RCMP Watch

(CTV.ca News) - The commissioner of the RCMP agrees with a report released today calling for fundamental changes to the way the police force in managed.According to the report, the Mounties have become mired in bureaucracy and must have more authority over their own staff and budget.

It also said the force’s management has failed its members with mandatory overtime, grievance systems that don’t work, a promotions system that lacks credibility and a sometimes embarrassing record of accountability to the public.
“I am not surprised today by the observations that the task force has made in its report,” RCMP Commissioner William Elliot said Friday. “I have seen and heard many of the same things in my travels.”

Task force head David Brown said the problems uncovered in the report were symptoms of a much larger issue, encompassing the structure, governance and culture of the institution.

“The RCMP is not just another federal department — nor should it be,” Brown said at a press conference Friday.

“Members of the RCMP have the authority to make life-and-death decisions every day — they fight organized crime and infiltrate terrorist cells — but they don’t have the authority to make simple expenditures or hire a new person without hours of paperwork and process.”

More than 40 recommendations were made in the report, including the creation of a civilian board to oversee the organization and administration of the RCMP, and a more powerful complaints watchdog.

Elliot said he agrees with the report’s findings that the RCMP need better oversight and review.

“There is simply no other option, the RCMP must change. And we must change in significant, relevant and meaningful ways to address the problems described in the task force’s report,” Elliot said.

Restoring confidence in the RCMP

Brown has said the task force’s goal is to fix an organization he’s described as “horribly broken” and to restore the public’s confidence in the Mounties.

Brown said the recommendations will produce “a modern RCMP” with the tools to do its job properly. They will also rebuild a shattered public trust through transparency in management.

The findings came after five months of research, including conversations with more than 2,000 Mounties and consultations with academics and management experts.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day launched the task force after a report Brown released in June criticized Mountie pension and insurance plans, and also made allegations of abuse of authority and internal harassment.

Brown said the task force came to see a picture of a revered Canadian institution with members struggling to do their best under an inefficient and poorly structured organization.

“With remarkable, but disturbing consistency, we heard of chronic shortages of people and equipment, of overwork and fatigue, of issues of wellness, health and even safety,” Brown said.

According to the recommendations, the management board will report to the public safety minister and be responsible for financial affairs and personnel procurement.

A Commission for Complaints and Oversight of the RCMP would replace several existing bodies that Brown says lack the authority to compel change.

Brown said a council should ensure the board of management and independent commission are in operation no later than the end of 2009.

Elliot told reporters he had not had the chance to review the report in depth and could not comment on specific recommendations.

“I have read enough to know that it’s an important document that will serve as one of the key drivers of change as we go forward,” he said.

Changes in Taser use

The RCMP announced Friday that it’s changing its policies on the use of Tasers. But the changes don’t go as far as recommendations made earlier this week by a public complaints commission.

The Mounties issued a news release saying they will be asking officers to limit the use of Tasers “to situations where a subject is displaying combative behaviors or is being actively resistant.”

They added that a bulletin outlining the new policy has now been sent to all members and the changes will be incorporated in all future training for Tasers, also known as a conducted energy weapons (CEW).

Earlier this week, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP recommended in a 53-page report that the Mounties restrict the use of Tasers to situations when an individual is being “combative” or posing a risk of “death or grievous bodily harm” to the officer, themselves or the general public.

The Commission also wanted Tasers to be re-classified as an “impact weapon” instead of its current status of “intermediate” device, the same category as pepper spray.

Friday’s RCMP release made no mention of re-classification.

But it did agree to a commission recommendation for stricter reporting of Taser incidents. The Mounties said they would enhance their Taser database to include more reporting and analysis of all “use of force” incidents, including those involving Tasers.

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP made 10 recommendations Wednesday following the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski last October.

Dziekanski died after being Tasered by police during a confrontation at the Vancouver International Airport. He was the 18th person in Canada to die after being hit by a Taser in recent years and his death sparked international criticism of the use of Tasers.