Attorney General of BC Announces Public Inquiry Into Police Investigation of Robert Pickton

On Thursday, September 9, 2010 the Attorney General of B.C., Mike de Jong, announced a public inquiry into the police investigation of Robert Pickton. The inquiry will focus on examining how the police handled reports that women were disappearing from the Downtown Eastside and taken to Pickton’s farm outside of Port Conquitlam, B.C.

In 2007 Pickton was convicted of six charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of six women, which occurred between the late 1990s and 2002. He was accused in twenty other charges, but the Crown chose only to proceed on the charges that would most likely lead to conviction.

The Crown and Vancouver Police Department suspected as early as 1997 that Pickton was involved in the disappearance and deaths of sex trade workers from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Although the V.P.D. has admitted that they made mistake during the investigation they also directed blame at the R.C.M.P., which has jurisdiction over the area that Pickton’s farm is located. The R.C.M.P has not responded to these allegations.

The Public Inquiry Act governs public inquiries in B.C. The government is not obliged to act on any of the recommendations that result from the public inquiry. Both the Vancouver Police Department and the R.C.M.P. have responded positively in support of the inquiry.

Mr. de Jong has not indicated who will head the inquiry or when the inquiry will begin.