British Columbia plans to boost training for select police and Crown prosecutors to conduct better risk assessments in domestic violence cases.

The changes are in response to a multiple murder in Oak Bay that highlighted the gaps in B.C.'s domestic violence programs. By the time the training program is ready, more than three years will have elapsed since that incident.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic violence cases investigated in British Columbia jumped last year by nine per cent.

Solicitor-General Kash Heed announced yesterday he has secured $250,000 to develop the specialized training, making it his most substantive new investment in domestic violence since the Sept. 4, 2007, Peter Lee murders.

Mr. Lee killed his estranged wife, his young son and his parents-in-law before killing himself. He was on bail facing charges after allegedly trying to kill his wife over her request for a divorce.

Mr. Heed said he expects to have senior police officers, bail supervisors and at least one Crown prosecutor in every regional office around the province take a three-day course by the end of this year.

But he won't restore the province's dedicated Crown counsel for domestic violence – a position that was lost last fall during budget cuts.

“We are trying to bring this across the province,” he said yesterday. “We think this is a better way of rolling this out. We can have a true impact.”

Tracy Porteous, executive director of the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia, applauded the new training but said it ignores the need to provide a better safety net for families trying to escape domestic violence.

Ms. Porteous said funding has not kept up with increased demands for community victims' services programs. “They have completely unmanageable caseloads now,” she said.

New Democratic Party critic Leonard Krog said he doesn't expect the new training regime to protect families at risk.

“It's better than nothing,” he said. “But is it adequate in response to the problem? Absolutely not. It has, like much of what the Liberals are doing lately, the smell of public relations more than substance.”

In January, on the heels of the coroner's inquest into the Peter Lee murders, Mr. Heed pledged deliver “huge, system-wide” new measures to tackle domestic violence. Other changes, such as stricter bail rules and domestic violence courts, are still being evaluated.

Mr. Heed has ordered a death review panel under the Coroner's Service to look at what can be learned from homicides due to violence in relationships over the past 14 years. The panel met for the first time last week and has selected just 11 deaths, out of more than 150, to review. A final report is due May 14.

All of B.C.'s 8,500 police officers are already required to take a short online training course in domestic violence, and so far, about 1,700 have gone through the program. This new second tier will be more intensive, designed for case supervisors and others in the criminal justice system.

The program is still being developed but its central pillar will be a new 10-point risk assessment tool. When police respond to a domestic violence call, they'll be expected to probe the history of violence between the partners and sent a report to the officials who have taken the new training.

The 10 points have been developed through examining the common factors in most domestic homicides.

According to figures released yesterday, B.C.'s criminal justice branch saw a surge in domestic violence cases last year, to 10,918 new files in 2009 from 9,996 cases in 2008.

Mr. Heed said the increase is evidence that the province is improving its response to domestic violence complaints. “Based on some of the unfortunate incidents we've had, I can tell you police, prosecutors and bail supervisors are paying more attention.”