Last night, CTV aired W5’s excellent examination of three recent RCMP-involved fatalities in British Columbia. The review of the deaths of Ian Bush, Kevin St. Arnaud and Robert Dziekanski ought to disturb everyone who is concerned about the administration of criminal justice in this province.

As one who has too much experience in this area, I can confirm that when police cause death through the use of force, our criminal justice system does not respond adequately. Reform is overdue.

Two changes could go a long way to fixing the perception that police are above the law: have a civilian unit investigate all cases where police are involved in serious injury or death and have an independent prosecutor review the investigative results to make a charge assessment. Nothing short of this will suffice.

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The four-part W5 story “Beyond Justice: When the RCMP pulls the trigger” can be found on www.ctv.ca.