New civilian director of BC's police watchdog from Okanagan

The new leader of BC's police watchdog hails from Merritt and the Okanagan. Attorney General Niki Sharma has appointed Jessica Berglund as the new chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office. The IIO is a civilian oversight agency that investigates incidents where people died or were seriously injured as a result of police conduct whether the officer was on or off duty. Berglund’s appointment follows the retirement of the former chief Ronald J. MacDonald earlier this year.  She grew up in the Merritt area on a cattle ranch and her family moved to the Okanagan. She went to Penticton Secondary School, has a bachelor degree in French and Asian studies from the University of Victoria, and studied at the Beijing Normal University. Following her bachelor’s studies she went to law school and was called to the bar in 1998. Berglund spent 21 years working for WorkSafeBC and ended up as the director of occupational health and safety investigations. READ MORE: B.C. police watchdog clears West Kelowna officer in October portable toilet shooting https://infotel.ca/newsitem/bc-police-watchdog-clears-west-kelowna-officer-in-october-portable-toilet-shooting/it105245 She was also president of the board of directors of the mental health organization Pathways Clubhouse from 2016 to 2022. Currently she lives in Richmond with her husband and son. Click here for more information about the IIO. https://iiobc.ca/ To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .