A sheriff shortage is threatening B.C.'s legal system, internal report reveals

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma is promising more money to fixa chronic shortage of sheriffs that has led to at least 86 courtappearances being cancelled or delayed this year.

Sharma says the government is responding to an internal reportthat painted a damning picture of working conditions, includingbullying and sexual harassment for the people who transportprisoners and protect British Columbia's courts.

That report found a years-old recruitment and retention crisiswithin the B.C. Sheriff Service, problems it attributed to low pay, atoxic work environment and ineffective management.

"This understaffing has far-reaching consequences, affecting jobsatisfaction, staff and courthouse safety, supervisoryresponsibilities, and the overall well-being of personnel," saidthe report, which was conducted by a group of researchers within theministries of the Attorney General and the Public Safety andSolicitor General.

"If this situation continues unchecked, it could lead to courtclosures and limited access to justice for British Columbians," thereport said.

Sharma's office said she was not available for an interview.

In a provided statement, Sharma said government planned toinstitute "a more competitive pay and benefits framework forsheriffs." Her office did not say how much more money sheriffswould be paid or what that pay increase might cost.

The government has also since announced a $10,000 retention bonusfor sheriffs in B.C., which would cost more than $4 million if allserving sheriffs were to collect.

'We are seeing burnout'

Observers say problems at the B.C. Sheriff Service stretch backmore than a decade and have been ignored by successive governments.

The B.C. General Employees' Union president Stephanie Smith, whoseunion represents those sheriffs, says failure to fix the problemsthreatens the integrity of the province's courts.

"We are seeing burnout. We're hearing from our members who fearfor their own physical safety and the safety of the courts and thejustice system," Smith said.

B.C.'s 550 deputy sheriffs the official designation aretasked with protecting judges and other officials, transportingaccused persons in custody and otherwise maintaining the safety ofthe province's courts. Without them, many court matters can'tproceed.

The 2023 report found 11.7 per cent of deputy sheriffs left theirjobs either voluntarily or involuntarily in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

More than a fifth of sheriffs under the age of 30 resigned in thatsame period.

The researchers found more than half of surveyed sheriffs wereactively looking for a new job in 2022. They estimated between 40and 50 per cent of deputy sheriffs already work a second job to makeends meet.

The report found that had led to chronic understaffing andsheriffs reported being forced to cut corners to keep the courtsrunning.

"Staffing shortages have gotten so bad that the wheels have comeoff the bus and we are driving down the road at 100 miles an hourwaiting for the impact," one sheriff told the investigators.

Lower pay than other law enforcement

The biggest issue identified by sheriffs was inadequate pay.

Under their latest collective agreement, deputy sheriffs have astarting salary of about $68,000 and will make $77,000 at the top ofthe pay scale, five years into their job.

That is far lower than their comparators in other law enforcementcareers.

A new police officer in Vancouver, for example, makes nearly$78,000 more than a sheriff at the top of their pay scale. Withovertime, most Vancouver Police Department officers are paid morethan $100,000 per year. An RCMP officer at the top of the pay scalemakes about $20,000 more than a deputy sheriff.

Many of those police forces are facing their own challengesrecruiting new officers. Smith says they've begun to target deputysheriffs for recruitment. Sheriffs, Smith said, enjoy moreconsistent hours and duties than police, but can't compete with therate of pay.

"We lose them very quickly to other policing services," Smithsaid.

The 2023 report found recruiting and training a new sheriff takesbetween six and eight months and costs about $47,000. The high rateof turnover means sheriffs often work far in excess of theirscheduled 35-hour work week, Smith said.

In some cases, government has had to pay to move sheriffs betweenlocations to keep the courts running. The Ministry of the AttorneyGeneral's office said it had spent more than $300,000 to providerelief for deputy sheriffs since the start of the 2021-22 fiscalyear.

In some cases, court appearances have been delayed, cancelled ormoved because a sheriff was not available. The ministry's officesaid there had been 86 such incidents this year as of Sept. 7; therewere none in 2021 or 2022.

Kyla Lee, a criminal defence lawyer in Vancouver with Acumen Law,says she has had multiple cases where a trial was delayed because asheriff was not available. She said such delays had a "snowballeffect" because they lead to further delays in the court system asmatters are rescheduled.

"It's really caused a lot of chaos for people. The experience ofgoing to court is very stressful for people as it is," Lee said.

Those problems are not new. In 2017, a Victoria judge freed anaccused cocaine trafficker because there was no sheriff available toescort the arrested man from a cell to the courtroom. That year,then-attorney general David Eby instituted a pay bump for deputysheriffs aimed at easing recruitment issues.

But Lee believes sheriffs are still not paid enough.

Sheriffs,she said, often protect judges when there are credible threats totheir safety. They are armed and also transport accused persons incustody, she said, who include violent offenders and people withcomplex mental health and substance issues.

"They have to be mental health professionals. They have to bephysical security. They have to be drug addiction and medicalexperts all at the same time in different courts," Lee said.

The government's information sheet for applicants notes sheriffsdeal with "unpleasant, upset, hostile, angry and potentiallyviolent clients."

The 2023 report found sheriffs also contended with abureaucratic, confrontational work environment where bullying andsexual harassment sometimes appeared to go unchecked.

'Bottom rung'

Investigators received survey responses from more than 200 deputysheriffs, or more than 40 per cent of the B.C. workforce. They alsoconducted focus groups across the province that produced more than400 pages of written notes and interviewed officials within theservice and at partner agencies.

What they reported back was a culture of "risk aversion" and anorganization that "tends to reward people who criticize andundermine their colleagues rather than those who foster morale andassist others in succeeding."

For example, deputy sheriffs who work at a provincial court inVancouver's Downtown Eastside told investigators they had sometimesresponded to overdoses near the building. But rather than beinglauded for that, the sheriffs said "they receive little positiverecognition for their efforts, and some fear they will bereprimanded for trying to save people's lives."

Many attributed it to their position within B.C. Court Services, abranch of the Ministry of Justice, where some sheriffs said theyfelt they were "the bottom rung" of the organization's ladder.

Sheriffs in all but one region told investigators they facedbullying and inappropriate behaviour from supervisors, including"making comments that employees found inappropriate, uninvitedphysical contact of a sexual nature, making threats againstemployees' job security and singling employees out for unduediscipline."

The report says many deputy sheriffs also reporteddissatisfaction with the BCGEU's representation of them. Some feltthe union, which has more than 85,000 members in B.C., waspreoccupied with representing office workers and had not done enoughto fight for better pay.

"I would disagree that we don't represent sheriffs well," Smithsaid. She said the BCGEU had advocated to raise sheriff's wages tothe $85,000 to $90,000 salary range, something the 2023 reportrecommends as a new benchmark salary.

"I know how hard it is to get Treasury Board to agree tosomething like this. This is not just a single person saying let'sget it done," she said.

Problems with the sheriff's service are not new.

In 2008, the BCGEU commissioned Simon Fraser University emeritusprofessor and criminologist Neil Boyd to do a survey of the service.

His survey identified widespread problems of low job satisfactionfed by low pay, a limited scope of duties and poor management.

He said there were "remarkable similarities" between hisfindings and the 2023 report.

"Those were all issues identified 15 years ago," Boyd said.

'Getting worse, not better'

Smith, whose union has historically been a major donor andsupporter of the B.C. NDP, said she blames the lack of progress on theB.C. Liberals now B.C. United who were in power from 2001 until to2017.

Mike de Jong, the B.C. United justice critic and a former attorneygeneral, defended his party's record and said the B.C. NDP had failedto address the issue during their six years in power.

"The situation is getting worse, not better," de Jong said.

He noted one issue identified in the 2023 report was the monotonyof the job something deputy sheriffs reported had become evenworse since the COVID-19 pandemic, when some accused persons beganjoining court proceedings virtually.

De Jong said B.C. should consider following Alberta's model,which allows sheriffs to do tasks like serve outstanding warrants,as a way of making the job more interesting.

"You've got a group of trained, talented people whose talentsare not being fully utilized. And they're getting bored," he said.

He said he also supported increasing the pay scale for sheriffs,though he did not say if he agreed it should go as high as the BCGEUand the 2023 report have advocated.

"You've got to look at the market and you've got to fill thosevacancies, and that's undoubtedly going to require some adjustmentupward," de Jong said.

Boyd expressed some optimism the latest report will be takenseriously, given it comes from within government itself. "It's notas if this is a report written by a small group of angry formersheriffs," he said.

He said governments of all stripes have repeatedly ignored issueswith the service that have now reached a critical juncture.

"The danger is that if the problems persist with recruitment andretention, you're going to get a situation where the courts are notfunctioning properly," he said.

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