Victoria/Chilliwack – The Criminal Justice Branch, Ministry of Justice (CJB) announced today that no charges have been approved against two police officers in relation to their use of force in arresting a suspect on February 16, 2014 near Chilliwack. The incident was investigated by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), which subsequently submitted a Report to Crown Counsel to CJB.
Following an investigation, where the Chief Civilian Director of the IIO determines that an officer may have committed an offence, the IIO submits a report to CJB. The Chief Civilian Director does not make a recommendation on whether charges should be approved or what charges CJB should consider.
In this case CJB has concluded, based on the available evidence, that there is no substantial likelihood that the officers would be convicted of any offences arising from the circumstances.
In order to maintain confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice system, a Clear Statement explaining the reasons for not approving charges is made public by CJB in cases where the IIO has investigated the conduct of police officers and forwarded a report to CJB for charge assessment.
