The composition of the newly opened Bureau of Independent Investigations is coming under fire, as groups opposed to police brutality argue there should be fewer former police officers in the unit.
The new unit has been three years in the making, replacing the way police forces are investigated whenever a death or injury occurs during a police operation.
Another police force used to handle that investigation, but now that falls to the new independent body.
Critics wonder how objective the unit really is. Of the 18 people who make up the new investigative office, 11 are former police officers.
The Bureau of Independent Investigations said former police officers are needed for their investigative expertise and that no former officer will be asked to investigate a police force where he worked.
Groups like Justice for Victims of Police Killings say they wonder how impartial former police officers can be, and also complain that the new investigative office is anything but diverse.
The majority of the members are white males and the argument is that that kind of composition doesn't accurately reflect the face of Montreal.
A member of Justice for Victims of Police Killings, Julie Matson’s father died in 2002 while in the custody of Vancouver Police.
Matson said she has no faith in the new Quebec unit because the public was never consulted.
“The face of it, it is tainted. And also there is no input by the public. It was just this appointed bureau. It would have been great if we were contacted to have some opinion. I think that's a pretty fair request,” she said.
