Police complaint system 'just daft' and in need of rapid overhaul, lawyer says

Police in Newfoundland and Labrador will soon be under review by a new government-established working group, and Mount Pearl sex abuse litigator Lynn Moore says a hard look at police oversight mechanisms is long overdue.

"The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act has been in existence for over 30 years and it's been problematic from the start," Moore said.

Minister of Justice John Hogan revealed what government is calling a "policing transformation working group" during a press conference on Monday.

"This working group will evaluate the current policing provincial model to ensure Newfoundlanders and Labradorians receive the most effective and efficient policing service possible and to meet the needs of our diverse communities," said Hogan.

The working group will review the operations of both the RCMP and the RNC in the province.

"On a national scale, reports published in the last five years, such as the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission report and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report, have both called for government to rethink the delivery of policing services," read a news release from the Department of Justice.

Moore represents several clients who have made complaints against RNC officers in the past, and says there are several looming issues with the current police oversight system, including the fact that politicians have a direct hand in policing when they appoint positions such as inspectors, chiefs, deputy chiefs, and superintendents.

Furthermore, Moore said, the "public complaint system is just daft." 

"At its essence it is just fundamentally unfair," said Moore. "The chief of police is in an inherent conflict of interest." 

The chief of police is the person who both decides on whether public complaints should be laid, and also whether or not they're founded to begin with.

"So he holds this hearing where he's already decided there should be a charge, and now he's got to decide if the charge is substantiated," said Moore. "In every other aspect of justice, the person who makes the complaint, who lays the charge, does not also hear the charge."

Moore said that for a member of the public who makes a complaint and appears before the chief of police, the process is murky, with very little information provided.

"[It's] like you're in a boxing ring with both your hands tied against behind your back," said Moore. "You have no opportunity to meaningfully participate."

Moore also said she's heard from women going through the public complaint process in the past who have told her it feels like a second assault when their voices aren't heard.