VANCOUVER - RCMP and chiefs of municipal police forces in British Columbia say public confidence in police investigating themselves is so low that the provincial government must create an independent unit to investigate police-involved deaths and serious allegations against officers.

Supt. Bill McKinnon, president of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, said Wednesday such an agency is needed "as soon as possible."

"No matter what we seem to do we can't seem to sway public perception in relation to investigations of police investigating themselves," he said at a joint news conference with RCMP at the national force's headquarters in Vancouver.

McKinnon said no particular case has led to the lack of public confidence in police, and he shied away from questions surrounding the death of Robert Dziekanski, who died after being stunned by an RCMP Taser at Vancouver airport in October 2007.

Several other high-profile incidents of police-involved shootings in B.C. over the years have prompted critics to call for an independent agency to investigate such cases -- the same as is done in other provinces, including Ontario.

But McKinnon said the timing of a police chiefs meeting to discuss the issue last week had nothing to do with this week's resumption of an inquiry into Dziekanski's death.

"I think there have been a number (of cases) in the province over the last few years but to single out any one specific case, no, I couldn't," he said.

"The (association) is calling for the creation of this new unit in order to build public trust and confidence."

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said an independent oversight body is needed because public confidence is "the greatest asset that police have across Canada."

"Anything jeopardizing that confidence needs to be removed and addressed," he said in a statement.

Two B.C. men have been shot by police in recent days.

A Vancouver officer fatally shot a 46-year-old knife-wielding man who police say refused to a drop the weapon he was holding to his wife's throat. And a 40-year-old man is in critical condition in hospital after he was shot by a Mountie in Chemainus, B.C., during a traffic stop.

McKinnon said the agency that would investigate such incidents should be led by civilians.

But Chief Bob Rich of the Abbotsford Police Department told the news conference that civilian oversight doesn't mean police won't be involved. Police officers may carry out investigations into officer-involved deaths but would report to the government.

"These investigations are homicide investigations, they require the very best, the most experienced people who do that kind of work in order for it to be done right. So we have to have a balance between that expertise and independence," said Rich, who is also president of the B.C. Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police.

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said there's no point in having an independent organization if police are involved.

Eby, who showed up at the news conference, said afterwards that such a unit must consist solely of civilians.

In past investigations, police have been "doing things like providing the questions in advance to the police officers that they're investigating or not asking the difficult questions of why the physical evidence doesn't match up with what the police version of events is," he said.

B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed said he is moving towards developing a disciplinary investigation process that covers all police officers in the province.

Last week, he introduced amendments to the Police Act that covers municipal police departments to give more powers to the independent police complaint commissioner to oversee investigations against officers.

Heed said he also wrote to Ottawa asking the federal government to consider bringing the province's RCMP officers under the B.C. Police Act.

"That was the start of a process to increase accountability and transparency in policing for all of British Columbia," he said. "I'm advocating for all police officers, regardless of the colour of their uniform, to fit under those umbrellas in British Columbia."

Heed's Police Act amendments did not call for an independent public body to investigate the police, but he said he would consider changing the process.

While several controversial police investigations in recent years have strained relations with the public, Dziekanski's death and the public inquiry into his death have become a lightning rod for complaints against the Mounties.

The four officers involved in confronting Dziekanski at the airport have been accused of lying in their testimony and the RCMP have been accused of trying to cover up what happened to the would-be Polish immigrant before a witness came forward with graphic video of the Taser encounter.

In the past, RCMP have been reluctant to turn over responsibility for internal investigations to an outside agency, but on Tuesday the senior Mountie who was in charge of the investigation of Dziekanski's death told the public inquiry that he thinks allegations of improper or illegal conduct by RCMP officers should be investigated by an outside agency.

Supt. Wayne Rideout said it was his personal opinion that such a body would free RCMP officers from the negative public perception that results when they are asked to investigate colleagues.

Last month, the RCMP's federal watchdog, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, urged the formation of an outside body to handle such cases.

The proposed independent agency would investigate all cases of death or serious injury in custody, as well as serious allegations of wrongdoing against police officers.

It would have a different role than the B.C. Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which currently oversees complaints against municipal police agencies in the province, and the federal Commissioner for Public Complaints Against RCMP.

These agencies deal with routine public complaints but this agency would deal with serious allegations, he said.