Victoria, B.C. (Times Colonist, Editorial) – The shooting death of Kevin St. Arnaud offers more evidence that the RCMP must accept the same level of independent oversight as other police forces if it is to continue providing services in B.C.
St. Arnaud was shot in Vanderhoof in 2004, after he fled the scene of a break-in and advanced toward Const. Ryan Sheremetta. The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP ruled this week that the shooting was justified, as Sheremetta had reason to believe it was the only way to avoid harm.
But the commission report also criticized a sloppy, incomplete RCMP investigation of the shooting.The first officers failed to secure the crime scene. Officers tramped around, obliterating footsteps in the snow that would have been evidence. Sheremetta’s partner, an eyewitness, should have been removed from the scene immediately and interviewed. She wasn’t.
She told investigators Sheremetta had fired from a standing position; he said he had fallen and was on his back when he fired three shots. The forensic investigators were only told about his version when they arrived.
Officers from the same detachment took statements from their two co-workers. The corporal who did the interviews failed to prepare adequately, asked leading questions, failed to identify the purpose of his interview and didn’t re-interview Sheremetta once he heard a conflicting version of events from his partner.
RCMP experts, the commission found, weren’t given needed information. The force’s bloodstain expert “made erroneous assumptions in arriving at conclusions not scientifically supported by the evidence.” He showed “tunnel vision” and was reluctant to modify his conclusions when additional information revealed they were dubious. The RCMP “failed to appoint a use-of-force expert with sufficient experience to handle a serious case dealing with a police-involved homicide.”
The RCMP major case management model wasn’t followed and the commander didn’t take responsibility or control of the investigation. Senior officers intervened inappropriately and failed to keep notes on their roles, as required.
None of which is surprising, in part because similar concerns have been raised in other cases.
And in part because the conflict is inevitable when RCMP officers investigate friends and co-workers.
The RCMP has refused to accept the B.C. police complaints process. Unless that changes, the government should begin, reluctantly, preparing for a provincial force.
In the context of the editorial, I meant an Ontario-type SIU approach that would investigate police shootings and bodily harm/death incidents as you put it. Sorry, I should have clarified that. The creation of such a unit was one of the reccomendations Oppal made in his report on policing in B.C. back in 1994.
People got all angry that B.C. does not have an SIU-type unit last year when those three munies from West Van, New West, and Abbotsford got into that altercation with the newspaper deliveryman outside the Hyatt late last year. In Ontario, that sort of investigation would have still been handled by the local police, not SIU.
I am not 100% certain that the federal government would accomodate a provincial demand for incresed accountability. Maybe I am just cynical, but the feds are pretty isolated and arrogoant in Ottawa. They should go for it; in an era of federal government cutbacks and when you likely send your christmas packages to your uncle in Windsor from an postal outlet in the back of a Pharmasave, the federal government would be pretty foolish to allow a symbol of their “largesse” to ‘disappear’ (yes, about 500 RCMP officers would be needed to continue carrying out federal law enforcement duties, but thats quite a drop from 6000) from communites throughout the third largest province. Not to mention the loss of revenue that contract brings in. But I cannot blame successive provincial governments from being uncertain as to how Ottawa would respond to such a request.
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You will have to define “investigate themselves” Provincially. There is appetite to conform to Provincial mandate, however, that does not include total outside investigative authority at the moment. If you decide as a Provincial government to request that, I am sure there will be compliance from the Feds. However that does not satisfy the faction wanting outside authority for all investigations.
Is that going to be all inclusive, from the “I didn’t like his attitude when he gave me a ticket” complaints, the individuals with 36 chronic yearly complaints, or will it only be the serious bodily harm/death incidents?
If your wishes Provincially are like Ontario then its the latter. If you want the former, just how many “investigators” will have to hired to police the police in the entire Province? There are over 130 RCMP offices in BC, not including the Main office in Vancouver/Surrey housing the Federal units. Approximately 6000 RCMP officers plus another 3500 or so support staff, responding to over 1 million calls per year. If you want everything investigated by outside non police authority, its going to be quite a bill, and it will be limited to Provincial statute and penalties for non criminal matters.
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Actually, the editorial writer is wrong when he/she states that the RCMP has refused to accept the B.C. police complaints process. A few months ago, the head of the RCMP professional association (the unofficial association representing the rank & file RCMP in B.C.) stated that his membership would have no problem submitting to the provincial complaints process. Similarly, a senior Mountie in B.C said that E-Division’s management would have no problem with that either. Now that may just be RCMP management in B.C.; the commissioner’s office in Ottawa might still be opposed. But It think that if its a choise between submitting to the province’s complaint process or losing the contract, the RCMP will submit to the province’s compaint process.
The reason the provincial negotiators have not brought this up and have been unwilling to bring it up has nothing to do with the RCMP but with the federal government. The RCMP were created by an act of the federal parliament, are governed by the federal RCMP Act, and the commissioner is a deputy minister in the federal cabinet, beholden to the PM. The federal government has always had very proprietary feelings about the RCMP.
Wally Oppal pointed out that the RCMP should be accountable to the province back in his excellent policing report in 1994. No provincial government has followed up on his suggestions that the province reopen negotiations with the federal government to bring the provincial RCMP under the B.C. police complaints process. This includes a provincial government that Oppal himself was a cabinet minister (and AG) in.
If the province requests that the provincial Mounties are to be answerable to the B.C. police complaint process and the federal government says “no,” then, constitionally the province has to revise its old provincial police force. And no provincial government has been willing to go down that route (the pros and cons of provincial policing can be left for another day, lots can be said on both sides of that issue).
The writer of the editorial is right that the RCMP should not be investigating themselves (no police force should) and that the Mounties should be accountable to the province through the B.C. complaints process. But the politicians in Victoria and Ottawa created this mess.
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(3.) Fire the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP and put in Scotland Yard.
(4.) Rehire all the old “noble” ones.
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I am very fond of the Mounties and ints connection in our national fabric but what is going on ?
Errors in police investigations, judgement, internal criminality, external civil suits, the RCMP pension and Taser racket, does the senior or higher ups in management in this once fine organization have a handle on it ? are they engaged ?
Nothing like having the RCMP investigate their own. Next time a bank robber is caught have him investigated by a panel of bank robber. and call it JUSTICE FOR ALL!
I don’t think the RCMP can fall much lower. It is long past the time they were disbanded. They give the country a bad name.
wow…these guys really make me feel proud to be Canadian…way to go RCMP!!! this is what happens when you lower your standards for entry into this once noble police force.
The RCMP sure are well on their way of becoming a National Disgrace..
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Here is a solution that will make everyone happy :
(1.) GIVE the RCMP power to fire the bad apples.
As it stands now, it’s next to impossible.
(2.) RCMP – Get a grip on your troops! If someone is guilty – show us you can clean your own house!!
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One of the MAJOR PROBLEMS with what you have mentioned above in my opinion is that we ALL think they DON’T DO IT deliberately but purely by accident those things above happen. Like a 10 year old who doesn’t know a thing and we must explain everything to them, serious eh?
All they got to do is BOCH the investigation, keep statements out and doctor the file and voila it’s done and try and fix it after, it won’t work, because the reviews only look at what in the file and the RCMP Publics Complaints department also only reviews what is in the file and if they look beyond and ask questions they can’t get any co-operation from the force…. so it’s simple the RCMP calls all the shots when it comes to their own and their image and it’s clear even to the lay person that they rule when it comes to investigations and covering-up their messes and no one can do a thing.
They seem dumb when it comes to their investigations but very intellegent, bold, minipulative and calculating when it comes to defending one of their members or the force at any cost.
The only reason it went to their advantage here is because there’s no eye witnesses and everyone tends to believe police today as above board instead of the mess they make, the evidence, facts or the lack of them.
All I see here is standard protocol to protect their buts and their images at the cost to someone’s life.
I bet they don’t even pay for the funerals when they mess up, that to is dumped on the families back to contend with along with the embarassment and the loss of a family member and what about the community?
In their minds eye there’s got to be a victim and justice must be served but the sad story here is that they play the “victim’s role” way to often, and they focus to much on the me, myself and I, when the real truth of the matter is that the game is rigged and the outcome is rigged but in so doing they certainally want everyone to think they are on the up and up, but are they?
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