It was one of those moments. We were sitting around the city council table and everyone seemed in a congratulatory mood as the latest quarterly RCMP statistics were read. And then I noticed one of the items in the report that went unmentioned – the Cranbrook RCMP detachment was down one member. You guessed correctly. It was the member recently charged with theft for allegedly stealing a laptop computer from a local pawn shop.

The information was there for every council member to see, as well as the public on the city’s web page, but no one said a thing.

I was tempted to ignore it, too. The story had appeared in the local media and got some national play. And it was Cranbrook council, and council above all else, loves to be positive. And once again this was the case as several council members praised the force for the wonderful job it’s doing regardless of the fact that one of its members had just been charged criminally right here in River City.

Damn it, I thought. Even the little boy in the fairy tale had the temerity to say “the emperor has no clothes.” But no one at this council table was going to say anything. Is it important?  You’re darn right it’s important. RCMP service is one of the most costly items in the city’s budget, which we’d just spent six weeks reviewing. Does this sort of thing happen very often? Not in Cranbrook, but now it had and no one on council seemed to care. Wasn’t this a great opportunity to hear what the RCMP had to say about the incident? After all, there were three RCMP members in the gallery, including the inspector.

So when it was my turn to speak, I was a little hesitant. Why not just play along with the crowd? It would be the politically safe and expedient thing to do. You don’t cross the RCMP and you don’t want to be the odd one out on council. But then I thought, what am I here for? To march in step with the band or raise concerns that I’m sure would be of interest to the public? Rightly or wrongly, I decided the public’s right to know trumps every other concern.

Know what, you ask? Well, here’s a very incomplete list of alleged RCMP transgressions over the past several years:

–          Air India bombing, more than 300 lives lost in by far the biggest act of terrorism in Canadian history. On June 25, 2005, Prime Minister arper apologized HYHHHarper apologized to the families of the victims for “institutional failings” by the RCMP and CSIS saying “the protection of citizens is the first objective of government.”

–          On Oct. 25, 2005, a RCMP officer claiming self-defence shot 22-year-old Houston millworker Ian Bush in the back of the head after picking him up for having an open beer outside the local hockey arena. A police inquiry later cleared the officer.

–          On Oct. 14, 2007, four burly RCMP officers arrested and tasered Robert Dziekański five times at the Vancouver International Airport  with the would be Polish immigrant dying a few minutes later. Amateur video of the incident resulted in a torrent of criticism from around the world. Inquiry Commissioner Justice Robert Braidwood deplored the “shameful conduct” by the officers involved.

–          On Jan. 27, 2012 B.C. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Craig Callens, said the Force felt “deep regret” for not catching  serial killer Robert Pickton earlier. “We could have done more.” A female RCMP member of the Pickton team said she was sexually harassed by male officers during the investigation and several other female members have since leveled charges of harassment against male members.

–          On Jan 11, 2012, a RCMP officer in charge of the Merritt detachment was charged with stealing cocaine from the detachment’s evidence lockup.

In response to my question, Inspector Brian Edmondson pointed out that these incidents are relatively few in a force that numbers close to 18,000 members in Canada. Police have to make quick decisions in difficult circumstances and most of the time they do it correctly and professionally “but that never makes the news,” Edmondson replied.

I agreed with him and even related a recent incident in which a RCMP member acted with great dispatch in locating an elderly relative of my wife’s that had dropped out of sight. But what about the list above and many other recent RCMP incidents that have resulted in the force being seen in a negative light? Should we leave it up to the police to investigate themselves?  I don’t think so and when it happens in your own back yard, I think you have every right to raise questions in any venue, including the council table.

You may disagree.

Article Share