The Vancouver Police Department has come under fire from B.C.'s Police Complaint Commissioner.

Dirk Ryneveld says the department's handling of several complaints filed by the Pivot Legal Society is "troubling" and wants the solicitor general to conduct an audit of the department.

Dirk Ryneveld

• LINK: Report of the Police Complaint Commissioner (large pdf file)

An independent RCMP investigation of the Pivot complaints – including complaints alleging abuse by officers – found nine of them had some validity. The RCMP findings were presented to Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham, who decided there was no basis to the findings and dismissed them.

Ryneveld is critical of the way the force handled the process, saying Vancouver officers did not co-operate with the RCMP investigation.

Jamie Graham

"Some of them refused to co-operate by even participating to any degree," Ryneveld says. "And my concern was that management of the Vancouver Police Department did not adequately address the lack of co-operation by their members."

Graham disagrees with that assessment, saying the Police Act is unclear about when and how an officer has to co-operate with an investigation.

Ryneveld also says Graham tried to "thwart the purpose of an external investigation" by conducting his own review of the matter.

In his report, Ryneveld calls for a complete overhaul of the Police Act to ensure more civilian oversight of police agencies.

The complaints commissioner also asked Graham to take another look at three of the allegations, something Graham says he is happy to do.

Graham chose to focus on the positive elements of Ryneveld's report, thanking the commissioner and the RCMP investigators.

"I would also like to thank Mr. Ryneveld for reassuring the public that the vast majority of VPD members conduct themselves properly."

Meanwhile, the solicitor general says the VPD is worthy of the public's trust, despite the report. Rich Coleman is also dismissing one of Ryneveld's key recommendations.

Coleman says his ministry already has independent people to conduct audits of police departments and sees no reason to audit VPD after Thursday's report.

At the same time, Coleman won't say if he agrees with the criticisms of the way Graham handled the complaints. He says he needs more details before commenting.