The accusations and finger pointing at the Missing Women Inquiry have begun.

During his opening remarks to Commissioner Wally Oppal, the lawyer representing disgraced ex-Vancouver police investigator Kim Rossmo said he plans to highlight senior management’s negligence in the Robert Pickton investigation from 1997 to 2002.

“In my submission, the evidence will show … the police investigation as a whole was nothing short of an epic failure,” said attorney Mark Skwarok.

According to Skwarok, senior VPD officials ignored Rossmo’s early reports that a serial killer could be on the loose in the Downtown Eastside. Rossmo’s superiors also blocked him from issuing a press release warning the public.

The fractious and strained conditions “prematurely ended (Rossmo’s) 21-year career” in policing, Skwarok said.

Sean Hearn, representing the VPD, admitted that Pickton should have been arrested sooner.

“The Vancouver Police Department has expressed it could have, and should have, done better,” he said, while extending an apology to the victims’ families.

At the same time, he urged Oppal not to be biased by hindsight.

“During the investigation itself, the investigators stood at the surface of a flat landscape with hundreds of possibilities and little to guide them,” he said. “The investigation was conducted by people, and even those with the best intentions and skills are not perfect.”

Witness testimony at the inquiry is expected to begin today.