Joe Friesen and Dawn Walton (Globe and Mail)
Mounties say officers working in isolated northern communities should always get backup when responding to calls for service, but it often doesn’t happen because the force is stretched too thin.
Since the shooting death of Constable Christopher Worden in Hay River, NWT, on Saturday, questions are being raised about the safety of RCMP officers in rural detachments.
One RCMP officer in a major Alberta city expressed concern that rural members sometimes attend calls alone that would require backup in urban areas. The officer said Mounties often will take calls because they don’t want to bother others in their thinly staffed detachments or will stop on their way to and from work or out of uniform.
“Haven’t they learned anything from Mayerthorpe?” the officer said.
In 2005, a single gunman killed four Mounties in Mayerthorpe in northern Alberta during an investigation into a marijuana grow-op.
Little more than a year later, two Mounties died from gunshot wounds after pursuing a suspect near Spiritwood in northern Saskatchewan.
Policing in rural and isolated communities has proved to be far from idyllic for RCMP officers. Detachments tend to be small and tight-knit. The Hay River station has just nine officers, but weapons and drugs are as prevalent in many northern communities as they are in big cities.
One RCMP officer who has worked in the North for several years said it should be routine to respond to calls for service with backup.
“You should always go with two,” said the Mountie, repeating the phrase like a well-worn mantra. “And you should always assume they have firearms … You should always be prepared. If you’re complacent, you can get hurt or killed.”
The officer said most homes in the North have rifles for hunting purposes, which makes every situation potentially deadly.
But the officer admits he is not always as vigilant as he should be. He has responded to calls on his own, and stumbled into situations that he hadn’t thought through.
He can recall walking into a home where 20 or more people had been drinking to remove one trouble-maker. Even with another officer for backup, it could have gone badly wrong, he said.
He has at other times forgotten to handcuff suspects, or walked into a volatile situation without properly assessing his entry and exit routes.
He said the force is simply stretched too thin to have enough officers in all places at all times. The baby-boom generation is retiring, and there are times when, with time off and training courses, his detachment is down to three officers: one working days, one working nights, and one on call.
Sergeant Tammy Patterson, an RCMP spokeswoman, said the force has conducted a risk assessment of its backup policy “to ensure that it will reflect the realities of policing in all parts of its jurisdictions and mitigate, to the extent that is possible, the risk of responding to calls.”
She said RCMP members are expected to assess risk using the Incident Management Intervention Model, which is part of their training and teaches them to consider who they are dealing with, whether weapons or alcohol are involved, and whether they are equipped to deal with the situation.
“It’s the risk assessment that we stress, and being aware of your own limitations. You can’t anticipate every action that someone else is going to take,” Sgt. Patterson said.
A year after the 2005 shootings in Mayerthorpe, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada ruled that the RCMP would not face workplace-safety charges in connection with the deaths of constables Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston, Brock Myrol and Peter Schiemann.
The public inquiry into the incident will take place after the criminal aspects of the case - two men face first-degree-murder charges - wind their way through the courts.
The federal government is also investigating the workplace-safety aspects of the Spiritwood case and has not laid workplace-safety charges in the deaths of RCMP constables Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Clarence // Oct 10, 2007 at 11:15
I also believe that any police officer working alone espercailly at night is asking for trouble and any superior asking an officer to respond to a call at night should be held responsible.
If the value of a human life is based on finances then we are really missing the mark big time.
The Detachment of the RCMP in the NWT lost a good man and he can be replaced but what do we tell the widow and his child who cannot replace this Husband and Father?
In work related areas we need to pick up the slack and make sure we are accountable to the best of our abilities to the men and woman already risking their lives everyday. Wake up People and Governments of this land if you want to continue to be SAFE at NIGHT!
Stand behind your men/woman and pay the price it takes to keep them safe as they pay the prices daily to keep you safe and sound…
Shot 5 times in the line of duty and lucky to be alive, I KNOW!
2 speaking my mind // Oct 10, 2007 at 17:58
Working alone is only part of the problem. However, I would much rather be in a bad situation alone than with ineffective backup.
A big part of the problem is with the RCMP’s training program. Yes, they have a very good firearms program and excellent instruction regarding the correct use of force for the given situation. A real survivalist mentality is taught.
Where the wires become crossed is that the Applied Police Sciences program is geared toward community policing, which is code for twisted Politically Correct liberal thinking that will get you killed. What I like to call the “armed social worker mentality”. Now, I am not against community policing, my problem is that the current application is more liberal symbolic than anything else. Mountie’s know all the great buzz words now days, but are involved less in the community on their off time than ever before.
The point I am trying to make is that because political correctness reins supreme in our society, it seems to often win out when a more tactical approach should be given. In basic training when a cadet applies tactal thinking in a potentially dangerous scripted scenario they are chided and branded a “tackleberry or excessive force prone” when no violation of procecure has been done. Add to the fact the Academy has gutless anonymous peer assessments to subjectively evaluate each other, it is best just to conform to the warped thinking. Believe me, you get less grief to be taken hostage in the eyes of your peers than to prematurely rest the web of your hand on your gun sights while it is still in the holster.
One lesson an firearms instructor asked our troop, if you are uncomfortable in a situation are you allowed to unsnap your holster and place your hand on your side arm? The students answered a resounding NO! Then he said, why not? It’s not against the law. Thinking like a soldier may not be the most politically correct, but it will keep you alive when thinking like a social worker won’t.
Add to the fact that there are too many people getting into the force because of hiring targets and quota’s that should not be there brings added problems to the table. It is scary how some of these people scrape by in everything that they do, never getting anything right the first time that are now gracing our streets.
Given the above information it is easy to see why getting backup may not be all it is cracked up to be. It is a clear fact that almost all of the Mountie’s getting killed are ones who have gone through the less disciplined politically correct model. Just try and tell this to the liberal minded know it all’s who run the Academy who have never walked a beat in their life…
3 Clarence // Oct 11, 2007 at 09:02
Hi Anon,
Good view on training now let me give you a real senario.
On June 2, 1981 after being ordered to work a double shift or I would be fired after an officer didn’t show up for work because he was at a local bar I was shot 5 times point blank 5 times and left to die, wearing no vest.
The assailant stole the police cruiser and drove off loosing control and striking a telephone pole causing extensive right front damage.
When I came to I took care of myself and then I called for an ambulance as I was working alone that 12-8 shift.
The assailant was escaping with a damaged police cruiser heading east while up to three different police cruisers were responding from up to 5 miles out that I was shot met the stolen cruiser and let it go… they have spent more time covering up this fact in all the years since I was almost killed than what would of happened that night.
I can see the 1st cruiser missing it but when you call it in you would thing the other two police cruisers coming behind would of set up a road block and took a stand. They eventually did setup a road block but only after the assailant put something on the gas peddle and drove it off a cliff into the water.
What is interesting in this case was that the cruiser was found the following morning by a cottager, no statements were taken by willing witnesses at both crime scenes, pictures were taken and never gathered, a taxi driver met the cruiser also and no statements were taken, articles lost was never found but disappeared, an eye witness on his way to help me who saw the shooting was intercepted by the chief and driven away, a revolver found in the police cruiser was allowed to remain in the unsecured police cruiser for 8 days in a fire hall and was discarted and never sent to a crime lab and there’s allot more.
As you said I also think that the very training programs stink when the officers who are trained by the academy do this kind of work it would seem that it’s time to look at that whole program, from the ground up.. it stinketh.
Thanks for your comments I really value them.
Someone who is very lucky to be still alive….
Clarence
4 speaking my mind // Oct 12, 2007 at 08:13
Hi Clarence, I have read your story and it sounds absolutely horrible. It bad enough to have somebody do that to you but to have the force not back you up is unforgivable.
The RCMP is very image conscious and they have always been able to exercise reality control and circle the wagons like no other organization. This all feeds into the “RCMP does not make mistakes” mentality. Like in Orwell’s 1984 if the RCMP says 2+2=5, than you have to say it is five as well- even when your eyes and heart tell you that it has always been four!
To expand on my above post about training and the organization. The force runs Depot like it is a reality TV show such as “Survivor” than they do a serious Law enforcement facility. They have an anonymous peer assessment in place, AKA “Peer Assination’s”. A given troop’s corporals spend almost zero time with the troop, so they rely on cadets to “rat” on each other for chicken hearted subjective things. In my view all this does is cause trouble, it politicizes the workplace and promotes distrust of each other. All the military principles of teamwork went out the window a long time ago. It had to- the force’s politically correct hiring policy’s ensured this. The irony is that demilitarization was deemed needed to attract more women, but at the same time develop a system that prevented the weak from being pulled through by the strong so they could throw out the useless ones. It would shock many people to see how much money gets wasted and how many cadets from “target” groups get turfed for incompetence. What is scary is how many that are incompetent actually get through.
What is dangerous about the current “everyman for himself” mentality is that when you go into a bad situation, members now spend more time looking over their shoulder at who is standing behind them, when they should be paying attention to who is in front of them. A culture has been promoted to where members are afraid to do their job now. One where it seems people are more afraid of being stabbed in the back than shot in the front. Yes, backstabbing is rampant.
All I can say is if you look at the tragedy’s that are occurring, it is not just when one person is working, but members seem to be getting killed in pairs or sadly double pairs. I don’t know what happened in Mayerthorpe other than what I gathered from the news but I really think the incident has to be looked at on a deeper level. I have had more than one person say to me “that tragedy would not have happened to the Military Police”. What is their explanation? It is the belief that although an ERT team should have been there that day, a 360 degree “arc of fire” should have been established to see whoever was coming in advance from any direction- preferably while taking some form of cover. Good old fashioned soldiering. However, such tactical thinking will get you branded a “Rambo” and does not gel with the RCMP ’s softer politically correct image. (deemed more important than public or member safety) The reality is that thinking like a soldier in such situations will in all reality save your life.
The wires are too often crossed in members brains. It is not the job of politically correct, meek and passive social workers to take on armed gunmen, it is a soldiers job. Anyone who cannot deal with that concept should leave, however the lucrative pay
and prestige will forever prevent this.
5 Clarence // Oct 13, 2007 at 08:47
Oct 13, 2007 - What is the basic problem with the force I think is that they think they are untouchable and forget that we are in a life and death battle between the forces of GOOD and EVIL (Ephesians 6:10-18). It’s like being in a wrestling match with two wrestlers trying to kill each other and they are the referees. There are rules but sometimes it just gets out of hand and when they cross the line watch out!
One of the many problems are when their guard is down and when they are misinformed about their communities and how they are perceived. Not everyone loves a uniform and when they see one it’s like waiving a red flag in front of a bull.
Another problem I see is the ones on top who got their “God Knows How” are clueless about the war they are fighting and when an officer is hit or killed they just move on.
In Psalms 133 speaks of the issue of Unity and because it’s not part of anything much today of value the power of the psalm is really missed and the discernment that comes with it too.
The force has been overpowered by evil because of the practices of a some in the force itself and while they seldom are dealt with, the rest are subject to attacks. The old saying what you do to others will also happen to you is like the force of gravity it’s there, it exist and one day pow you will him dirt… what I find unfortunate is sometimes it’s the good officers that get caught up in the cross fire…. I also believe what happen to those 4 officers was not their fault and to my knowledge we have looked to lay blame on others outside the force itself instead of on the senior RCMP staff and that has always been the number one problem. Someone sent those officers there and did not send the right team first… a man of war knows to secure the area
But as usual they scratch and still draw a pay check.
With consequences comes changes as well with no consequences there is little and no changes.
Blessings!
6 Billy // Nov 10, 2007 at 04:47
Let an old dog tell you a couple of other things. Anon is dead on. The other angle is after training, after recruit field training, and after a few years of taking care of #1 first. Now comes a promotion system, completely overhauled no less than 4 times since 1994. Each overhaul reinforces the “me first mentality”. In days of yore, it took many years of top notch assessments and demonstrated ability to solve crime to get promoted. Now a couple of good examples stretched out over the stated competencies gets the nod. Coupled with a written nonsensical examination gets you to the dance for promotion. Your examples can consist of all Cops for Cancer or some charity drives along with PR work in the schools. You could be the laziest most useless individual and still get promoted. Your yearly assessment even if you get one, means diddly.
There are people who can’t work at night, have been off with “problems” for years, have to have lunch on time, are on lithium or other heavy medication, on steroids, substance abusers, gambling problems, scared to work alone, can’t fight, won’t fight, never arrest or backup, ignore the radio, and the list goes on. Nobody with the will to weed out the non hackers who are not fit to pack the gear to be in the Force. The system to deal with these people is terribly onerous and therefore never exercised. its easier to just ignore it or promote it to get rid of it.
Only good old fashioned teamwork can get the job done. There is no room for “me first” mentality if you really want to help the public. You can dis the para-military mentality all you wish, but it always stressed teamwork, teamwork, teamwork.
Who do I want investigating a serious crime against one of my family? Someone who gets by or rose through the ranks by having someone write their papers for them, and organizing golf and charity tournies or someone who values teamwork and has proven investigative abilities?
There was a reason for all the para-military facets to training at Regina. All discarded for the Academic, feel good, politically correct, new age, cover your butt systems in place now.
One other bad move? When they made the Commish a Deputy Minister and therefore a political hack. When they started putting a Commissioned Officer in charge of pretty well everything. Those who have done nothing but get promoted and never really got dirty in the trenches, or gained real expertise in any “business line”. Kudos to those that did get dirty and made it up however.
7 Mercy Me! // Nov 10, 2007 at 19:03
Really, I think we are to hard on our police officers. After all they are out there risking their lives everyday and is it their fault when someone does wrong.
I mean even though they have been hired to clean up the mess does it mean that they should do it all the time and even though they mess up once why can’t we look at this like it’s the cost of war and if Ottawa doesn’t think it’s serious then why should we.
If we all went the way it was before ignoring it and being ignorant about it wouldn’t it be better and we could go on again bragging about our police force as one of the best police forces in the world.
I mean it would look better for us and things could feel better at least because as it seems now the rcmp have lost their respect and people have to stop and help them do their jobs.
Pretty aweful to have a reputation that took good officers years to establish only to be flushed down the drain like it has been lately.
We have now 4 investigations on the way to prove that this Polish man was not wronged and a old polish BC lady that is probably broke - This is what our Canadian Justice System calls Justice? All one sided
8 Billy // Nov 11, 2007 at 17:55
You have every right to be hard on the police due to the fact that they hold a great deal of power. There are scores of hard working, dedicated men and women who perform flawlessly every hour of every day. You should also expect common sense and an ability to say, ‘yes we screwed that one up, we will try and fix it.’ Whatever happened to just doing the right thing? The old adage ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ is taken one step further when you allow whiners, ne’er do wells, lazy, incompetent people in your organization to get anywhere. Why would you allow someone who cannot work nights, cant play on a team, or is scared of arresting someone, or has shown they are unfit to wear the uniform, into, or remain in your organization? This is the result. Everybody, especially the organization suffer the consequences.
You must log in to post a comment.