P.E.I. in negotiations with Nova Scotia's police watchdog over funding

P.E.I. is exploring a new way of funding investigations into serious complaints against police.

Currently, the province pays for the time of civilian investigators with the Nova Scotia Serious Incident Response Team.

In the last year and a half, SiRT has done four investigations on the Island.

No wrongdoing was found in three casesa shooting, an alleged sexual assault and a complaint of excessive force and the fourth was the weapons case of former RCMP officer Jeffrey Rae Gillis, which is currently before the courts.

• Former RCMP officer's weapons trial slated for January

The province says the price tag for these cases was about $50,000.

Permanent contribution

Ron MacDonald, director of SiRT, said he'shoping for a permanent contribution from P.E.I., rather than the province paying for the time it uses.

"If we're able to come to an arrangement where we can develop a permanent contribution, we can increase our resources, which will assist us in covering any additional cases from P.E.I.," he said.

The team, which is made up of four investigators, has a mandate to independently investigateall serious incidents that arise from the actions of police in Nova Scotia.

MacDonald andP.E.I. saynegotiations are still underway. There's no word yet on whether a new funding model would cost P.E.I. more or less than usingSiRTdoes now.