RCMP Watch

(Sudbury Star’, Editorial) - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police probably would rather not have been named Newsmaker of the Year by the Canadian Press. From the Mounties’ perspective, the force earned the title for all the wrong reasons.So much painful and embarrassing news emerged from the force’s activities this year that it shook the image of the Mounties as the efficient and proud service that had earned admiration around the world.

Paul Kennedy, head of the federal commission that fields public complaints about the force, noted that, in the past, most people have trusted the Mounties, but “that default position isn’t falling into place with the same ease.”

Among the incidents that led to growing unease with the force:

The continuing fall-out over the Maher Arar incident, in which the Mounties gave incorrect information to U.S. authorities that led to his arrest in New York and deportation to Syria, where he was tortured;

New information about how the RCMP used to function during the inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing;

The death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski in October after being Tasered twice by RCMP officers, which was caught on video and broadcast around the world;

Information emerged about police informant Richard Young, who got hundreds of thousands of dollars from the RCMP for fake information. Young then committed murder, but the media couldn’t report it because he was in the witness protection program;

Auditor-General Sheila Fraser labelled RCMP forensic labs as hopelessly backlogged, even suggesting delays threatened criminal prosecutions. Former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli had said there was no significant backlog.

Former Ontario Securities Commissioner David Brown, who was appointed to study problems with the RCMP, reported the force’s management structure was “horribly broken” in the wake of misuse of the force’s pension funds;

Lingering questions over the investigation into the 2005 death of Ian Bush, who was shot in the back of the head by an RCMP officer in British Columbia.

Many of the RCMP’s problems were a result of the force’s autocratic management style. Symptomatic of that was information that at least half of the Public Complaints Commissions’ rulings were overturned by two former RCMP commissioners.

But changes are underway.

William Elliott was appointed as the force’s first civilian commissioner this year. He is promising to enact Brown’s recommendations, which include a civilian oversight management board and a more effective civilian complaints process.

Kennedy said the force can emerge from its difficulties, “especially given the reservoir of goodwill that many still feel toward the RCMP.”

Some of that goodwill was earned tragically this year, when two officers serving in remote posts died in the line of duty. Const. Christopher Worden, 30, was shot to death in October when he was answering a call - alone - at a known problem residence in Hay River, N.W.T., and Const. Douglas Scott, 20, was shot to death in Kimmirut, Nunavut while answering a drunk-driving complaint - again alone.

Policies have since been changed, but questions remain about whether the RCMP can effectively enforce mandatory backup in isolated, understaffed areas.

The two officers’ deaths are a reminder of the dangers Mounties face while protecting public safety from coast to coast.

It must be remembered that the vast majority of the 25,000-strong force (a number that includes civilians and public service support staff) still live by the proud traditions of the force.

But it will take bold, responsible leadership to restore it to its former glory.