Vancouver B.C. (Toronto Star) – Const. Derrick Holdenreid, a two-year veteran of the RCMP, has done his share of catching bad guys.
Last week, he was arrested and charged.
His alleged crime? Taking loose change from a desk at a local community policing office in Burnaby.
The amount, between $40 and $70, was enough to raise alarm bells with senior investigators.
Police officers are in a position of trust, said RCMP Sgt. Rob Vermeulen. “Breach of trust is taken very seriously.”
Holdenreid has plenty of company as a lawman under a cloud. According to the RCMP, at least nine officers in B.C. are facing charges for offences ranging from perjury to weapon violations to assault. Another seven are subjects of criminal investigations that could lead to charges.
Some attribute it to the more volatile style of policing done by Mounties in the province; others say its shows a lack of tolerance. Others, however, believe it is a police force with too many rogue elements.
Holdenreid, 37, suspended from duty with pay, is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 14.
In the Vancouver area, three other RCMP officers had scheduled court appearances in one week alone in January.
One member, Const. David Clarke from the Surrey detachment — the biggest in the province and one of the biggest in Canada — is facing 15 criminal charges, including a series of weapons violations such as possession of a pump-action shotgun, a loaded Glock 9-mm handgun and a semi-automatic rifle without having proper licences.
In nearby Coquitlam, two constables are facing charges of assaulting a suspect they were trying to arrest.
“My perception is there are more charges being laid. But it’s hard to figure out whether in fact we’re in the tail end of some spike in charges or this is a spike in dealing with behaviour that occurred a year or so ago,” said Simon Fraser University criminologist Rob Gordon, a former police officer.
“But without a doubt, more officers are being charged and investigated these days, especially in B.C.”
Gordon said tougher scrutiny by the public after the 1991 beating of Rodney King by police in Los Angeles has led to more internal investigations and charges against officers.
The 2007 Tasering of Robert Dziekanski by four RCMP officers at the Vancouver Airport put the 6,500-member force in B.C. under a harsh spotlight.
“There is greater awareness and inclination towards laying charges now which may not have been laid in the past because the police cannot so easily hide their mistakes any more,” said Gordon.
Earlier this month, charges were recommended against Const. Geoff Mantler, a Kelowna RCMP officer who was videotaped arresting a man and allegedly kicking him in the head.
That video has since become widely circulated and the officer has been suspended with pay. No charges have so far been laid.
“We were all shocked and disappointed by what we saw,” said Sgt. Tim Shields, spokesman for the RCMP in B.C.
“Keep in mind that we have a force of 6,500 officers who are placed in some highly emotional situations and who make split-second decisions all the time. Not all of them are going to be right.”
Shields said the force receives about 1,000 complaints a year and answers nearly a million calls for service. The number of complaints has remained steady for 15 years. He said the number of RCMP officers currently under investigation is proof that the system works.
British Columbia has the highest concentration of RCMP officers in the country. Most of those officers are assigned to the greater Vancouver area.
That can result in a different dynamic than that found in rural or small municipal forces, said Paul Kennedy, the former RCMP complaints commissioner.
“The RCMP in B.C. are called upon to police in more concentrated areas. They’re called to bar fights, to calls where there is a likelihood that someone has a weapon,” said Kennedy, who attributes the investigations and charges against officers to greater public awareness.
“The people of B.C. are much more engaged in the issues of policing than anywhere else in the country.”
The RCMP itself is also making public information about internal investigations that used to remain confidential, according to Vancouver lawyer Ravi Hira.
Hira has prosecuted police officers while working as a Crown counsel in the 1980s and has defended RCMP officers as a criminal defence lawyer.
Hira’s clients include Const. Kwesi Millington, the RCMP officer who deployed the Taser against Robert Dziekanski, representing him in a public inquiry into the Polish man’s death held last year. None of the officers have been charged in that incident.
But one, Cpl. Monty Robinson, was involved in an accident that caused the death of motorcyclist Orion Hutchinson in 2008. Originally the Delta police recommended Robinson face a charge of impaired driving causing death. But the Crown counsel proceeded instead on the lesser charge of obstruction of justice. That case is scheduled to begin in April.
“Are more police officers charged today than in other times? The reality is no. But reporting and recording of events have changed,” said Hira.
A bigger change, he said, is that police officers used to take notes of events and were the only people who recorded what happened.
Today, Hira said, nearly everyone can record incidents on their smartphones or video cameras, and senior officers are recognizing they have no choice but to investigate allegations against officers.
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