Model Exists That Could Enhance RCMP Credibility

Published: Calgary Herald, August 24, 2009
Also Published By: The Ottawa Citizen, Regina Leader Post, Vancouver Province, Montreal Gazette, and the Hill Times.
By: Pamela Wallin

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The RCMP’s Commission for Public Complaints released a report last week on the force’s handling of investigations into serious incidents involving its own officers.

The Chair of the Commission, Paul Kennedy, did not find any instance of inappropriate conduct or bias on the part of any RCMP officer in relation to any investigation of a colleague. On the contrary, he concluded that, in all of the cases reviewed, the RCMP conducted timely, unbiased and professional investigations. For this, the investigating officers deserve to be commended.

The report nevertheless concludes that more than two thirds of the cases it looked at were handled “partially or entirely inappropriately.” This is not as contradictory as it seems. It simply means that the system, rather than the conduct of RCMP officers themselves, is inappropriate.

The way serious cases involving RCMP officers are investigated puts the investigating officers in an unenviable conflict of interest. In a quarter of the cases studied, the officer heading the investigation personally knew the officer being investigated. In a third of the cases, the investigating officer was of an equal or lower rank than the officer being investigated. In 60 per cent of cases, there was only one investigating officer, and that officer was alone to interview the subject and witnesses.

Given these circumstances, the fact that Kennedy found no actual instances of wrongdoing is a marvellous testament to the quality of the men and women who serve in Canada’s national police force.

However, Kennedy is quite right to say change is needed, especially in serious cases like those involving civilian deaths, as the current system does not inspire “confidence in the transparency and integrity of the criminal investigation and its outcome.” Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. Public trust is essential to the effectiveness of any police force.

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott responded to Kennedy’s report by raising some valid, but not insurmountable, practical challenges to reform. He stated, “While having others investigate the RCMP is ideal, it is not always possible in jurisdictions where no formal mechanism has been set up to do so,” especially in remote areas.

Many police forces across Canada have standing agreements with other forces to investigate cases involving officers in each other’s jurisdictions. In some cases, provincewide arrangements exist.

Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team is comprised of officers seconded from the RCMP and municipal police forces, plus civilian investigators and civilian criminal analysts. It ensures that no police officer in Alberta, including from the RCMP, is ever assigned a case involving a member of his or her own force. Manitoba is establishing a similar system and, to its credit, the RCMP has indicated it is willing to participate there, too.

However, Saskatchewan’s civilian Public Complaints Commission and Ontario’s civilian Special Investigations Unit (SIU) are not empowered to investigate cases involving members of the RCMP. At least as an interim measure, the RCMP should perhaps consider opting into these provincial systems.

Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin has worried that an investigative body that includes former police officers conducts its investigations through “blue-coloured glasses,” but at least such provincial systems prevent investigators from handling cases involving their direct acquaintances and superior officers.

Internationally, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)was established in England and Wales in 2004 to investigate cases involving police officers. Los Angeles has a similar independent investigative body. In some jurisdictions in the U. S., teams of lawyers conduct or oversee investigations into police officers.

Kennedy stopped short of calling for an independent body to investigate RCMP officers, on the grounds that it would be too costly. However, he suggests the RCMP use outside police forces in all cases involving deaths, and in some other serious cases. This seems like a modest recommendation.

Commissioner Elliott says many of Kennedy’s concerns will be addressed in a new RCMP policy that is being developed, and I hope that comes soon. I encourage the RCMP leadership to embrace Kennedy’s recommendations as an opportunity to rebuild the public trust that has been badly damaged by recent events.

I have recommended to my fellow members of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence that we study the processes employed in other jurisdictions for investigating cases involving police officers, to determine which might work for the RCMP. However, it would be far better for the reputation, morale and effectiveness of the RCMP if the necessary changes were driven by the force’s own leadership.