurred in Ladysmith on June 1, 2024. 

 

Media briefing @ Ft St John, 2010

 

Staff Sergeant Perret was a member of the Vancouver Island District RCMP at the time of the alleged offence. An Information charging Steven Michael Perret with one count of driving without due care and attention, contrary to section 144(1)(a) of the Motor Vehicle Act, was sworn on May 15, 2025, under Nanaimo provincial court file number 93255-1. 

 

The first appearance on this matter is scheduled for June 10, 2025, at Nanaimo Law Courts. The charges were approved by an experienced Crown Counsel who has no connection with the accused.

 

[Victoria Watcher]

 

May 15, 2025 

 

25-08 BC Prosecution Service approves Motor Vehicle Act charge against Vancouver Island RCMP officer 

 

Victoria – The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) announced today that a charge under the Motor Vehicle Act has been approved against a member of the RCMP currently serving with the North Cowichan/Duncan detachment, Staff Sergeant Steven Perret, following an incident that occurred in Ladysmith on June 1, 2024. 

 

Media briefing @ Ft St John, 2010

 

Staff Sergeant Perret was a member of the Vancouver Island District RCMP at the time of the alleged offence. An Information charging Steven Michael Perret with one count of driving without due care and attention, contrary to section 144(1)(a) of the Motor Vehicle Act, was sworn on May 15, 2025, under Nanaimo provincial court file number 93255-1. 

 

The first appearance on this matter is scheduled for June 10, 2025, at Nanaimo Law Courts. The charges were approved by an experienced Crown Counsel who has no connection with the accused.

 

 

Police will not tell us what the incident involved, but CHEK has this:

 

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...ervice-1255380/

 

 

 

On the same day as the incident Perret was charged for, an unmarked police vehicle was involved in a two-vehicle crash on the Trans-Canada Highway in Ladysmith, though the BCPS has not confirmed it is the same crash.

 

It occurred at 11:48 a.m. on the Trans-Canada Highway near Edgelow Road South in Ladysmith.

 

In the days following the crash, BC Highway Patrol told CHEK News that the drivers of the two involved vehicles had been injured in the crash.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 May 2025 - 03:20 AM.