A decade has gone by since Crystal Taman was killed in a car crash in the northeast boundary of the city. An off duty Winnipeg police officer, Derek Harvey-Zenk was charged, but received a lesser sentence after the East St. Paul police department botched the accident investigation. Out of that tragedy comes a major change to how police officers will now be investigated. CTV News has learned the province is set to roll out the Independent Investigation Unit and that The Winnipeg Police Board has been briefed on it. The unit will oversee all police forces in Manitoba. It will investigate serious incidents like officer involved shootings and anything criminal in nature involving police officers. The creation of the unit stems from an inquiry report into Taman's death. It concluded East St. Paul police bungled the case and that the Winnipeg Police Service's Professional Standards Unit was too soft when questioning its own officers who were partying with Harvey-Zenk hours before the fatal crash. The independent unit could be made up of current or retired officers. CTV news has been told at least one has international policing experience. An announcement is expected as early as next month.
