RCMP Watch

Daniel MacIsaac (Sun Media) - Alberta’s privacy commissioner has slammed the RCMP’s handling of the manhunt for alleged Mountie-killer Emrah Bulatci.

Const. Chris Worden was killed Oct. 6 in Hay River, N.W.T. And while the RCMP was quick to release a description of the suspected gunman, for days they refused to release a photo of him - citing privacy and investigative concerns.

That approach prompted Privacy Commissioner Frank Work to issue a statement yesterday reminding law-enforcement officials that when it comes to the hunt for a suspected murderer, safety concerns trump privacy rights.

“The law contains a positive duty to warn the public of risks to health and safety - after 11 years, public officials should be well aware of this provision,” Work said in the statement. “Using privacy as a reason not to warn is misleading and sets privacy against security.”

PRIVACY CONCERNS

Work told Sun Media that there are already many areas where privacy concerns can come into conflict with law enforcement - such as the use of surveillance cameras or access to Internet accounts - “but this is not one of those issues where there is much room for debate.

“I just get concerned when privacy is cited as a reason,” Work said. “I don’t want privacy laws to be seen as enabling criminals.”

But RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes debates that the RCMP cited privacy at all as a reason for delaying the official release of Bulatci’s mugshot until Oct. 9 - and says the privacy commissioner and the media are mistaken for believing so.

“Those media reports are incorrect,” Oakes said. “At no time did we cite privacy concerns as the reason for the delay.”

Media reports of the manhunt do quote Oakes as saying, “privacy legislation restricts the information we are able to release” - and Oakes confirms that’s true. But he says linking that statement to the delay in releasing the photo is wrong.

He said his reference to privacy legislation was meant to refer to the suspect’s vehicle and other aspects of the case.

Oakes said it was “investigative requirements” that led to the delay in releasing Bulatci’s photo - requirements that he still can’t explain for fear of compromising the ongoing investigation and legal process.

“I’m not in a position to breach investigative protocol,” Oakes said. “Especially when it involves a homicide investigation.”

Edmonton criminologist Bill Pitt doesn’t buy Oakes’s explanation - saying when it comes to murder, there’s no excuse for the RCMP not having acted quicker on Bulatci’s photo.

‘TOO SLOW ON RELEASE’

“They were too slow on the release, and his arrest could have ended a lot uglier than it did,” said Pitt, a former RCMP officer and law enforcement instructor.

Pitt blames the confusion over the privacy and investigation concerns on poor public relations by the Mounties.

“They’re operating in a culture of secrecy,” he said. “So, you end up with absurdities like this - and it’s insulting to the public and it degrades the uniform.”

Bulatci - arrested at a west-end townhouse Friday - is charged with first-degree murder and was transported back to the Northwest Territories Sunday for his first formal court appearance.

Meanwhile, the man charged with being an accessory after the fact in the murder of Const. Worden made his first appearance in an Edmonton courtroom yesterday.

But Jarred Dale Nagle, 21, was in court only briefly - as his case was pushed back to Oct. 29 to give him time to get a lawyer.