Vancouver Island had nearly 30 police oversight investigations last year, a higher rate than the Lower Mainland once population is factored in.
That is one of the findings from the Independent Investigations Office of BC’s latest annual report. The IIO is a civilian-run watchdog that investigates whenever someone dies or is seriously injured in a police-involved incident.
In the 2024–2025 fiscal year, 174 new investigations were launched across BC, with 30 ocuring on Vancouver Island.
While that matches Vancouver Island’s 17% share of the province’s population, the per-capita rate was 3.22 per 100,000 people compared to 2.64 in the Lower Mainland.
Greater Victoria accounted for a large share of the Island files. VicPD was involved in nine cases, Saanich Police in four, and Central Saanich Police in two.
Vancouver Island RCMP detachments connected to cases included Nanaimo, Comox Valley, Oceanside, Duncan, Port Alberni, Powell River, Shawnigan Lake, and Sidney/North Saanich.
In it’s report, the IIO said the opening of a permanent office in Nanaimo has reduced travel time for investigators and allowed faster responses to incidents across the island.
Majority of the cases were similar in trend and involved self-inflicted injuries or deaths, or whether an officer’s use of force was reasonable under the circumstances. There were also firearm-related incidents and several cases involving people in crisis.
Two active investigations linked to Vancouver Island police agencies were referred to Crown counsel this year, including a serious harm case involving Central Saanich Police. Province-wide, 12 cases were referred.
The report notes that Indigenous people remain overrepresented in IIO files, making up 18% of affected persons despite representing only 6% of BC’s population.
Investigations on Vancouver Island took an average of 74 days to complete, compared to 41 days in the Lower Mainland. The IIO says timelines have improved from previous years.
The full annual report is available at iiobc.ca.
