The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) has announced a new systemic investigation being launched, specifically looking into how municipal police address workplace sexualized conduct.
This will be the first systemic investigation of its kind in BC.
Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan seeks to analyze how municipal police agencies in BC currently prevent, investigate and address workplace-related sexualized conduct by police officers.
“Sexualized conduct in the workplace is fundamentally incompatible with the high ethical standards expected of police officers,” said Commissioner Rajan.
“Such conduct can compromise operational effectiveness, perpetuate systemic barriers to gender equality in policing, and erode public trust.”
Rajan believes that sexualized conduct within police workplaces can undermine how police interact with members of the public, specifically impacting survivors of sexual or gender-based violence.
The OPCC noted this is a recurring issue for police throughout BC.
Whether police officers are engaging in inappropriate communications or sexual assault, this behaviour can create significant power imbalances.
Some of these cases point to a systemic problem of predatory behaviours by officers in roles of authority or power over their colleagues.
One recent example of such behaviour saw a former Royal Roads instructor and police officer for the Vancouver Police who engaged in sexual misconduct with several female officers working under him. He also engaged in sexual misconduct with his students at Royal Roads.
Another saw a Central Saanich officer be victimized by lewd, sexual comments.
In total, since 2016, there have been as many as 17 OPCC investigations into some kind of sexual misconduct in the workplace for police organizations.
It is worth noting that according to Statistics Canada, workplace sexual misconduct is extremely underreported, and when it comes to police situations, that figure is even lower.
Furthermore, most formal OPCC complaints are a mere fraction of the true number of incidents.
Police officers, or civilians working in police environments, who are victimized by workplace sexual misconduct are often found to stay silent due to perceived damage to their career, stalled promotions, retaliation, being labeled “difficult” and fear of being blacklisted within a tight-knit culture.
Specifically, the OPCC says this systemic investigation will examine and make recommendations for change on the following matters:
- Policies, procedures and practices for preventing, reporting, investigating and addressing sexualized conduct in workplace settings
- Access to supports and protections for individuals who experience sexualized conduct
- Potential barriers to reporting sexualized conduct
- Availability of safe, impartial and effective complaint pathways
- Risks taken on by individuals who report sexualized conduct
- Assess training for officers in all roles relating to sexualized conduct
- Impacts of organizational culture, such as norms or practices that may normalize or minimize sexualized conduct, or create barriers for identifying and addressing it
The OPCC will publicly release a report with their findings and any recommendations following the conclusion of this systemic investigation.
