Vancouver, B.C. (Canadian Press) – The RCMP needs an attitude adjustment and the shift will need to be part of any new deal British Columbia and other provinces negotiate for future policing services, says B.C.’s attorney general.
Mike de Jong told reporters after a justice ministers meeting last week that he and his colleagues in other provinces are looking for a direct line of accountability between the RCMP and the provincial jurisdiction.
A “cultural shift” needs to accompany the structural shift that they are negotiating, the minister said.
“The RCMP needs to be accountable both provincially and at the community level.”
But a long-time police psychologist says the RCMP instead need transformational change to save the force from itself.
Mounties provide policing services under contract in all provinces except Quebec and Ontario and an agreement negotiated in 1992 will expire in 2012.
British Columbia is the largest user of RCMP services in Canada, and de Jong said the province is using its lead role in contract talks to force change from the national police force.
Shortly after the results of the inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski, de Jong announced that a civilian investigation office would be established to investigate in-custody deaths and severe injuries involving municipal police and RCMP.
Dziekanski died after being jolted by an RCMP Taser several times at Vancouver’s airport. The incident was caught on video and the resulting public furor over the death tarnished the once-squeaky clean image of the Mounties.
The incident was the peak in a series of Mountie missteps across the country in the last few years.
Mike Webster is a police psychologist and worked with the RCMP for decades before he spoke out during the Dziekanski inquiry.
He said the cultural shift de Jong is proposing won’t be as easy as the minister believes.
“They’re not going to change. You can have (police) report to the municipalities … but that’s not going to bring about an attitude change, you’re not going to rekindle the moral of the membership or rekindle the trust in confidence in the public.”
He said in an interview Sunday that type of change would be incremental.
Instead, he said “a transformational change would see the RCMP transformed into an entirely different organization with a much greater chance to survive.”
He compared such a change to auto giant General Motors before and after the world’s financial collapse.
“They swept the house clean of the old guard,” he said. “They’ve downsized, they’ve knocked out middle management and so on, and they just might survive. That’s the kind of thing the RCMP needs to undergo.”
He said that would mean a change by the federal government of the RCMP Act.
De Jong said the federal government has been receptive to the idea that RCMP officers account both to the province and local communities for their actions.
The attorney general wouldn’t say yes or no when asked if there was any chance the RCMP wouldn’t get the contract.
He did say B.C.’s municipal leaders have told him they want the RCMP.
“They like that relationship, for all its shortcomings. So on the basis of those instructions we are actively working.”
Webster said there’s one main reason cities want the Mounties.
“They want the RCMP because RCMP is the Wal-Mart of policing. They’re much cheaper than getting their own police services.”
He said the mayors of those municipalities aren’t interested in good policing, they’re interested in cheap policing.
Webster said the RCMP cuts corners on the backs of its members .
He said the result is sick officers who suffer more stress at work and depression than the general public.
“The RCMP gets away with operating so cheaply because it asks so much of its membership.”
Instead, Webster believes the RCMP should restrict its role in Canada to something similar to the FBI in the United States.
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I’m happy with WalMart’s service and it’s growing because of it’s fair business plan and management model. Not so sure about the other one.
When you bank role the RCMP with Federal money is that like stacking the deck when it comes to the Provinces and Municipalities being able to fen for themselves.
It would be a good change if the federals bank roled the Provinces and Municipilities instead and got out of the policing all together if they can’t get a grip on that force and it’s membership.
We don’t need a good union all we need is good management.
I wonder if Zarcardelli’s picture is still up in Ottawa and what people say when they walk by if it’s still hanging?
Commissioner Elliot can’t be all that bad because he managed with this leaders against him to stay out of trouble…. allot better than Commissioner Zarcardelli did with them on his side.
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Yeah, and like Walmart the RCMP has a good employment equity program!
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Unfortunately I do not think that the treasury board will loosen any purse strings where the police are concerned. They are at present looking for reductions across the board, and are denying requests for new funding in all areas. The only areas that are receiving support financing with only minimal reductions are the larger municipal detachments because budget discussions are held locally. The local authorities can demand a reduction in personnel, equipment, infrastructure and meet their budgets. Remember I mentioned the 11% vacancy rate in the Province of BC’s, lower mainland? Its up to the municipalities if they wish to fund higher or lower on that number. Its also up to them if they wish to delay the replacement of office computers for another year.
You would be father ahead to ask for assurances that none of the federal enforcement money is diverted to municipal/provincial support of programs.
The one drawback to all those agencies in the US is that none of them really talk to each other, they all have separate information systems, and they compete fiercely for funding every year. There are budget quarters when the DEA in some parts of the country cease operations until new quarter funding is made available. After 911, the only real money that the DEA can get access to for large operations is if it is either organized crime (established) or terrorist inclusive trafficking. The rest of their investigations languish. The same for the FBI. Their primary focus has changed and so had their funding.
The RCMP has not had guards at the mint for decades.
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I was pretty sure the RCMP had nothing to do with the mint, but thanks for confirming this for me.
You are right that the US system is too cumbersome and one I wouldn’t advocate for Canada. It also looks very expensive! But, even if the feds expanded the federal role, I am sure it would be a world cheaper than down south.
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It doesn’t sound like there is much respect for the force when they are being compared to Walmart! The RCMP is being told, “We don’t think you are the best, but we’ll keep you around because you are the cheapest”.
Look at all the agencies in the USA that do the job the federal component of the RCMP do. Parts of Homeland Security/customs/boarder patrol, Diplomat security service, US Marshalls, DEA, FBI, ATF, Secret Service (Protective and counterfeiting), Bureau of Indian Affairs police, Enforcement component of US coast guard, and United States capital police. Does anyone know if the RCMP still fulfill the role that the US mint police would? I know at one time they used to ride in the money trucks.
When you break it down, these are a lot of responsibilities to carry out and I don’t think the federal component is large enough or has the funding to properly do the job it has been asked to do. Instead of worrying about cheap policing for the provinces and municipalities of BC, those federal subsidies would be better spent on just that- the federal component.
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In comparing the RCMP to WalMart are you saying they have become a bargain basement police force?
So why are they projecting themselves as better that the local police forces then?
Is this based on cost alone?
Speaking of cost I would like to know how much it has cost the governments since Commissioner Zarccardelli resigned to fix things for the RCMP and if this might have a baring on the funding and bargain basement attitude towards them or is it just a reality for the force and for Canadians?
I guess that would help to explain why this is happening.
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