RCMP Watch

(Winnipeg Free Press) It’s a situation that’s becoming all too common — lone Mounties in dire trouble being rescued by ordinary folks as they try to deal with unruly criminals.

Case No. 1: A week ago Saturday, three motorists on the Trans-Canada Highway near Virden had to help a male RCMP officer arrest a combative 37-year-old man who’d just been pulled over for speeding.

Case No. 2: On Oct. 20, RCMP auxiliary officer Dave Raynor rescued a female Mountie who was being held under water by an attacker on Peguis First Nation.

“Citizens have had to intervene more and more,” Staff Sgt. Steve Walker of the RCMP’s Staff Relations Representative Program, said.

The SSR program handles labour relations for the force’s 20,000 rank-and-file members.

“Things have changed. People talk about escalating violence in Winnipeg. That violence doesn’t stop at the Perimeter Highway.”

These instances are just two of several where people put their own safety at risk to help RCMP officers who are only trying to do their jobs, Walker said.

In other parts of Canada, RCMP officers in similar circumstances weren’t so fortunate.

A week ago, rookie Const. Douglas Scott was shot dead on Baffin Island as he investigated a complaint of an impaired driver. A month earlier, Const. Christopher Worden was shot to death responding to a complaint in Hay River, N.W.T.

Like the two officers in Manitoba, Scott and Worden were working alone.

Walker and SSR program national representative Staff Sgt. Brian Roach said these and other tragedies show Canada’s national police force must do more to protect its officers.

Roach said on Dec. 3, SSR reps will present a proposal to RCMP national brass that, if adopted in full, will change the way Mounties working alone do business.

The policy will require these officers to call for backup if they believe they are being called out to a potentially volatile situation — such as a bar fight, a domestic incident or dealing with someone with a history of mental illness.

“Right now when one person is working a shift there is no one on call for backup,” Walker said. “If they get themselves into a jam they have no guaranteed backup.”

Their only lifeline is their radio, which sometimes proves useless if they can’t answer it.

“We are not pushing to the point of two-man cars, but a policy that mitigates risks to one-person contacts,” Roach said. “All we have is hope the members go through a risk assessment themselves and then call for backup.”

Roach also said if the RCMP implement the policy it will force detachment and divisional brass to come up with plans to designate which officer will be on call. In remote detachments — like the one on Baffin Island where Scott was killed — it could mean officers are on call all the time.

Walker said that means officers will have to be compensated for that.

“No one works for free — except right now, the Mounties,” he said, saying many officers typically put in 20 to 30 hours a month in overtime.

That increased cost will be passed on to the provinces and municipalities that contract with RCMP for policing services, he said.

In Manitoba, the provincial government funds RCMP to provide policing to rural areas — there are 84 rural and 23 municipal detachments.

The current federal/provincial agreement with the RCMP, signed in 1992 and to expire in 2012, is worth about $72.3 million a year. Manitoba pays 70 per cent of the cost of the RCMP for service in the province, with Ottawa paying the rest.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser wrote a report in 2005 that addressed chronic staffing shortages at detachments.
The audit found that new recruits do not always receive six months of training in the field under the supervision of a senior officer.

In fact, Scott was sent to Baffin Island before completing six months of on-the-job training.

This shortfall is partly caused by the high number of retiring Mounties. Last year the RCMP launched a campaign to recruit up to 2,000 new members every year over the next few years to meet that crunch.

The result is the force is becoming younger and less experienced. Within a couple of years, 50 per cent of the more than 900 officers in Manitoba will have only five to six years of experience.

“I believe they’re coming out of Depot (Regina training centre) better trained than I did,” Walker said. “But with experience comes wisdom.”

Why are so many RCMP officers facing violent situations?

Three reasons:
1) The RCMP are the dominant police force in Canada, especially in remote communities, and so they subsequently deal with more calls than any other police agency.
2) The RCMP are becoming a younger police force as baby boomers retire. Subsequently, they’re becoming a less experienced police force, although enhanced training is geared to make up for that gap.
3) Gun violence is more common across the country. Every police agency now sees more firearms-related crime.

What is being done?
RCMP will consider a new nationwide policy that will require officers who are working alone to call for backup in possibly violent situations, like bar fights or domestic cases. What’s the impact?

No one knows yet, but there is already talk it will mean slower response times to some calls as backup officers are brought in.

Officers on call to work backup in rural and isolated detachments will also have to be compensated. That means policing costs could rise.

A string of tragedies

A total of 220 RCMP officers have been killed in the line of duty since the RCMP were born in the 1870s.

The most recent deaths are:

Nov. 5, 2007: Const. Douglas Scott was shot dead in his vehicle in the isolated northern community of Kimmirut on Baffin Island. Scott, 20, was investigating a complaint of an impaired driver. He was alone. Pingoatuk Kolola, 37, is charged with first-degree murder.

Oct. 6, 2007: Const. Christopher Worden was shot to death while responding to a complaint in Hay River, N.W.T. Worden, 30, was working alone. Emrah Bulatci, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder.

July 15-16, 2006: Consts. Robin Cameron, 29, and Marc Bourdages, 26, died in hospital overnight about two hours apart. Both were shot July 7 while chasing a suspect following a domestic dispute in Spiritwood, Sask. Curtis Alfred Dagenais, 42, is to stand trial likely in June 2008 on two counts of first-degree murder.

March 3, 2005: Consts. Brock Myrol, 29, Peter Christopher Schiemann, 25, Anthony Gordon, 28, Leo Nicholas Johnston, 32, were killed after they were ambushed and gunned down in a raid on a farm near Mayerthorpe, Alta. Gunman Jim Roszko, 46, killed himself at the scene. Dennis Keegan Rodney Cheeseman, 23, and Shawn William Hennesey, 28, were charged with murder in July 2007 for allegedly aiding and abetting Roszko prior to the killings.

Feb. 28, 2004: Cpl. Jim Galloway, 53, a dog-handler stationed in Sherwood Park, Alta., was killed by Martin Ostopovich, who had a history of mental illness. Ostopovich, 41, is then killed by other officers.

Dec. 20, 2001: Const. Dennis Strongquill, 52, was shot after pursuing a stolen car in Russell, Man. Robert Marlo Sand, then 23, was later convicted of first-degree murder. His girlfriend Laurie Bell, then 21, was found guilty of manslaughter. Sand’s brother Danny was killed days later in Wolseley, Sask. by a police sniper.

March 5, 2001: Const. Jurgen Seewald was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Salomonie Jaw, 51, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.