CIVILIAN oversight of RCMP recommended
P...@games.now
B.C.'s solicitor general calls for civilian oversight of scandal-sick RCMP
Vancouver Province - January 29, 2010
VANCOUVER - Furious over the latest RCMP scandals, B.C.'s solicitor general says the
national police service may have to submit to civilian oversight - or face the
consequences.
Kash Heed told the Vancouver Province he wasn't pleased he had to learn about one of the
latest RCMP scandals through the media.
"I was watching Global TV news with my daughter when it came on," he said, referring to
the RCMP officer on the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team who is now the subject of
an internal investigation for allegedly having an affair with a potential witness in the
Surrey Six multiple murder case.
"I had to immediately get on a conference call with my staff," said Heed. "No one in my
ministry had been informed."
Heed said he wants the Mounties to submit to provincial civilian oversight - as do
municipal forces, through the B.C. Police Complaints Commission - if the RCMP want to
continue policing 70 per cent of the province.
That would mean the RCMP would have to surrender their controversial internal-disciplinary
system in cases of Mountie misconduct in B.C.
"We're very firm as a government that, in this next contract, we want to deliver the most
accountable, transparent and effective police services possible - no matter what colour
uniform they're wearing," said Heed.
And if the Mounties refuse? "Then we'll have to consider our options," Heed said.
Heed did not exclude as one of those options the costly idea of replacing the RCMP with a
provincial police force, such as the Ontario Provincial Police or the Quebec provincial
police.
The Mountie at the centre of the Surrey Six scandal, Sgt. Derek Brassington, was
reassigned to desk duty in December after allegations surfaced of an "unprofessional
relationship" with a potential witness in the mass murder case.
Brassington, who is married to a police officer, was one of the key investigators working
on the probe into the October 2007 slaughter at a highrise in the Vancouver suburb of
Surrey that left six people dead.
Meanwhile, another Mountie involved with the Surrey Six probe, Const. Steve Perrault, has
been charged with fraud for allegedly submitting bogus overtime claims while working on
the unprecedented gangland murder case.
"Every time you hear about these incidents, you immediately become concerned . . . and I
continue to be concerned about them," Heed said.
The incidents linked to the Surrey Six case are only the most recent embarrassments for
the RCMP in B.C. The deaths of Robert Dziekanski - who died after being Tasered by
Mounties in 2007 - and of Ian Bush - a 22-year-old who succumbed to a gunshot wound to the
back of the head following a struggle with Const. Paul Koester at the Houston, B.C., RCMP
detachment in 2005 - have left a lingering cloud over the service's image in British
Columbia.
The Alberta Conservative government recently quashed speculation it would scrap its RCMP
contracts in favour of establishing a provincial police force - but its right-wing rival,
the Wildrose Alliance party, supports the idea.
RCMP officers investigate an incident that left six dead in Surrey, B.C., in 2007.
Yesterday, the RCMP released details on accusations against Mountie Steve Perrault who
allegedly submitted false overtime claims while on the case.
Photograph by: Ian Smith, Canwest News Service Files, Canwest News Service
Colin Jones
> B.C.'s solicitor general calls for civilian oversight of scandal-sick RCMP
>
You fools in BC, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan should be like
Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland (and Labrador).
Get your own Provincial police forces and stop relying on the RCMP to
bring the rule of law to your places.
Ontario has the OPP, Quebec has the La Sûreté du Québec, and
Newfoundland (and Labrador) has The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
The RCMP are for the airports.
Eric©
Just imagine how muh wrongdoing never sees the light of day. The only
'oversight' right now is via the RCMP Public Complaints Commission - an
independent Federal body that's being cut back by the Harper government.
It was already toothless - now it's becoming even more so. The reams of
meaningless findings of RCMP wrongdoing (mainly in BC) are available on
their website.
And there are questions about the Commission as well. BC Civil
Liberties Association has more than once had to take the Commission
chair to court to force him to properly investigate their complaints -
one of these was the Ian Bush case.
The only solution is a provincial police force. The RCMP is operating
like a gang - accountable to no one.
Eric
Liberals are vermin
>
>
I can see it now. Feminists, liberals and f------ minorities to
oversee them. Brilliant.
Amethyst
The RCMP's are Federal Police.
The OPP is accountable, the QPP is accountable. Provincially.
When the RCMP screw up in Banff, it's up to Ottawa.
When the OPP screw up in Collingwood, it's provincial.
When there's an issue at Mt. Tremblant or outside of a city in Quebec,
it's provincial.
I've been busted by the OPP (as a kid), it's probably better than
being busted by "the feds".
Face it. The people are moving to BC, Alberta and so on. Why rely
on the Federal Cops?
Boyce Rolands
> The only solution is a provincial police force. The RCMP is operating
> like a gang - accountable to no one.
>
>
I'm glad that you agree.
As Peter Gabriel once said.
"If you want to retain control, you've got to keep it small"
DIY.
DIY means Do It Yourself.
No Federal Police. Ontario has no Federal Police, Quebec has none.
If there's an issue, you don't go to Ottawa.
Why are the Feds the police in places like that?
C'mon. Make it so BC, Alberta.
And don't get me wrong. The Quebec police were brutal with the Hells Angels.
So were the OPP.
We're not talking about fairy boys at all.
P...@games.now
> B.C.'s solicitor general calls for civilian oversight of scandal-sick RCMP
>
"Colin Jones" <adrast...@live.com> wrote in message
news:c96a95dd-5fd2-4414...@g39g2000vba.googlegroups.com...
You fools in BC, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan should be like
Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland (and Labrador).
Get your own Provincial police forces and stop relying on the RCMP to
bring the rule of law to your places.
Ontario has the OPP, Quebec has the La S�ret� du Qu�bec, and
Newfoundland (and Labrador) has The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
The RCMP are for the airports.
______________________________________
The RCMP are used by the federal government for 'crowd control' and control of groups that
the FEDERAL government has tagged 'terrorist groups". That includes some environmental
groups and anti-sealing and anti-logging groups.
As long as the feds have control of a police force like the RCMP, they have control of
such groups right across Canada. They have RCMP in Ontario and Quebec as well - they
focus on international crimes such as smuggling of drugs, firearms and people. They don't
seem to do this very well at the airports.
Frank Howard
From: <P...@Games.now>
Newsgroups: bc.politics,van.general,can.politics,ont.politics
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 6:56 PM
Subject: CIVILIAN oversight of RCMP recommended
> VANCOUVER - Furious over the latest RCMP scandals, B.C.'s solicitor
> general says the national police service may have to submit to civilian
> oversight - or face the consequences.
It's about time. The RCMP is a joke and a disgrace to good police
departments everywhere!
Co...@harper.gov
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 6:56 PM
> Subject: CIVILIAN oversight of RCMP recommended
>
>> VANCOUVER - Furious over the latest RCMP scandals, B.C.'s solicitor
>> general says the national police service may have to submit to civilian
>> oversight - or face the consequences.
"Frank Howard" <class...@security.org> wrote in message
news:jJoan.71607$U83....@newsfe10.iad...
> It's about time. The RCMP is a joke and a disgrace to good police
> departments everywhere!
No one would feel they were such a joke and disgrace if they had a policy in place to
impartially investigate, and then get rid of, bad cops. It's because they COVER UP for
those bad cops and keep them in uniform to do more damage, that the people of Canada are
fed up.
Listen to the 'new policy' from the head of the RCMP. And read carefully between the
lines.
_____________________________
S
RCMP to end practice of investigating own officers: Commissioner
Canwest News Service - February 4, 2010
The RCMP will no longer investigate themselves in cases involving serious injury or death
of suspects, the head of the RCMP announced Thursday.
As a part of the interim policy, effective immediately, the Mounties will refer cases to
outside police forces, or provincial or federal review agencies, RCMP Commissioner William
Elliott told a news conference at RCMP national headquarters in Ottawa.
"The RCMP must strive to be as open and transparent as possible and fully accountable for
its actions," he said.
"I'm convinced we need to collectively raise the bar in terms of how we respond to
situations where life is lost, serious injuries sustained, or sensitive matters of public
trust and confidence are raised."
In cases where it is not possible to call in outside investigators, the new policy will
ensure that officers are screened for conflict of interest and that the investigating
officer outranks the officer being probed, Elliott said.
The new interim policy, however, will have little effect in B.C., which, unlike Ontario
and Alberta, does not have an independent civilian-led agency with the power to
investigate police-involved deaths or serious injuries.
Instead, the RCMP will ask such municipal police departments as Vancouver, Delta or
Abbotsford to investigate police-involved fatalities or serious injuries, a procedure that
is already often followed.
B.C. Solicitor-General Kash Heed welcomed Thursday's RCMP announcement, saying the new
policy is "a step in the right direction toward increased accountability and more
transparent investigation of serious incidents."
He said the RCMP should be subject to the new and higher standards in B.C.'s amended
Police Act, which at present covers only municipal forces.
"We will continue to work toward this goal with the federal government as we negotiate a
new [B.C.] RCMP contract for 2012," the minister added.
Calls for the Mounties to cease investigating each other for serious incidents have
escalated in recent years, particularly after the death of Polish immigrant Robert
Dziekanski in October 2007, who was Tasered five times by RCMP officers at Vancouver
International Airport.
Said Heed: "We want to make sure that we have the best model for B.C. To that end, it is
important that we allow Commissioner [Thomas] Braidwood to finish the second part of his
public inquiry [into the Dziekanski case] so that we will have the benefit of his
recommendations."
Alberta and Ontario already have special investigation units and other provinces, such as
Manitoba and Nova Scotia, are moving in that direction.
B.C. has no independent agency to investigate fatal shootings or serious injuries
involving RCMP officers.
Last year, the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police unanimously called for the creation of
a civilian-led unit for the "investigation of incidents involving police that have
resulted in serious injury or death to any person as well as sensitive allegations of
police misconduct."
Also, after the recent inquiry into the Vancouver death of Frank Paul, the inquiry
commissioner - retired B.C. Supreme Court judge William Davies - recommended the creation
of an SIU-type unit.
[. . . . ]
See? It's still going to be cops investingating other cops. No civilian involvement. No
bloody wonder they're under such fire. They're going to die screaming as they're forcibly
dragged to being investigated by other than police forces.
Rob...@lacasse.info
|>
|>[. . . . ]
|>
|>See? It's still going to be cops investingating other cops. No civilian involvement. No
|>bloody wonder they're under such fire. They're going to die screaming as they're forcibly
|>dragged to being investigated by other than police forces.
|>
|>
Yer right, they can investigated by the CIA/BATFE, or even the Hopi
tribe for all I care.....
If inefficient investigative matters get out of hand, THEY will
answer to some 25 million Canadians and Others......
Bob
--
Triad Productions-Fantalla~EZine~ParaNovel
National Association of Assault Research
(http://*remove*boblacasse.150m.com/badcop.html)