Does anybody remember the Paul Boyd police shooting? I do. I happened to know the guy. Seven months have passed since his supposed rampage on Granville and subsequent fatal gun-down and I still don’t know what happened that night in August 2007. And worse, I know I never will, but can’t the Vancouver Police Department at least stack its deck in a timely fashion?

I still don’t know how many times Boyd was shot, where he was hit, or who did the shooting. I seem to remember someone in the VPD stating that their self-investigating would take six months and here we are with nothing. Yes, I realize it’s a moot point since Chief Constable Jim Chu already blurted out his blunt opinion that the cops’ actions were completely justified. Muddying the water further, conflicting witness accounts were seemingly refuted just for the fact that they were conflicting, particularly with the VPD’s version of events.

I have contacted the B.C. Civil Liberties Association who lodged an official complaint in September last year and, sadly, they seem to be just as in the dark as I am.

One might almost get the impression that without anyone holding their feet to the fire, the VPD simply wait these things out, letting time work its magic on an easily distracted and amnesiac citizenry. And unlike the Robert Dziekanski Taser incident, there were no cameras there that night on Granville. We are once again left to take the cops’ word on it. The lack of police accountability in this town is as wide open and glaring as the foregone conclusion of their own vindication.

It makes me think that the CCTV idea isn’t so bad after all. At least we could keep an eye on the cops.

Rod Filbrandt is a contributing artist for the Georgia Straight. He maintains a personal blog called Chowderhead Bazoo.