Inquiry on Policing in British Columbia - The Oppal Inquiry

• Author: Norman J. Groot
• Pages: 325-340

CHAPTER

8

INQUIRY

ON

POLICING

IN

BRITISH

COLUMBIA

—

THE

OPPAL

INQUIRY

Justice Oppal's Commission

of

Inquiry

on

Policing

in

British Columbia

(the

Inquiry)1

was

a

major

initiative

of the

British Columbia government

to

address issues

of

importance

to

the

general public about policing

and

other related activities

in the

province. Although

the

majority

of the

report

focused

on the

recognized police agencies

and

their practices,

the

Inquiry also made

an

effort

to

address concerns relating

to the

private sector players

who

performed

police-like services.

Although

the

Inquiry addressed many issues discussed

in

prior chapters

of

this book,

the

recommendations were

not

incorporated because many

of

them were addressed

by

other sources

and

because

the

recommendations

of an

inquiry

are not

law.

Notwithstanding that

the

recommendations

are not

law,

the

findings

are

very

insightful

to

understanding liability issues pertaining

to

private investigators.

It is

reasonable

to

assume

that

the

Inquiry will

form

the

basis

of

review

of the

private sector investigation industry

in

other provinces

in the

future.

The

following

are

paraphrased sections

from the

Inquiry report, retaining many

of

Justice

Oppal's

expressions,

and

setting

out

some

of the

Inquiry's recommendations.

8.1

REGULATION

UNDER

THE

PRIVATE

INVESTIGATORS

AND

SECURITY

AGENCIES

ACT

Private security agencies

are

regulated

by the

Security Programs Division

of the

Ministry

of

Attorney General

(the

Division)

in

accordance with

the

Private Investigators

and

Security

1

Oppal,

W.T.,

Policing

in

British Columbia Commission

of

Inquiry,

Closing

the

Gap:

Policing

and

the

Community

(Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1994).

325

326

CANADIAN

LAW AND

PRIVATE

INVESTIGATIONS

Agencies

Act

(the Act).

The

director

of the

Division (the registrar) determines whether

to

license

a firm or

individual. Both security employees

and

security businesses must

be

licensed, including businesses

in

private

investigation.2

There

are few

licensing criteria

and

they

are

relatively easy

to

satisfy.

However,

the

reg-

istrar

has

considerable discretion

to

refuse,

suspend,

or

cancel

a

licence

on the

grounds that

the

applicant

or

licensee

is

undesirable

in

terms

of

education, training, experience, skill,

mental condition, character,

or

repute;

it

is not in the

public interest

to

license

the

person;

the

applicant

or

licensee

has

done something contrary

to the Act or

licensing condi-

tions;

the

applicant

or

licensee

is

convicted

of a

specified

crime;

or

the

person

is a

peace

officer.

Licensees

or

applicants

may

appeal decisions

of the

registrar

to the

police commission.

There have been forty-nine appeals

in

British Columbia since 1988

and six

between 1991

and

1993.

Most

of

these appeals have been regarding employee licences. Since 1988 there

have

been

five

appeals regarding agency

licences.

Licensees

are

required

to

report such things

as

changes

of

address

and

criminal charges

or

convictions,

to

display licences,

and to

surrender them upon cancellation,

and to

refrain

from

using terminology,

uniforms,

or

vehicles that might suggest they

are

police.

The Act

prohibits

a

security business

or

employee

from

engaging

in

work without

a

valid licence,

and it is

also

an

offence

under

the

regulations

to

fail

to

disclose

required information.

However,

there

is no

specified

power

for the

registrar

to

investigate

offences.

On the

other

hand,

the

regulations

do

permit

the

registrar

to

inspect businesses

to

ensure licensees com-

ply

with

the

Act.

8.2

REGULATION

BY THE

CANADIAN

CHARTER

OF

RIGHTS

AND

FREEDOMS

Recent cases suggest that

the

Charter

applies

to

private security personnel only when they

are

making

an

arrest. When they

are

acting

for a

private employer, they

may not be

sub-

ject

to

Charter

provisions that would apply

to the

same actions

by a

police

officer.

Thus,

for

example,

the

Ontario Court

of

Appeal determined that

a

private security agent might

be

able

to

detain

a

person

without having

to

comply with

the

Charter,

although

the

agent

would have

to

comply

if the

detention amounted

to an

arrest.

In

Alberta,

the

Court

of

The

terms

"Private

Security

Agents"

and

"Private

Security

Agencies"

are

used

in the

Private

Investigators

and

Security

Agencies

Act to

include,

in

addition

to

private

investigators,

security

guards,

alarm

service providers,

armoured-car

service

providers,

locksmiths,

and

security

consultants.

2