Wife of brain-injured man wants the truth after Crown declines to charge Mountie
There is an unholy alliance between many of the prosecutors in BC and the RCMP thugs.
VANCOUVER — On the night Robert Wright was arrested for suspected drunk driving, police at a northern British Columbia jail assured his wife the man was sleeping and not to come by until morning.
When Heather Prisk showed up, she was informed her husband was in the intensive care unit of a Terrace hospital and about to be airlifted to the Vancouver area for emergency brain surgery.
The 47-year-old First Nations man had suffered an aneurysm, leaving him with an irreparable condition that will require care for the remainder of his life.
Prisk was never told what went on in the cell overnight, and on Friday she again pleaded for answers.
A six-month police investigation into the incident that left Wright with permanent brain damage recommended a charge of assault against a Mountie, she said. But just under two weeks after the report was submitted, Crown lawyers decided against approving the charge.
“As far as I understand the officer is still on active duty,” Prisk said from Terrace.
“The public has a right to know the details of this case. I still have no answers about how my husband was injured and who was responsible for his injury.”
Hours after Prisk called on the Crown to explain its rationale for the decision — which eliminates any possibility the case will go to trial — the media received a detailed statement from the Criminal Justice Branch. Prisk still hadn’t received an explanation.
The woman, who was also urging various police departments to make surveillance footage from the incident available, had pushed for the information since Oct. 23.
The Criminal Justice Branch laid out the reasons the Crown concluded there was not a substantial likelihood of any conviction in a five-page statement, and said there was video and audio recordings to corroborate.
Police used force on several occasions during the arrest, but the available evidence did not establish it was unlawful, the Crown said. Further, a neurosurgeon could not conclude trauma the man suffered during the incident caused the bleeding in his brain — suggesting instead it was caused by a medical condition.
“Even if it had been the result of police action, it would not render those actions unlawful in the circumstances of this case,” the statement said.
Prisk has the support of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, who earlier in the day were demanding a special prosecutor be appointed to review the charge decision.
“I think this is everything that’s wrong with police accountability in B.C. and why the Independent Investigation Office was established,” David Eby, executive director of the civil liberties association, said later in the day referring to a new watchdog that has begun operating since the incident.
“I really do have a sense that the office is dealing with families differently. ... The fact that we had to call a press conference to get this document is inexcusable.”
He said the association will review the statement thoroughly, and focus further efforts on getting the recordings released to the family.
The incident occurred on April 21, 2012, before the opening of B.C.’s new police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office.
At the time, four members of the New Westminster Police Department were tasked with investigating the case. The force said in a news release two days after the incident that Terrace RCMP responded to a complaint of a possible impaired driver at 6 p.m. that night.
“While in police custody, the male was non-compliant in cells and had to be physically restrained by the police,” the release said. “The male subsequently suffered a head injury.”
Wright was taken to the local hospital three times before being transported to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.
The Crown’s statement laid out a broader picture of what happened, describing a scenario in which police were led to believe Wright intended to harm himself or police by driving his car into a pole or police car when they pulled him over that night.
It says there were several struggles during which he was taken to the ground. On one occasion he struck the back of his head against the rear of a vehicle, and later inside the jail cell he hit the right side of his head on either the floor, a concrete bench or the toilet.
“The bleeding cannot be medically shown to be due to the physical altercations between Mr. Wright and police,” the statement said.
Further, the prosecution must demonstrate there were no grounds to apply force or that it was excessive, it said. That was not the case because his behaviour was “resistant, belligerent and unco-operative.”
“All three officers in his immediate vicinity at the time believed his action was intended in some way to engage in a physical confrontation or instigate something,” it said.
Diana McDaniel, public information officer with the New Westminster police, said both Prisk and the media would have to make a request through Freedom of Information protocol to get that force’s files into the incident.
Prisk told reporters she has been unable to do so because the force won’t release the officer’s name, and was told that’s how the case is catalogued.
The report to the Crown recommending the charge was submitted on Oct. 10, McDaniel said. She said the force would not release further details — including stating the charge itself — because it did not go forward.
The RCMP did not respond to a call for comment.
Prisk told reporters than on the night of the incident, she eventually learned her husband had a brain hemorrhage, but never received an explanation about what happened.
“I discovered this on my own when I saw the staples on his scalp. I also noticed that both legs had bandages on them,” she said.
Doctors have told the couple that Wright’s injury is permanent, and she has become his full-time caregiver.
“This injury has forever changed Robert’s and my life,” she said. “Rob needs 24-hour care and supervision. I was told by doctors that he may never regain the ability to care for himself and that most people in his condition end up in a nursing home.”
Chief Bob Chamberlain, UBCIC vice-president, called it “beyond belief” the Crown did not provide information to Prisk.
“At a time when the general public need to have confidence and security with the people that are deemed to look after our society, the RCMP, they cannot operate beyond reproach,” he said.
Judge shocked at handling of corpse by Prince George RCMP officers
Judge shocked at handling of corpse by Prince George RCMP officers
PRINCE GEORGE — B.C. Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett says the Crown should consider if charges are warranted against the RCMP in Prince George after investigators left a dead body overnight at the scene of a killing.
“I am quite frankly shocked and astounded,” Parrett said, adding he had seen “no evidence whatsoever of a single forensic step being taken the next day with the exception of videotaping the scene.”
Parrett made his comments during closing arguments at the manslaughter trial of Patrick Mathewsie.
The man is accused of the killing of Sylvain Victor Roy, whose body was found in an empty, overgrown lot in central Prince George on July 29, 2010.
“I perfectly understand there are times and some situations where there is forensic necessity for doing things in a particular way,” Parrett said.
“I’ve seen some pretty complex investigations that actually went on for days.
“I (don’t see the) faintest evidence that happened here.”
Parrett has suggested Crown counsel look at sections of the Criminal Code related to indignities to a human body.
He also added he will assist Crown in raising concerns about why the body was left out overnight in the mid-summer heat when police had more than three hours of daylight to deal with it when they first responded to the call.
“What was the question that required him to be left out overnight in July 29 temperatures?” Parrett said.
The judge also said he had viewed the police videotape recorded in the first hours of the investigation and called the scene depicted on the tape “a disgrace.”
Roy had been found with a rope around his neck and Mathewsie passed out beside him with blood on his hands and forearms and one arm resting on a T-shirt covering Roy’s face, court was told.
The Crown alleges Mathewsie strangled the victim, then wandered around the site before returning.
However, witnesses testified the man seen wandering had different clothing and did not have the same colour hair as Mathewsie, who was described as a friend of Roy.
Court was told the two men shared a tent while camping in the lot and collected pop bottles together.
There was also testimony that a larger, younger man, who had been acting aggressively, had been seen in the area over the days previous to Roy’s death.
Defence lawyer Rob Climie questioned forensic evidence, saying no DNA evidence from Mathewsie was found on the rope or on Roy’s knuckles or fingernails.
Parrett also criticized evidence given by an RCMP officer who testified Mathewsie was pretending to be asleep when he was found next to the body.
The judge noted the testimony contradicted details from other officers and ambulance personnel, and ignored the blood alcohol levels of both men, which were in the nearly lethal .350 range.
“The (officer’s) evidence is patently wrong in my view and I have looked at that evidence very carefully,” Parrett said.
Parrett is scheduled to deliver a verdict on Tuesday morning.
PRINCE GEORGE — B.C. Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett says the Crown should consider if charges are warranted against the RCMP in Prince George after investigators left a dead body overnight at the scene of a killing.
“I am quite frankly shocked and astounded,” Parrett said, adding he had seen “no evidence whatsoever of a single forensic step being taken the next day with the exception of videotaping the scene.”
Parrett made his comments during closing arguments at the manslaughter trial of Patrick Mathewsie.
The man is accused of the killing of Sylvain Victor Roy, whose body was found in an empty, overgrown lot in central Prince George on July 29, 2010.
“I perfectly understand there are times and some situations where there is forensic necessity for doing things in a particular way,” Parrett said.
“I’ve seen some pretty complex investigations that actually went on for days.
“I (don’t see the) faintest evidence that happened here.”
Parrett has suggested Crown counsel look at sections of the Criminal Code related to indignities to a human body.
He also added he will assist Crown in raising concerns about why the body was left out overnight in the mid-summer heat when police had more than three hours of daylight to deal with it when they first responded to the call.
“What was the question that required him to be left out overnight in July 29 temperatures?” Parrett said.
The judge also said he had viewed the police videotape recorded in the first hours of the investigation and called the scene depicted on the tape “a disgrace.”
Roy had been found with a rope around his neck and Mathewsie passed out beside him with blood on his hands and forearms and one arm resting on a T-shirt covering Roy’s face, court was told.
The Crown alleges Mathewsie strangled the victim, then wandered around the site before returning.
However, witnesses testified the man seen wandering had different clothing and did not have the same colour hair as Mathewsie, who was described as a friend of Roy.
Court was told the two men shared a tent while camping in the lot and collected pop bottles together.
There was also testimony that a larger, younger man, who had been acting aggressively, had been seen in the area over the days previous to Roy’s death.
Defence lawyer Rob Climie questioned forensic evidence, saying no DNA evidence from Mathewsie was found on the rope or on Roy’s knuckles or fingernails.
Parrett also criticized evidence given by an RCMP officer who testified Mathewsie was pretending to be asleep when he was found next to the body.
The judge noted the testimony contradicted details from other officers and ambulance personnel, and ignored the blood alcohol levels of both men, which were in the nearly lethal .350 range.
“The (officer’s) evidence is patently wrong in my view and I have looked at that evidence very carefully,” Parrett said.
Parrett is scheduled to deliver a verdict on Tuesday morning.
Have the RCMP Thugs Met their Match?
Richard Rosenthal says he's ready to make a mark as B.C.'s first independent police monitor by investigating serious incidents involving officers in a timely and transparent way that the province has not seen before.
After repeated scrutiny over police investigating themselves, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is set to take over criminal investigations into all on- and off-duty incidents involving police in B.C. that result in death and serious harm starting Sept. 10. Rosenthal heads the agency which is required to be led by a civilian who has never been a police officer.
The independent body was a major recommendation from the Braidwood Commission which probed the death of Robert Dziekanski who was Tasered by the RCMP at the Vancouver International Airport in 2007.
Rosenthal jumped at the chance to head the IIO but also to live in B.C. which he told The Huffington Post B.C. is “a great place to raise my kids. It’s a great place for everything, for work, for play.” He says he's even given his new chainsaw a spin already.
Rosenthal, who carried a gun while prosecuting gangsters in Los Angeles, created Portland’s first police oversight agency and then made a mark in Denver as its first independent police monitor. He left few fans within the force in Colorado with his no-holds-barred approach to investigating police brutality and calling for stiffer punishments for officers when he saw fit.
Unlike similar agencies in Alberta and Ontario, Rosenthal has ensured that only half of the B.C. office is made up of former police officers and the other half are civilians with investigative experience from places such as the coroner’s service.
Richard Rosenthal speaks during a news conference in Vancouver in December 2011. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
Why is it so significant that you have investigators with diverse backgrounds in terms of ethnicity and experience?
It’s important to have diversity in all kinds of respects. We have to make sure we conduct competent investigations so we have to have investigators with experience to conduct serious investigations.
We need people who will look at these investigations from a fresh perspective and from a perspective of ensuring that the public will have faith and integrity in the investigation and a faith that the office will be independent of the police, not just structurally but also in the way we think and evaluate investigations.
Clearly the past practice of having the police conducting the investigations into these incidents was not resulting in the level of public confidence that’s necessary in order for the police to succeed.
That "level of public confidence" — that doesn’t necessarily mean that those internal police investigations were flawed or missing information; is it just about public perception?
It can be. Obviously there were instances where police investigations had indications of bias and that seemed to be the biggest problem as opposed to them not including all of the aspects that they should. But even there, there have been past criticisms of investigations and their quality. But the reality is that no matter how competent an investigation would be or how fair, as long as it’s conducted by the police, of the police there will be a certain lack of confidence or concern about the bias that the people conducting the investigations and reviewing the incidents may have.
The high profile investigations such as the one that lead to Braidwood — the Dziekanski case — and more recently Monty Robinson. How would the independent agency have handled those differently?
I don’t want to go in to the details of how those cases were specifically handled other than they would have fallen into our jurisdiction.
I can say the one thing we would be able to do under our new statute is we’re in a position to publicly report on those cases in a more robust fashion than has been done in the past. And so part of our mandate, part of our plans are, if a case does not result in a referral to Crown, and it’s a significant case involving deaths or what have you, we will publicly report and explain why. If a case does go to Crown -- obviously we can’t issue a public report there but what we do then is we provide the support to Crown that’s necessary.
What’s been the biggest challenge in setting up the office?
The biggest challenge is the geography of the province of trying to make sure that we are both capable of investigating urban and rural incidents. And be capable of getting out to the various locations in the province in a timely fashion.
A lot of the complaints is why do these investigations take so long? Is there a target in decreasing the time it takes to get results to the public?
Yes, that’s huge. Currently it can take well over a year, even two years before an officer or the public is aware of whether or not a case is going to be referred to Crown for a charging decision. And it doesn’t serve anyone well. The officer has the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head. The family members do not know what’s going to happen and are left in the dark for extended periods of time which will lead to frustration and frankly assumptions that there’s a cover-up going on.
This is not something solely suffered by B.C. This is an issue that’s suffered everywhere including the U.S. with the big agencies. Timeliness has repeatedly been a factor in interfering with public accountability.
It’s safe to say those goals will be sooner than the one to two years that you mentioned?
My hope is frankly that people may be shocked at how quickly in some cases we are able to get it done because they’re used to it taking so long.
Is there a different approach in the US to independent police oversight versus Canada?
In the U.S. there are several large civilian-led bodies ... but they are primarily responsible for the administrative investigations and the disciplinary aspect of it, not the criminal investigations. That’s something that’s different in Canada. So that’s something where Canada is further along than the U.S.
Who’s your favourite crime-fighting hero?
(Laughs) The problem is that when you’re in the business, you just don’t really something you pay a lot of attention to. (Sighs) Can I tell you my favourite book or movie instead? Bonfire of the Vanities, the book, not the movie. And then for movie, To Kill a Mockingbird.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
After repeated scrutiny over police investigating themselves, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is set to take over criminal investigations into all on- and off-duty incidents involving police in B.C. that result in death and serious harm starting Sept. 10. Rosenthal heads the agency which is required to be led by a civilian who has never been a police officer.
The independent body was a major recommendation from the Braidwood Commission which probed the death of Robert Dziekanski who was Tasered by the RCMP at the Vancouver International Airport in 2007.
Rosenthal jumped at the chance to head the IIO but also to live in B.C. which he told The Huffington Post B.C. is “a great place to raise my kids. It’s a great place for everything, for work, for play.” He says he's even given his new chainsaw a spin already.
Rosenthal, who carried a gun while prosecuting gangsters in Los Angeles, created Portland’s first police oversight agency and then made a mark in Denver as its first independent police monitor. He left few fans within the force in Colorado with his no-holds-barred approach to investigating police brutality and calling for stiffer punishments for officers when he saw fit.
Unlike similar agencies in Alberta and Ontario, Rosenthal has ensured that only half of the B.C. office is made up of former police officers and the other half are civilians with investigative experience from places such as the coroner’s service.
Richard Rosenthal speaks during a news conference in Vancouver in December 2011. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
Why is it so significant that you have investigators with diverse backgrounds in terms of ethnicity and experience?
It’s important to have diversity in all kinds of respects. We have to make sure we conduct competent investigations so we have to have investigators with experience to conduct serious investigations.
We need people who will look at these investigations from a fresh perspective and from a perspective of ensuring that the public will have faith and integrity in the investigation and a faith that the office will be independent of the police, not just structurally but also in the way we think and evaluate investigations.
Clearly the past practice of having the police conducting the investigations into these incidents was not resulting in the level of public confidence that’s necessary in order for the police to succeed.
That "level of public confidence" — that doesn’t necessarily mean that those internal police investigations were flawed or missing information; is it just about public perception?
It can be. Obviously there were instances where police investigations had indications of bias and that seemed to be the biggest problem as opposed to them not including all of the aspects that they should. But even there, there have been past criticisms of investigations and their quality. But the reality is that no matter how competent an investigation would be or how fair, as long as it’s conducted by the police, of the police there will be a certain lack of confidence or concern about the bias that the people conducting the investigations and reviewing the incidents may have.
The high profile investigations such as the one that lead to Braidwood — the Dziekanski case — and more recently Monty Robinson. How would the independent agency have handled those differently?
I don’t want to go in to the details of how those cases were specifically handled other than they would have fallen into our jurisdiction.
I can say the one thing we would be able to do under our new statute is we’re in a position to publicly report on those cases in a more robust fashion than has been done in the past. And so part of our mandate, part of our plans are, if a case does not result in a referral to Crown, and it’s a significant case involving deaths or what have you, we will publicly report and explain why. If a case does go to Crown -- obviously we can’t issue a public report there but what we do then is we provide the support to Crown that’s necessary.
What’s been the biggest challenge in setting up the office?
The biggest challenge is the geography of the province of trying to make sure that we are both capable of investigating urban and rural incidents. And be capable of getting out to the various locations in the province in a timely fashion.
A lot of the complaints is why do these investigations take so long? Is there a target in decreasing the time it takes to get results to the public?
Yes, that’s huge. Currently it can take well over a year, even two years before an officer or the public is aware of whether or not a case is going to be referred to Crown for a charging decision. And it doesn’t serve anyone well. The officer has the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head. The family members do not know what’s going to happen and are left in the dark for extended periods of time which will lead to frustration and frankly assumptions that there’s a cover-up going on.
This is not something solely suffered by B.C. This is an issue that’s suffered everywhere including the U.S. with the big agencies. Timeliness has repeatedly been a factor in interfering with public accountability.
It’s safe to say those goals will be sooner than the one to two years that you mentioned?
My hope is frankly that people may be shocked at how quickly in some cases we are able to get it done because they’re used to it taking so long.
Is there a different approach in the US to independent police oversight versus Canada?
In the U.S. there are several large civilian-led bodies ... but they are primarily responsible for the administrative investigations and the disciplinary aspect of it, not the criminal investigations. That’s something that’s different in Canada. So that’s something where Canada is further along than the U.S.
Who’s your favourite crime-fighting hero?
(Laughs) The problem is that when you’re in the business, you just don’t really something you pay a lot of attention to. (Sighs) Can I tell you my favourite book or movie instead? Bonfire of the Vanities, the book, not the movie. And then for movie, To Kill a Mockingbird.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
Sister of man shot and killed by RCMP has questions
Sister of man shot and killed by RCMP has questions
Sister of man shot and killed by RCMP has questions
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
James Lewis
Email news tips to jlewis@cknw.com
9/13/2012
The sister of the man shot by the RCMP in Prince George says he was a decorated veteran, struggling with post-traumatic stress.
40-year old Greg Matters was killed Monday night, after a long stand-off with the mounties.
His sister Tracey says she has confidence in the investigation, but also has serious questions.
"Why was it necessary to use lethal force on a man, on his own property, who didn't have a firearm?
Why wasn't my brother allowed to talk to his doctor, his mother, or family friends during the stand-off... when this was requested?"
The new "Independent Investigation Office" remains on-scene.
Let us all hope the new Independent Investigation Office is not just a lot of noise like ther new commissioner.
Sister of man shot and killed by RCMP has questions
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
James Lewis
Email news tips to jlewis@cknw.com
9/13/2012
The sister of the man shot by the RCMP in Prince George says he was a decorated veteran, struggling with post-traumatic stress.
40-year old Greg Matters was killed Monday night, after a long stand-off with the mounties.
His sister Tracey says she has confidence in the investigation, but also has serious questions.
"Why was it necessary to use lethal force on a man, on his own property, who didn't have a firearm?
Why wasn't my brother allowed to talk to his doctor, his mother, or family friends during the stand-off... when this was requested?"
The new "Independent Investigation Office" remains on-scene.
Let us all hope the new Independent Investigation Office is not just a lot of noise like ther new commissioner.
BCCLA urges RCMP to 'get out of the editorial and media policy business'
BC
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling on the RCMP to “get out of the editorial and media policy business” after recent media-related actions by a northern B.C. detachment.The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling on the RCMP to “get out of the editorial and media policy business” after recent media-related actions by a northern B.C. detachment.
“The RCMP has a job to police impartially and to share public safety information with media outlets impartially, even if those outlets may be critical of some aspects of their work,” said Lindsay Lyster, President of the BCCLA, in a release.
The Terrace RCMP allegedly advised the editor of Terrace Daily – a local news and blogging website – that an article “which lampooned the local mayor and RCMP Inspector had offended the force,” according to the release. The editor also alleged that the RCMP in Terrace told him “that TerraceDaily.ca would not receive news releases until they changed their editorial policies to give satirical stories that criticized the RCMP and local politicians lower prominence.”
The Terrace RCMP confirmed that they had stopped sending news releases, said Const. Angela Rabut, because “at this point, the Terrace Daily online is not a credible news source.”
The editor is “running more of a blog-site, where there’s a lot of opinion and fictional stories mixed in with credible news stories,” she said.
The detachment is also under fire by the BCCLA for a letter written by Insp. Dana Hart to the CRTC in support of a merger between Astral Media – a local TV station – and Bell Canada.
“The RCMP may well prefer the coverage of one media outlet to the other,” said BCCLA’s Lyster, “but retaliation for negative coverage by withholding public information is not acceptable, nor is using an impartial public platform to advocate for the private interests of media outlets that provide favourable coverage.”
Hart has since asked for the letter to be withdrawn, said Rabut, adding “it was not his intent to choose sides in this at all, it’s just to show support for a local [TV] station.”
“We have one TV station in town, and we work very closely with them,” she said, “and so we’ve always supported them [as] they support us.”
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/BCCLA+urges+RCMP+editorial+media+policy+business/7168655/story.html#ixzz25XcP183ECLA urges RCMP to 'get out of the editorial and media policy business'
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling on the RCMP to “get out of the editorial and media policy business” after recent media-related actions by a northern B.C. detachment.The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling on the RCMP to “get out of the editorial and media policy business” after recent media-related actions by a northern B.C. detachment.
“The RCMP has a job to police impartially and to share public safety information with media outlets impartially, even if those outlets may be critical of some aspects of their work,” said Lindsay Lyster, President of the BCCLA, in a release.
The Terrace RCMP allegedly advised the editor of Terrace Daily – a local news and blogging website – that an article “which lampooned the local mayor and RCMP Inspector had offended the force,” according to the release. The editor also alleged that the RCMP in Terrace told him “that TerraceDaily.ca would not receive news releases until they changed their editorial policies to give satirical stories that criticized the RCMP and local politicians lower prominence.”
The Terrace RCMP confirmed that they had stopped sending news releases, said Const. Angela Rabut, because “at this point, the Terrace Daily online is not a credible news source.”
The editor is “running more of a blog-site, where there’s a lot of opinion and fictional stories mixed in with credible news stories,” she said.
The detachment is also under fire by the BCCLA for a letter written by Insp. Dana Hart to the CRTC in support of a merger between Astral Media – a local TV station – and Bell Canada.
“The RCMP may well prefer the coverage of one media outlet to the other,” said BCCLA’s Lyster, “but retaliation for negative coverage by withholding public information is not acceptable, nor is using an impartial public platform to advocate for the private interests of media outlets that provide favourable coverage.”
Hart has since asked for the letter to be withdrawn, said Rabut, adding “it was not his intent to choose sides in this at all, it’s just to show support for a local [TV] station.”
“We have one TV station in town, and we work very closely with them,” she said, “and so we’ve always supported them [as] they support us.”
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/BCCLA+urges+RCMP+editorial+media+policy+business/7168655/story.html#ixzz25XcP183ECLA urges RCMP to 'get out of the editorial and media policy business'
Sun News : Mounties can't retaliate for negative coverage, BCCLA says
Sun News : Mounties can't retaliate for negative coverage, BCCLA says
Credits: MARCO VIGLIOTTI/ HIGH RIVER TIMES/ QMI AGENCY
BYRON CHU
QMI AGENCY
VANCOUVER -- The RCMP are coming under more fire in B.C. over what critics say are ongoing attempts to squash media commentary that is critical of the force and its members.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is demanding the Terrace RCMP detachment resume sending press releases to the Terrace Daily News, after delivery ceased in June.
Publisher Merv Ritchie said the media outlet was blacklisted after publishing a story and BCCLA letter critical of RCMP Inspector Dana Hart, and after two other articles critiqued and spoofed the Mounties.
Terrace RCMP spokesperson Angela Rabut wrote to Ritchie explaining, "The Terrace RCMP issues news releases to credible media outlets. The Terrace Daily does not fall in this category."
"She said we have to change the way we do our website," Ritchie said, adding she told him to take satirical pieces off the front home page.
"But that's the way we run our website. Everything goes on the front page. And that's not going to change."
Rabut did not return calls for comment on Friday. Calls to the provincial RCMP media relations department also went unreturned.
"Retaliation for negative coverage by withholding public information is not acceptable," BCCLA president Lindsay Lyster said in a media release.
Lyster also criticized Hart, a former member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's security team, for writing a letter to the CRTC on official RCMP letterhead supporting Bell Communications acquisition of Astral Media.
In the letter dated July 27, Hart wrote, "Terrace RCMP rely on our local Astral Media extensively to inform the public about issues affecting public safety "¦ BCE's acquisition will "¦ also help to ensure the production of new Canadian content."
Lyster said it's unacceptable for Hart "to advocate for the private interests of media outlets that provide favourable coverage."
Controversy has dogged the RCMP in B.C. this year over its reactions and responses to critics.
A week ago, the force raided the home of a man connected to the Re-Sergeance Alliance blog, which aimed to publish stories of corruption inside the force. The BCCLA has criticized the RCMP for obtaining the search warrant using the rare charge of defamatory libel, which the rights group said has been struck down as unconstitutional in at least three provinces.
In February, Osoyoos Times editor Keith Lacey apologized for publishing a "slanderous" editorial about the behaviour of an RCMP officer when he was pulled over while driving, after the force threatened to release video of the incident.
Simon Fraser University criminal psychology professor Ehor Boyanowsky, who is also a member of the Canadian Constitution Federation, said it's important to protect the public's democratic right to criticize the police, "even if the criticism turns out ultimately not to be true."
Defamatory libel
Courts in several provinces have ruled that S.301 of the Criminal Code is unconstitutional as it says anyone who publishes defamatory material, whether truthful or not, is committing defamatory libel, an indictable offence with a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
In 1996, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upheld a ruling in the case of John and Johanna Lucas, who had carried placards and posted flyers criticizing a child sexual abuse investigation. The court ruled that S.301 was not a justified limit on the freedom of expression.
Also in 1996, the Ontario Court of Justice also struck down S.301, used to charge Bradley Waugh and Ravin Gill who put up wanted posters of six Kingston Penitentiary guards implicated in the suspicious death of an inmate. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association intervened, and the judge ruled S.301 of no force and effect in Ontario.
In 2008, the Newfoundland Supreme Court ruled S.301 unconstitutional when it was used to charge Byron Prior for distributing flyers alleging a public justice official raped and impregnated his 12-year-old sister some 40 years before. The court ruled S.301 could not stand because it prevents the publishing of material even if it is truthful.
In May of this year, prosecutors in New Brunswick dropped libel charges against Charles LeBlanc for posting comments on his blog about a police officer. Director of public prosecutions Luc Labonte said that with the previous rulings striking down S.301 in other jurisdictions, "we really didn't think that any court in this province would rule against those other cases." Fredericton police had obtained a warrant for defamatory libel to search LeBlanc's house and seize his computer.
Section 300 of the Criminal Code also addresses defamatory libel with a maximum penalty of up to five years' prison, but civil liberty groups say it is much more difficult for prosecutors to achieve a conviction under that charge. Prosecutors must prove that a suspect is fully aware his statement is false, and that he published his statement with the specific intent to defame.
Credits: MARCO VIGLIOTTI/ HIGH RIVER TIMES/ QMI AGENCY
BYRON CHU
QMI AGENCY
VANCOUVER -- The RCMP are coming under more fire in B.C. over what critics say are ongoing attempts to squash media commentary that is critical of the force and its members.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is demanding the Terrace RCMP detachment resume sending press releases to the Terrace Daily News, after delivery ceased in June.
Publisher Merv Ritchie said the media outlet was blacklisted after publishing a story and BCCLA letter critical of RCMP Inspector Dana Hart, and after two other articles critiqued and spoofed the Mounties.
Terrace RCMP spokesperson Angela Rabut wrote to Ritchie explaining, "The Terrace RCMP issues news releases to credible media outlets. The Terrace Daily does not fall in this category."
"She said we have to change the way we do our website," Ritchie said, adding she told him to take satirical pieces off the front home page.
"But that's the way we run our website. Everything goes on the front page. And that's not going to change."
Rabut did not return calls for comment on Friday. Calls to the provincial RCMP media relations department also went unreturned.
"Retaliation for negative coverage by withholding public information is not acceptable," BCCLA president Lindsay Lyster said in a media release.
Lyster also criticized Hart, a former member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's security team, for writing a letter to the CRTC on official RCMP letterhead supporting Bell Communications acquisition of Astral Media.
In the letter dated July 27, Hart wrote, "Terrace RCMP rely on our local Astral Media extensively to inform the public about issues affecting public safety "¦ BCE's acquisition will "¦ also help to ensure the production of new Canadian content."
Lyster said it's unacceptable for Hart "to advocate for the private interests of media outlets that provide favourable coverage."
Controversy has dogged the RCMP in B.C. this year over its reactions and responses to critics.
A week ago, the force raided the home of a man connected to the Re-Sergeance Alliance blog, which aimed to publish stories of corruption inside the force. The BCCLA has criticized the RCMP for obtaining the search warrant using the rare charge of defamatory libel, which the rights group said has been struck down as unconstitutional in at least three provinces.
In February, Osoyoos Times editor Keith Lacey apologized for publishing a "slanderous" editorial about the behaviour of an RCMP officer when he was pulled over while driving, after the force threatened to release video of the incident.
Simon Fraser University criminal psychology professor Ehor Boyanowsky, who is also a member of the Canadian Constitution Federation, said it's important to protect the public's democratic right to criticize the police, "even if the criticism turns out ultimately not to be true."
Defamatory libel
Courts in several provinces have ruled that S.301 of the Criminal Code is unconstitutional as it says anyone who publishes defamatory material, whether truthful or not, is committing defamatory libel, an indictable offence with a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
In 1996, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upheld a ruling in the case of John and Johanna Lucas, who had carried placards and posted flyers criticizing a child sexual abuse investigation. The court ruled that S.301 was not a justified limit on the freedom of expression.
Also in 1996, the Ontario Court of Justice also struck down S.301, used to charge Bradley Waugh and Ravin Gill who put up wanted posters of six Kingston Penitentiary guards implicated in the suspicious death of an inmate. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association intervened, and the judge ruled S.301 of no force and effect in Ontario.
In 2008, the Newfoundland Supreme Court ruled S.301 unconstitutional when it was used to charge Byron Prior for distributing flyers alleging a public justice official raped and impregnated his 12-year-old sister some 40 years before. The court ruled S.301 could not stand because it prevents the publishing of material even if it is truthful.
In May of this year, prosecutors in New Brunswick dropped libel charges against Charles LeBlanc for posting comments on his blog about a police officer. Director of public prosecutions Luc Labonte said that with the previous rulings striking down S.301 in other jurisdictions, "we really didn't think that any court in this province would rule against those other cases." Fredericton police had obtained a warrant for defamatory libel to search LeBlanc's house and seize his computer.
Section 300 of the Criminal Code also addresses defamatory libel with a maximum penalty of up to five years' prison, but civil liberty groups say it is much more difficult for prosecutors to achieve a conviction under that charge. Prosecutors must prove that a suspect is fully aware his statement is false, and that he published his statement with the specific intent to defame.
RCMP must disclose intimate relationships, draft policy states
RCMP must disclose intimate relationships, draft policy states
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson .Photograph by: Blair Gable , ReutersSupervisors and subordinates in the RCMP who engage in consensual, intimate relationships will be required to “immediately” report in writing details of their relationships under a draft administrative policy obtained by Postmedia News.
Such relationships raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest, preferential treatment and sexual harassment, the draft policy states, and could be damaging to morale, productivity and public confidence in the force.
In an interview Friday, Commissioner Bob Paulson said the policy is not intended to regulate people’s lives or prohibit relationships from forming — “I’m all for relationships,” he said — but to ensure that the workplace remains respectful and professional.
“The trouble with relationships where there’s a relative power imbalance in the workplace should be pretty evident to everybody,” he said.
The draft comes at a time when Paulson has been trying to clamp down on officer misconduct and is grappling with allegations of pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination within the force.
The draft “interpersonal workplace relationships” policy defines reportable relationships as “ongoing or singular consensual, intimate, romantic or sexual relationships” between those in positions of authority and their subordinates or those who fall under their sphere of control.
The policy would also apply to those working together in undercover operations and employees working on the same tactical troops, emergency response teams or dive teams.
Employees involved in such relationships would be required to report the “existence, nature and extent” of their relationships to a manager immediately in writing.
Once notified of such relationships, managers would work with human resource officers to discuss whether intervention is needed. Options could include removing or transferring one of the employees, reassigning duties, or “any other measures to mitigate concerns of conflict of interest, preferential treatment, or a reasonable apprehension of bias within the workplace.”
Failure to report an interpersonal workplace relationship could result in disciplinary action, including dismissal, the draft policy states.
Jennifer Berdahl, a professor of organizational behaviour at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, said Friday that such disclosure policies are common in the working world. Some companies are stricter than others.
Berdahl said the RCMP appears to be moving in the right direction. Such transparency, she said, not only helps to mitigate conflicts of interest but could also help uncover coercive relationships and manage souring relationships before they get really nasty.
“When people try to hide these things, it backfires,” she said. “People pick up on it, rumours start spreading. You don’t want that going around the RCMP.
“Better to have it on the record,” she said. “It can be awkward, but it’s going to come out anyway.”
Staff Sgt. Mike Casault, who sits on the national executive of the RCMP’s staff relations program, said Friday members of the internal affairs committee are still reviewing the draft to ensure the policy doesn’t infringe on members’ privacy and charter rights.
Paulson said he hopes to have a policy in place in the fall.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
Too much, too late.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson .Photograph by: Blair Gable , ReutersSupervisors and subordinates in the RCMP who engage in consensual, intimate relationships will be required to “immediately” report in writing details of their relationships under a draft administrative policy obtained by Postmedia News.
Such relationships raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest, preferential treatment and sexual harassment, the draft policy states, and could be damaging to morale, productivity and public confidence in the force.
In an interview Friday, Commissioner Bob Paulson said the policy is not intended to regulate people’s lives or prohibit relationships from forming — “I’m all for relationships,” he said — but to ensure that the workplace remains respectful and professional.
“The trouble with relationships where there’s a relative power imbalance in the workplace should be pretty evident to everybody,” he said.
The draft comes at a time when Paulson has been trying to clamp down on officer misconduct and is grappling with allegations of pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination within the force.
The draft “interpersonal workplace relationships” policy defines reportable relationships as “ongoing or singular consensual, intimate, romantic or sexual relationships” between those in positions of authority and their subordinates or those who fall under their sphere of control.
The policy would also apply to those working together in undercover operations and employees working on the same tactical troops, emergency response teams or dive teams.
Employees involved in such relationships would be required to report the “existence, nature and extent” of their relationships to a manager immediately in writing.
Once notified of such relationships, managers would work with human resource officers to discuss whether intervention is needed. Options could include removing or transferring one of the employees, reassigning duties, or “any other measures to mitigate concerns of conflict of interest, preferential treatment, or a reasonable apprehension of bias within the workplace.”
Failure to report an interpersonal workplace relationship could result in disciplinary action, including dismissal, the draft policy states.
Jennifer Berdahl, a professor of organizational behaviour at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, said Friday that such disclosure policies are common in the working world. Some companies are stricter than others.
Berdahl said the RCMP appears to be moving in the right direction. Such transparency, she said, not only helps to mitigate conflicts of interest but could also help uncover coercive relationships and manage souring relationships before they get really nasty.
“When people try to hide these things, it backfires,” she said. “People pick up on it, rumours start spreading. You don’t want that going around the RCMP.
“Better to have it on the record,” she said. “It can be awkward, but it’s going to come out anyway.”
Staff Sgt. Mike Casault, who sits on the national executive of the RCMP’s staff relations program, said Friday members of the internal affairs committee are still reviewing the draft to ensure the policy doesn’t infringe on members’ privacy and charter rights.
Paulson said he hopes to have a policy in place in the fall.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
Too much, too late.
Understanding the RCMP
The Red Coats
Understanding the RCMP
by George Forbes B.A., B.Ed.
The RCMP, among other police forces in Canada, often has members visit schools and give talks to students. These members address many issues of great interest to the students including specific laws and consequences of breaking those laws. They also talk about the actual job of policing, just as visiting professionals like accountants and dentists and skilled tradespeople of all kinds do when invited to speak in the classrooms. However, unlike other visitors, the police are also routinely invited to offer group counselling to the children upon the subject of peer pressure and it's many facets- like bullying and gangs to give two of the most important examples. The assumption is that by the very nature of their work with the victims of negative peer pressure- the police seem to be the obvious ones to ask. When you think about it though, particularly in the case of the RCMP in BC, the police have proven themselves time and time again to be the last people we should ask to speak to our children about peer pressure, bullying and gangs because- to quote...... "they are one".
For once in the field of psychological terminology, the accepted definitions and explanations of peer pressure make perfect common sense to everybody. A child starts school with a set of philosophical, moral and social standards that he or she acquired in their first five years of life. In order to get along in his new school and on the playground each child must adapt his or her behaviour to that prescribed by the teacher and by his classmates. How smoothly this goes depends upon how closely the standards the child arrived with conform to the standards he or she encounters at the school, and his ability to adapt to the differences. As we all know, some children do better at it than others and really, when you get right down to it, not much more needs to be said. All of us know about it because we all went through it. Even if we haven't been near a school in years we all remember and understand how it works. What is particularly interesting to note, however, is that when we apply our understanding of how peer pressure works specifically to the RCMP, we find to our dismay that the RCMP as an organization and the individual members themselves are perfect poster examples of all that can go wrong when negative peer pressure is allowed free reign.
The 'Bad Apple' Theory
The bogus 'Bad Apple Theory' is a good place to start. Most people don't dwell on the subject of the RCMP and it's many well published failings because of the many other things in life that require our immediate attention. However, when they were interrupted in their daily routine and specifically asked in a recent Angus Reid poll in BC, over 70% of us said the RCMP as an organization is failing us. That failure is a fact that has become such common knowledge that it isn't even necessary to take the time here to cite specific examples of the many excessively violent and often cowardly acts perpetrated by RCMP gang members. Routine inappropriate use of tazers and pepper spray, the punching of handcuffed people by officers, money crimes, sexual excess and depravity, harrassment, and downright investigative incompetance. Even the RCMP spokespeople now tend to say they will fix it, rather than trying to flog the blatantly false assertion that it isn't happening all the time.
Most of the survey respondents felt somehow disloyal about having to denounce the formerly well respected RCMP organization, and because of that feeling many were quick to add that while the RCMP as a whole is failing us, they have heard the fault originates with a few 'bad apples' who are spoiling everything. This 'Bad Apple' theory is so seriously flawed that is completely ludicrous, but the RCMP brass and their political apologists support it with enthusiasm because they mistakenly think it helps take the blame for the degeneration of the RCMP away from where it belongs- the top. (They add to this 'bad apple' excuse the thin claim that they are hamstrung by the RCMP Act when it comes to discipline. I will dispose of that in a few words while discussing the 'bad apple' theory).
What is wrong with the 'Bad Apple' theory?
Unpleasant though it may be to contemplate, it is pretty clear to all of us that the 'bad apples'- vicious swaggering bullies, moral reprobates and down-right crooks- would simply not be able to function within the RCMP if the RCMP members themselves would refuse to tolerate their presence rather than meekly consent to work alongside them in a business as usual manner. If you are an RCMP officer reading this- and if you are not too far gone- you will be feeling more than a little awkward at this observation. The simple every day fact is that if you have any backbone at all you would use the normal social instruements of behaviour that you learned in the school yard to keep the miscreants among you at arms length. Do you seriously think it isn't partly your own fault that we civilians look upon you with less respect as every month goes by with scandal heaped upon scandal?
An officer punches a handcuffed teenage girl in the face- you ostracize him. You refuse to treat him with any friendliness or respect. Right? Well apparently not. By going on with business as usual you condone their actions, and by condoning them you become their accomplices. How can you fail to see that? You voluntarily tar yourself with their brush, and in doing so you earn and deserve our disrespect. Also, by the way and while we're on the subject, if the top brass was serious and came out from hiding behind the RCMP Act, they could disarm the rejects they claim can't be fired and assign them to public service work like washing dishes in a soup kitchen or picking up highway garbage for their eight hours a day. Who does the top brass think they're kidding? It's as embarrassing to all of us that the RCMP brass spouts this kind of tripe and thinks we're buying it, as it is disappointing that the rank and file don't make the job untenable for the thugs and crooks among them.
So much for the 'bad apple' theory. You might as well say the Hell's Angels are a really nice bunch of swell guys except for a few bad apples. It would be more accurate to say that the RCMP has become a gang- a gang like any other whose members have more loyalty to their fellow members than to anybody outside their group.
Back to you, you long suffering regular RCMP hopefully non-villain member. When you joined the RCMP and went off to the training depot, like just about everybody starting a new job you had to compromise your internal standards that you had at that point in order to avoid rejection within your new group. Sound familiar from your school days? The difference between you and us is, you threw so many of your own standards completely down the toilet that you allowed yourself to be turned into somebody else! Let's skip a few steps and fast-forward five or six years to you being a fairly experienced officer now. You have seen the public begin to complain more and more frequently about various crimes many of your fellow officers have committed without those officers even being brought to book like any civilian would have been- let alone fired. The lack of consequences for their aberrant behaviour is a travesty and an insult to a people who deserve much better.
This point must be hammered home: we civilians understand that the mutant philosophical and moral standards that RCMP gang members now maintain in order to be accepted as worthy members, are standards that are totally in conflict with our standards. More and more, as we read daily accounts, we cannot bring ourselves to excuse the RCMP- neither the top brass nor the rank and file- for actively embracing a culture whose standards allow- even require- that they tolerate and even accept the behaviour of so many so extremely deviant fellow members. By tolerating them the gang itself becomes complicit. Make no mistake- by tolerating the rejects the rank and file members knowingly betray us. While the brass should have the rejects sweeping sidewalks in the first place, the fact remains that having been stuck with them by thier leaders, the rank and file haven't ostracized those rejects like they should have. No individual member has to be friendly or civil with anybody they don't respect, even if they are too chicken- hearted to be more obvious about it than simply giving them the cold shoulder. The fact that RCMP gang members, of all people, lecture to our children about peer pressure, bullying and gangs is a sad joke.
Before turning to the subject of gang mentality within the RCMP, I'd like to say a few things about the RCMP 'apologists' I mentioned earlier. RCMP apologists are the people who actively try to get us to excuse the RCMP. No matter what the latest crime or outrage committed by an RCMP member, the apologists will write in to the newspaper comment sections and saying in defence of the RCMP things like, " How would you like it if some creep treated you that way?" or, "These guys are on the front line while you sit safely at home criticising them", or even derisively "Listen to the Civil Liberties Association complain about this one!". Well here are a few facts for those apologists (many of whom I can't stop myself from suspecting are paid by the RCMP to read the papers and submit such comments no matter how outrageous the RCMP behaviour being reported) :
School teachers are often subjected to some extremely bad behaviour from students- some of whom are bigger than the teachers, stronger, and extremely volatile. Bus drivers, nurses, social workers and many others will know first hand what I'm talking about.When confronted by these same antagonistic children and adults on the streets, RCMP officers have tazers and pepper spray at their disposal, as well as usually being in the company of at least one other officer similarly equipped. An RCMP officer will tazer anyone from eleven to eighty years old rather than risk being touched. When it comes to being hurt on the job, the RCMP is tenth on the list, far below farmers, fishermen, construction workers and garbage men! And the RCMP wouldn't even be in tenth place if they didn't have so many car accidents. A police officer with a grade twelve education and one year on the job gets paid over sixty thousand dollars a year with full benefits, clothing supplied, excellent pension and retirement at an early age. The apologists for the RCMP have no more than a load of hooey to sling.
Before examining gang mentality within the RCMP I'll conclude this peer pressure aspect of understanding the RCMP with the following nearly twenty year old report but still perfectly relevant today about the importance of individual officers having the guts to stand up......
Former Police Corruption-Fighter on Peer Pressure and Ethics
By SELWYN RAAB
Published: June 18, 1995
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/nyregion/former-police-corruption-fighter-on-peer-pressure-and-ethics.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
John Guido was in charge of uprooting and deterring corruption in New York City's Police Department from 1972 to 1986 -- a period viewed by most police experts as one of the cleanest in the department's history. He retired in 1986 as Chief of Inspectional Services and the Internal Affairs Division, with a reputation as the most hated commander on the force because of his relentless investigations.
Last week, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Police Comissioner William J. Bratton announced a new set of anticorruption measures to clean up a department troubled by a series of scandals. In an interview. Mr. Guido (pronounced GUY-doe) discussed the corruption problems that are again besetting the department and ways of combatting police misconduct.
Q. Why can't the department stop, or at least contain, this chronic series of corruption and abuse problems?
A. I think the problem is the police itself -- I'm talking about the patrolmen basically. What it is, here, they outnumber the supervisors 10 to 1. And somehow the department failed to instill in these individuals a sense of doing the right thing. They come out -- I don't care how long you train them in the academy, you could keep them there a year, two years, three years -- the minute they come out, the first tour, they go into a radio car. There's a veteran police officer, he's got decorations from his shoulder down to his hip, and he tells him: "Hey, kid, forget about that baloney they told you in the academy. Here's how the job is done." And that's his peer and I think peer pressure will far, will far outlast any supervisory pressure.
The best thing I have in my experience -- and I'll never forget this until the day I die -- is how the policeman should react. I was the head of the I.A.D. and somebody came in and said, "There's an officer from the Ninth Precinct who wants to talk to you. He wants to make an appointment to see you." I said, "Bring him in." And this guys comes in -- his name was Robert Ellis -- and he's in the Ninth Precinct. I said, "What's on your mind, Bob?" And the guy started telling me a harrowing tale -- I couldn't really believe it. I said, "I wonder if he's playing with a full deck." So I said, "Well, why are you doing this?" And here's the key. He was in the U.N. Security Force, and he came in the job kind of late, he was in his 30's. He said, "I always wanted to be a cop." And he said: "I'm proud of my job, I'm proud of being a cop. But these guys are so corrupt."
So he tells a story. There's a clique, between seven or nine men, ripping off drug addicts in the Ninth Precinct. He said they come and brag, and one guy carries a bugle, and when the guy won't tell him where the money is he blasts out his eardrums. Medically, you know, we substantiated later medically and it proved to be right.
So anyway, at the time when he came in I had my reservations. "Listen," I said, "you know you have to help us now."
He said, "Of course."
So I, you know, kind of almost fell off my chair. I said, "You know we want to wire up your car."
He said, "Why don't you wire me up?"
I said, "Oh, you're going to assist us?"
"You tell me what you want me to do," he said, "and it's done."
So the next day he started in. We put him in with one of the cops in a civilian car -- they were trying to get him to go into the group. They used to come into the locker room and just throw bundles of money in there and tell him what a jerk he was for not joining. Next day, he wears the wire and there it is, everything he's saying, it's corroborated.
Q. Can you produce enough honest officers to turn in others?
A. Well, they won't do it. I personally blame the P.B.A. because the thing is this: They built up a subculture which is stronger than the -- 10 times stronger than the supervisory culture.
Q. What is that subculture that you think is created by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association?
A. The subculture is that they've got to stick together, that the world is against them and everything else.
Q. Are corruption and brutality inevitable? Is it a way of life in the department?
A. It really doesn't have to be if you could get more Robert Ellises. You know, here's what I found. Back in the late 60's and the early 70's I had a Public Morals Division, that's a high corruption-hazard enforcement. And twice my men came to me and turned in their own guys. Twice! Because the majority of the men in there -- and I don't know, maybe it was my leadership, because I used to be with them all over, I used to live with them -- and twice they came in and told me about officers that were deviating because there were more honest guys than there were thieves. And the thieves, you know, who would have broke out under different leadership.
But I think the thing is this. I have a dream, you know, that they are turning out a platoon and there's 40 cops. And one cop says, "Look, I want to make it known to everybody that I'm working with, if I see any corrupt practices, I'm turning that police officer in." And then another guy raises his hand and he says, "I'm with you." And before you know it out of the 40, 35 raise their hands -- they won, they won. That's the end of corruption.
Q. But you say that's a dream.
A. That's a dream. Because the culture -- they have a stronger culture.
Q. Is there any possibility that the police can police themselves?
A. Yeah, somehow if they produce more Robert Ellises.
Q. You mean more honest officers?
A. Yeah. Well, no, no, no. Don't say more honest cops. I think you have enough honest cops. What you have is the desire for the honest cops to influence the others that aren't.
Q. What is the single most important step that the department can take to deter corruption and misbehavior?
A. It's still in the police officers that there's more honest cops than there are corrupt ones and the honest ones should win out.
Back to......
The Red Coats
Understanding the RCMP
Conclusion:
'Groupthink' is an interesting term for an obvious phenomena. Members of sports teams, fraternities and civilian service organizations and hobby groups of many kinds psychologically reinforce and strenghthen each others pre-existing views that caused them to join the group in the first place. A T-shirt joke I read and enjoyed illustrates the idea perfectly: it depicts two fishermen outside their tents in the early morning darkness organizing their gear while a hunter with his rifle walked by in the background of their campsite. One fisherman said to the other "Can you imagine that idiot getting up this early to go hunting?!"
Unlike many harmless or even positive types of groupthink, members of the RCMP lean upon groupthink as a self-defence mechanism, rather than as an instruement to intensify their experience in a friendly or positive motivational spirit. They depend on groupthink to help preserve their sanity in the face of growing criticism all around them. They depend upon 'groupthink' in exactly the same way and for most of the same reasons as a moon-shine hillbilly family, secret society, or simple gang of thugs. Unfortunately, more and more, the RCMP resort to swaggering bravado and barely concealed contempt and sometimes outright violence and brutality in an effort to maintain their authority in the face of our growing knowledge. Tasers and pepper spray are favourite means of communicating with the public- young and old. They cannot succeed. Police through the ages have had to rely in the long run upon the cooperation and basic approval of the society they serve. The Red Coats have squandered their best weapon- the goodwill of the people. The Indians used to call them 'Red Coats' in terms of respect. Now neither the Indians nor anybody else would call the Red Coats at 911 unless they want to have the gang come out to mug somebody.
I believe we have now reached the point as a society that we have had enough. The 70% disapproval of the RCMP in a recent Angus Reid poll says it all. Canadians are slow to anger, but harder to appease once angered. Our provincial and federal political leaders and the top brass in the RCMP are making a big mistake thinking that the promise of reform will win them time, when it is plain that "bad apples"- who should have been ostracized from within anyway- could be immediately disarmed and shunted to public service work in charity organizations until the government changes the RCMP Act. Lately I have heard that a reformed Police Act will not be retroactive. At first I found this to be heaping insult upon insult, but then I realized it wouldn't matter if it was retroactive or not if the rejects were assigned to unarmed kitchen duty and ostracized by their peers. They don't have to wear special dunce caps or be humiliated in any public way. They just have to be disarmed and employed as highly paid undercover RCMP charity workers until they can be fired- if ever. Nobody has to know who they are. All we have to know is that they have been disarmed and have had their authority taken away.
Sound fair? You bettcha!
Understanding the RCMP
by George Forbes B.A., B.Ed.
The RCMP, among other police forces in Canada, often has members visit schools and give talks to students. These members address many issues of great interest to the students including specific laws and consequences of breaking those laws. They also talk about the actual job of policing, just as visiting professionals like accountants and dentists and skilled tradespeople of all kinds do when invited to speak in the classrooms. However, unlike other visitors, the police are also routinely invited to offer group counselling to the children upon the subject of peer pressure and it's many facets- like bullying and gangs to give two of the most important examples. The assumption is that by the very nature of their work with the victims of negative peer pressure- the police seem to be the obvious ones to ask. When you think about it though, particularly in the case of the RCMP in BC, the police have proven themselves time and time again to be the last people we should ask to speak to our children about peer pressure, bullying and gangs because- to quote...... "they are one".
For once in the field of psychological terminology, the accepted definitions and explanations of peer pressure make perfect common sense to everybody. A child starts school with a set of philosophical, moral and social standards that he or she acquired in their first five years of life. In order to get along in his new school and on the playground each child must adapt his or her behaviour to that prescribed by the teacher and by his classmates. How smoothly this goes depends upon how closely the standards the child arrived with conform to the standards he or she encounters at the school, and his ability to adapt to the differences. As we all know, some children do better at it than others and really, when you get right down to it, not much more needs to be said. All of us know about it because we all went through it. Even if we haven't been near a school in years we all remember and understand how it works. What is particularly interesting to note, however, is that when we apply our understanding of how peer pressure works specifically to the RCMP, we find to our dismay that the RCMP as an organization and the individual members themselves are perfect poster examples of all that can go wrong when negative peer pressure is allowed free reign.
The 'Bad Apple' Theory
The bogus 'Bad Apple Theory' is a good place to start. Most people don't dwell on the subject of the RCMP and it's many well published failings because of the many other things in life that require our immediate attention. However, when they were interrupted in their daily routine and specifically asked in a recent Angus Reid poll in BC, over 70% of us said the RCMP as an organization is failing us. That failure is a fact that has become such common knowledge that it isn't even necessary to take the time here to cite specific examples of the many excessively violent and often cowardly acts perpetrated by RCMP gang members. Routine inappropriate use of tazers and pepper spray, the punching of handcuffed people by officers, money crimes, sexual excess and depravity, harrassment, and downright investigative incompetance. Even the RCMP spokespeople now tend to say they will fix it, rather than trying to flog the blatantly false assertion that it isn't happening all the time.
Most of the survey respondents felt somehow disloyal about having to denounce the formerly well respected RCMP organization, and because of that feeling many were quick to add that while the RCMP as a whole is failing us, they have heard the fault originates with a few 'bad apples' who are spoiling everything. This 'Bad Apple' theory is so seriously flawed that is completely ludicrous, but the RCMP brass and their political apologists support it with enthusiasm because they mistakenly think it helps take the blame for the degeneration of the RCMP away from where it belongs- the top. (They add to this 'bad apple' excuse the thin claim that they are hamstrung by the RCMP Act when it comes to discipline. I will dispose of that in a few words while discussing the 'bad apple' theory).
What is wrong with the 'Bad Apple' theory?
Unpleasant though it may be to contemplate, it is pretty clear to all of us that the 'bad apples'- vicious swaggering bullies, moral reprobates and down-right crooks- would simply not be able to function within the RCMP if the RCMP members themselves would refuse to tolerate their presence rather than meekly consent to work alongside them in a business as usual manner. If you are an RCMP officer reading this- and if you are not too far gone- you will be feeling more than a little awkward at this observation. The simple every day fact is that if you have any backbone at all you would use the normal social instruements of behaviour that you learned in the school yard to keep the miscreants among you at arms length. Do you seriously think it isn't partly your own fault that we civilians look upon you with less respect as every month goes by with scandal heaped upon scandal?
An officer punches a handcuffed teenage girl in the face- you ostracize him. You refuse to treat him with any friendliness or respect. Right? Well apparently not. By going on with business as usual you condone their actions, and by condoning them you become their accomplices. How can you fail to see that? You voluntarily tar yourself with their brush, and in doing so you earn and deserve our disrespect. Also, by the way and while we're on the subject, if the top brass was serious and came out from hiding behind the RCMP Act, they could disarm the rejects they claim can't be fired and assign them to public service work like washing dishes in a soup kitchen or picking up highway garbage for their eight hours a day. Who does the top brass think they're kidding? It's as embarrassing to all of us that the RCMP brass spouts this kind of tripe and thinks we're buying it, as it is disappointing that the rank and file don't make the job untenable for the thugs and crooks among them.
So much for the 'bad apple' theory. You might as well say the Hell's Angels are a really nice bunch of swell guys except for a few bad apples. It would be more accurate to say that the RCMP has become a gang- a gang like any other whose members have more loyalty to their fellow members than to anybody outside their group.
Back to you, you long suffering regular RCMP hopefully non-villain member. When you joined the RCMP and went off to the training depot, like just about everybody starting a new job you had to compromise your internal standards that you had at that point in order to avoid rejection within your new group. Sound familiar from your school days? The difference between you and us is, you threw so many of your own standards completely down the toilet that you allowed yourself to be turned into somebody else! Let's skip a few steps and fast-forward five or six years to you being a fairly experienced officer now. You have seen the public begin to complain more and more frequently about various crimes many of your fellow officers have committed without those officers even being brought to book like any civilian would have been- let alone fired. The lack of consequences for their aberrant behaviour is a travesty and an insult to a people who deserve much better.
This point must be hammered home: we civilians understand that the mutant philosophical and moral standards that RCMP gang members now maintain in order to be accepted as worthy members, are standards that are totally in conflict with our standards. More and more, as we read daily accounts, we cannot bring ourselves to excuse the RCMP- neither the top brass nor the rank and file- for actively embracing a culture whose standards allow- even require- that they tolerate and even accept the behaviour of so many so extremely deviant fellow members. By tolerating them the gang itself becomes complicit. Make no mistake- by tolerating the rejects the rank and file members knowingly betray us. While the brass should have the rejects sweeping sidewalks in the first place, the fact remains that having been stuck with them by thier leaders, the rank and file haven't ostracized those rejects like they should have. No individual member has to be friendly or civil with anybody they don't respect, even if they are too chicken- hearted to be more obvious about it than simply giving them the cold shoulder. The fact that RCMP gang members, of all people, lecture to our children about peer pressure, bullying and gangs is a sad joke.
Before turning to the subject of gang mentality within the RCMP, I'd like to say a few things about the RCMP 'apologists' I mentioned earlier. RCMP apologists are the people who actively try to get us to excuse the RCMP. No matter what the latest crime or outrage committed by an RCMP member, the apologists will write in to the newspaper comment sections and saying in defence of the RCMP things like, " How would you like it if some creep treated you that way?" or, "These guys are on the front line while you sit safely at home criticising them", or even derisively "Listen to the Civil Liberties Association complain about this one!". Well here are a few facts for those apologists (many of whom I can't stop myself from suspecting are paid by the RCMP to read the papers and submit such comments no matter how outrageous the RCMP behaviour being reported) :
School teachers are often subjected to some extremely bad behaviour from students- some of whom are bigger than the teachers, stronger, and extremely volatile. Bus drivers, nurses, social workers and many others will know first hand what I'm talking about.When confronted by these same antagonistic children and adults on the streets, RCMP officers have tazers and pepper spray at their disposal, as well as usually being in the company of at least one other officer similarly equipped. An RCMP officer will tazer anyone from eleven to eighty years old rather than risk being touched. When it comes to being hurt on the job, the RCMP is tenth on the list, far below farmers, fishermen, construction workers and garbage men! And the RCMP wouldn't even be in tenth place if they didn't have so many car accidents. A police officer with a grade twelve education and one year on the job gets paid over sixty thousand dollars a year with full benefits, clothing supplied, excellent pension and retirement at an early age. The apologists for the RCMP have no more than a load of hooey to sling.
Before examining gang mentality within the RCMP I'll conclude this peer pressure aspect of understanding the RCMP with the following nearly twenty year old report but still perfectly relevant today about the importance of individual officers having the guts to stand up......
Former Police Corruption-Fighter on Peer Pressure and Ethics
By SELWYN RAAB
Published: June 18, 1995
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/nyregion/former-police-corruption-fighter-on-peer-pressure-and-ethics.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
John Guido was in charge of uprooting and deterring corruption in New York City's Police Department from 1972 to 1986 -- a period viewed by most police experts as one of the cleanest in the department's history. He retired in 1986 as Chief of Inspectional Services and the Internal Affairs Division, with a reputation as the most hated commander on the force because of his relentless investigations.
Last week, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Police Comissioner William J. Bratton announced a new set of anticorruption measures to clean up a department troubled by a series of scandals. In an interview. Mr. Guido (pronounced GUY-doe) discussed the corruption problems that are again besetting the department and ways of combatting police misconduct.
Q. Why can't the department stop, or at least contain, this chronic series of corruption and abuse problems?
A. I think the problem is the police itself -- I'm talking about the patrolmen basically. What it is, here, they outnumber the supervisors 10 to 1. And somehow the department failed to instill in these individuals a sense of doing the right thing. They come out -- I don't care how long you train them in the academy, you could keep them there a year, two years, three years -- the minute they come out, the first tour, they go into a radio car. There's a veteran police officer, he's got decorations from his shoulder down to his hip, and he tells him: "Hey, kid, forget about that baloney they told you in the academy. Here's how the job is done." And that's his peer and I think peer pressure will far, will far outlast any supervisory pressure.
The best thing I have in my experience -- and I'll never forget this until the day I die -- is how the policeman should react. I was the head of the I.A.D. and somebody came in and said, "There's an officer from the Ninth Precinct who wants to talk to you. He wants to make an appointment to see you." I said, "Bring him in." And this guys comes in -- his name was Robert Ellis -- and he's in the Ninth Precinct. I said, "What's on your mind, Bob?" And the guy started telling me a harrowing tale -- I couldn't really believe it. I said, "I wonder if he's playing with a full deck." So I said, "Well, why are you doing this?" And here's the key. He was in the U.N. Security Force, and he came in the job kind of late, he was in his 30's. He said, "I always wanted to be a cop." And he said: "I'm proud of my job, I'm proud of being a cop. But these guys are so corrupt."
So he tells a story. There's a clique, between seven or nine men, ripping off drug addicts in the Ninth Precinct. He said they come and brag, and one guy carries a bugle, and when the guy won't tell him where the money is he blasts out his eardrums. Medically, you know, we substantiated later medically and it proved to be right.
So anyway, at the time when he came in I had my reservations. "Listen," I said, "you know you have to help us now."
He said, "Of course."
So I, you know, kind of almost fell off my chair. I said, "You know we want to wire up your car."
He said, "Why don't you wire me up?"
I said, "Oh, you're going to assist us?"
"You tell me what you want me to do," he said, "and it's done."
So the next day he started in. We put him in with one of the cops in a civilian car -- they were trying to get him to go into the group. They used to come into the locker room and just throw bundles of money in there and tell him what a jerk he was for not joining. Next day, he wears the wire and there it is, everything he's saying, it's corroborated.
Q. Can you produce enough honest officers to turn in others?
A. Well, they won't do it. I personally blame the P.B.A. because the thing is this: They built up a subculture which is stronger than the -- 10 times stronger than the supervisory culture.
Q. What is that subculture that you think is created by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association?
A. The subculture is that they've got to stick together, that the world is against them and everything else.
Q. Are corruption and brutality inevitable? Is it a way of life in the department?
A. It really doesn't have to be if you could get more Robert Ellises. You know, here's what I found. Back in the late 60's and the early 70's I had a Public Morals Division, that's a high corruption-hazard enforcement. And twice my men came to me and turned in their own guys. Twice! Because the majority of the men in there -- and I don't know, maybe it was my leadership, because I used to be with them all over, I used to live with them -- and twice they came in and told me about officers that were deviating because there were more honest guys than there were thieves. And the thieves, you know, who would have broke out under different leadership.
But I think the thing is this. I have a dream, you know, that they are turning out a platoon and there's 40 cops. And one cop says, "Look, I want to make it known to everybody that I'm working with, if I see any corrupt practices, I'm turning that police officer in." And then another guy raises his hand and he says, "I'm with you." And before you know it out of the 40, 35 raise their hands -- they won, they won. That's the end of corruption.
Q. But you say that's a dream.
A. That's a dream. Because the culture -- they have a stronger culture.
Q. Is there any possibility that the police can police themselves?
A. Yeah, somehow if they produce more Robert Ellises.
Q. You mean more honest officers?
A. Yeah. Well, no, no, no. Don't say more honest cops. I think you have enough honest cops. What you have is the desire for the honest cops to influence the others that aren't.
Q. What is the single most important step that the department can take to deter corruption and misbehavior?
A. It's still in the police officers that there's more honest cops than there are corrupt ones and the honest ones should win out.
Back to......
The Red Coats
Understanding the RCMP
Conclusion:
'Groupthink' is an interesting term for an obvious phenomena. Members of sports teams, fraternities and civilian service organizations and hobby groups of many kinds psychologically reinforce and strenghthen each others pre-existing views that caused them to join the group in the first place. A T-shirt joke I read and enjoyed illustrates the idea perfectly: it depicts two fishermen outside their tents in the early morning darkness organizing their gear while a hunter with his rifle walked by in the background of their campsite. One fisherman said to the other "Can you imagine that idiot getting up this early to go hunting?!"
Unlike many harmless or even positive types of groupthink, members of the RCMP lean upon groupthink as a self-defence mechanism, rather than as an instruement to intensify their experience in a friendly or positive motivational spirit. They depend on groupthink to help preserve their sanity in the face of growing criticism all around them. They depend upon 'groupthink' in exactly the same way and for most of the same reasons as a moon-shine hillbilly family, secret society, or simple gang of thugs. Unfortunately, more and more, the RCMP resort to swaggering bravado and barely concealed contempt and sometimes outright violence and brutality in an effort to maintain their authority in the face of our growing knowledge. Tasers and pepper spray are favourite means of communicating with the public- young and old. They cannot succeed. Police through the ages have had to rely in the long run upon the cooperation and basic approval of the society they serve. The Red Coats have squandered their best weapon- the goodwill of the people. The Indians used to call them 'Red Coats' in terms of respect. Now neither the Indians nor anybody else would call the Red Coats at 911 unless they want to have the gang come out to mug somebody.
I believe we have now reached the point as a society that we have had enough. The 70% disapproval of the RCMP in a recent Angus Reid poll says it all. Canadians are slow to anger, but harder to appease once angered. Our provincial and federal political leaders and the top brass in the RCMP are making a big mistake thinking that the promise of reform will win them time, when it is plain that "bad apples"- who should have been ostracized from within anyway- could be immediately disarmed and shunted to public service work in charity organizations until the government changes the RCMP Act. Lately I have heard that a reformed Police Act will not be retroactive. At first I found this to be heaping insult upon insult, but then I realized it wouldn't matter if it was retroactive or not if the rejects were assigned to unarmed kitchen duty and ostracized by their peers. They don't have to wear special dunce caps or be humiliated in any public way. They just have to be disarmed and employed as highly paid undercover RCMP charity workers until they can be fired- if ever. Nobody has to know who they are. All we have to know is that they have been disarmed and have had their authority taken away.
Sound fair? You bettcha!
Alberta sex-cop’s wife comes to his defence, claims RCMP now ‘making an example of him’ (updated)
Alberta sex-cop’s wife comes to his defence, claims RCMP now ‘making an example of him’ (updated)
I'm not clear on this. He's a rotten creep because the job made him a rotten creep, or he's a rotten creep but so is everybody else: either way being sufficient excuse. Have I got it?
I'm not clear on this. He's a rotten creep because the job made him a rotten creep, or he's a rotten creep but so is everybody else: either way being sufficient excuse. Have I got it?
Corporal Brown
Brian Hutchinson: Mountie fetishist sparks new Code of Conduct review
Brian Hutchinson Jul 5, 2012 – 7:41 PM ET
Last Updated: Jul 6, 2012 6:41 PM ET
David Clark / Postmedia News files
Serial killer Robert Pickton's farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
.Comments Email Twitter inShare.1.VANCOUVER — Corporal Jim Brown has worked from the RCMP’s Coquitlam detachment for decades. He played a small but important role in the Mounties’ investigation of Robert (Willie) Pickton, the serial killer who murdered women and disposed of their bodies on a pig farm just a few kilometres from the same Coquitlam detachment.
Vancouver Sun/Handout
A cropped version of one of the images alleged to be of Jim Brown
.Cpl. Brown had an alter ego: A boot-wearing sadomasochist. In a shocking story published Thursday, Vancouver Sun columnist Ian Mulgrew described several photographs made available for public viewing on Internet websites catering to bondage and sadomasochism enthusiasts.
Hundreds more photos of Cpl. Brown in various S&M positions continue to circulate on the Internet. It’s wretched stuff. Just as disturbing, Cpl. Brown’s RCMP superiors have known about the photos since December 2010. An internal investigation was initiated then, and a decision was made to let the matter slide.
In an email exchange Thursday with the National Post, RCMP Supt. Ray Bernoties explained that “[RCMP] Legal Services deemed this to be off duty, non-criminal, adult consensual activity during which the individual was not representing himself as a member of the RCMP and thus did not appear to them to meet the threshold for a Code of Conduct violation.
Related
S&M photos emerge of RCMP officer who played part in Pickton investigation
Brian Hutchinson on the Pickton Inquiry: Whole story still untold
Brian Hutchinson: Inquiry under fire to the end
Brian Hutchinson: Wally Oppal’s slasher film is an exercise in bad judgment
.“While I agree the staged images are very graphic, they appear only on an adult site catering to those that seek them out,” Supt. Bernoties continued. “Having said that, I am very concerned and frankly embarrassed that the RCMP would, in any way, be linked to photos of this nature.”
While I agree the staged images are very graphic, they appear only on an adult site catering to those that seek them outThe Post has learned that other sexually explicit photographs depicting Cpl. Brown were discovered inside the Coquitlam detachment itself. The digitally rendered photos were stored in a small USB device, which was left inserted in a computer and found by other RCMP members.
Supt. Bernoties confirmed the existence of the USB device and its sexually explicit file contents. He added that “the RCMP first learned of the graphic staged photos around December 2010. This activity was investigated at that time and legal opinion sought. In March 2012, the issue of the member’s life style was again investigated. Following that, Cpl. Brown’s personal website was terminated.”
According to sources, Cpl. Brown is now working in an administrative capacity inside the Coquitlam detachment.
Something — media scrutiny, perhaps — has triggered the Mounties to take another, more thorough look at Cpl. Brown’s off-duty, adult consensual activities. They have launched a formal Code of Conduct review, “examining all the events,” to be conducted by RCMP members in Richmond.
“We have also taken the unusual step of requesting an external police agency to conduct an independent review of the internal investigation,” Supt. Bernoties told the Post.
A number of Code of Conduct reviews have been launched lately. Some involve officers convicted of crimes such as assault, theft, and drunk driving. Other officers have admitted to inappropriate sexual behaviour. The list of offences is lengthy.
The reviews are part of the RCMP’s discipline process and performed by “impartial” Mounties, usually drawn from a Professional Standards Unit. They rarely end with a dismissal order against an offending officer. Usually, an offender is docked some pay. Officers can appeal decisions, which can add years to the lengthy and cumbersome process. In many cases, officers retire before disciplinary procedures are completed.
Based on appearances in his sadomasochism photos, Cpl. Brown looks to be at the typical retirement age for an RCMP member.
We have also taken the unusual step of requesting an external police agency to conduct an independent review of the internal investigationHis name and his Internet nickname — Kilted Knight — were discussed during hearings at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, formed to examine why police bungled their investigations of Robert Pickton.
The inquiry heard that in 1999, Cpl. Brown “produced” a key Pickton informant for the Vancouver Police Department. The source had knowledge about criminal activities — including murder — on the Pickton farm. Sadly, three more years passed before RCMP arrested Pickton. He was eventually charged with 26 counts of murder, and tried in 2007. He was convicted on six counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In May, an inquiry lawyer representing the families of Pickton’s victims suggested to two sworn witnesses — both former Coquitlam detachment members — that Cpl. Brown and other RCMP officers had, in the 1990s, attended social functions at Piggy’s Palace, a local booze can run by Pickton and his brother David, and popular with Hells Angels gang members.
Both of the former Coquitlam officers denied any knowledge of RCMP social visits to Piggy’s Palace.
Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal said in a statement late Thursday that he has “no evidence to support reopening” the inquiry hearings, which concluded in June; however, he has asked his commission counsel to look into the Brown-sadomasochism revelations, and B.C.’s Ministry of Justice has been notified. Mr. Oppal has until the end of October to submit his inquiry report to B.C.’s justice minister, Shirley Bond.
National Post
Brian Hutchinson Jul 5, 2012 – 7:41 PM ET
Last Updated: Jul 6, 2012 6:41 PM ET
David Clark / Postmedia News files
Serial killer Robert Pickton's farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
.Comments Email Twitter inShare.1.VANCOUVER — Corporal Jim Brown has worked from the RCMP’s Coquitlam detachment for decades. He played a small but important role in the Mounties’ investigation of Robert (Willie) Pickton, the serial killer who murdered women and disposed of their bodies on a pig farm just a few kilometres from the same Coquitlam detachment.
Vancouver Sun/Handout
A cropped version of one of the images alleged to be of Jim Brown
.Cpl. Brown had an alter ego: A boot-wearing sadomasochist. In a shocking story published Thursday, Vancouver Sun columnist Ian Mulgrew described several photographs made available for public viewing on Internet websites catering to bondage and sadomasochism enthusiasts.
Hundreds more photos of Cpl. Brown in various S&M positions continue to circulate on the Internet. It’s wretched stuff. Just as disturbing, Cpl. Brown’s RCMP superiors have known about the photos since December 2010. An internal investigation was initiated then, and a decision was made to let the matter slide.
In an email exchange Thursday with the National Post, RCMP Supt. Ray Bernoties explained that “[RCMP] Legal Services deemed this to be off duty, non-criminal, adult consensual activity during which the individual was not representing himself as a member of the RCMP and thus did not appear to them to meet the threshold for a Code of Conduct violation.
Related
S&M photos emerge of RCMP officer who played part in Pickton investigation
Brian Hutchinson on the Pickton Inquiry: Whole story still untold
Brian Hutchinson: Inquiry under fire to the end
Brian Hutchinson: Wally Oppal’s slasher film is an exercise in bad judgment
.“While I agree the staged images are very graphic, they appear only on an adult site catering to those that seek them out,” Supt. Bernoties continued. “Having said that, I am very concerned and frankly embarrassed that the RCMP would, in any way, be linked to photos of this nature.”
While I agree the staged images are very graphic, they appear only on an adult site catering to those that seek them outThe Post has learned that other sexually explicit photographs depicting Cpl. Brown were discovered inside the Coquitlam detachment itself. The digitally rendered photos were stored in a small USB device, which was left inserted in a computer and found by other RCMP members.
Supt. Bernoties confirmed the existence of the USB device and its sexually explicit file contents. He added that “the RCMP first learned of the graphic staged photos around December 2010. This activity was investigated at that time and legal opinion sought. In March 2012, the issue of the member’s life style was again investigated. Following that, Cpl. Brown’s personal website was terminated.”
According to sources, Cpl. Brown is now working in an administrative capacity inside the Coquitlam detachment.
Something — media scrutiny, perhaps — has triggered the Mounties to take another, more thorough look at Cpl. Brown’s off-duty, adult consensual activities. They have launched a formal Code of Conduct review, “examining all the events,” to be conducted by RCMP members in Richmond.
“We have also taken the unusual step of requesting an external police agency to conduct an independent review of the internal investigation,” Supt. Bernoties told the Post.
A number of Code of Conduct reviews have been launched lately. Some involve officers convicted of crimes such as assault, theft, and drunk driving. Other officers have admitted to inappropriate sexual behaviour. The list of offences is lengthy.
The reviews are part of the RCMP’s discipline process and performed by “impartial” Mounties, usually drawn from a Professional Standards Unit. They rarely end with a dismissal order against an offending officer. Usually, an offender is docked some pay. Officers can appeal decisions, which can add years to the lengthy and cumbersome process. In many cases, officers retire before disciplinary procedures are completed.
Based on appearances in his sadomasochism photos, Cpl. Brown looks to be at the typical retirement age for an RCMP member.
We have also taken the unusual step of requesting an external police agency to conduct an independent review of the internal investigationHis name and his Internet nickname — Kilted Knight — were discussed during hearings at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, formed to examine why police bungled their investigations of Robert Pickton.
The inquiry heard that in 1999, Cpl. Brown “produced” a key Pickton informant for the Vancouver Police Department. The source had knowledge about criminal activities — including murder — on the Pickton farm. Sadly, three more years passed before RCMP arrested Pickton. He was eventually charged with 26 counts of murder, and tried in 2007. He was convicted on six counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In May, an inquiry lawyer representing the families of Pickton’s victims suggested to two sworn witnesses — both former Coquitlam detachment members — that Cpl. Brown and other RCMP officers had, in the 1990s, attended social functions at Piggy’s Palace, a local booze can run by Pickton and his brother David, and popular with Hells Angels gang members.
Both of the former Coquitlam officers denied any knowledge of RCMP social visits to Piggy’s Palace.
Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal said in a statement late Thursday that he has “no evidence to support reopening” the inquiry hearings, which concluded in June; however, he has asked his commission counsel to look into the Brown-sadomasochism revelations, and B.C.’s Ministry of Justice has been notified. Mr. Oppal has until the end of October to submit his inquiry report to B.C.’s justice minister, Shirley Bond.
National Post
RCMP corporal under investigation for sexually explicit photos won't be asked to quit
RCMP corporal under investigation for sexually explicit photos won't be asked to quit
•HomeOttawa & AreaCanadaWorldThe BlotterWeather WatchToday's Paper & ArchiveAround TownDiplomaticaOttawa & Area A lifeline for society’s most vulnerable smokers When Jen Biscope couldn’t pay for cigarettes any more, she turned to butt picking, joining other impoverished, mentally ill people who scavenge others’ discards. Homicides Ottawa police offer rewards in seven ‘cold case’ homicides Blood-donor debate on the books at Carleton University The royal treatment — Ottawa audience graced by performance of Handel’s Water Music Plan to renovate community centre could leave arts groups singing blues Parishioners asked to pray for Father Joe Blogs Opinion The Bulldog Greater Ottawa Omnivore's Ottawa The Ed Board Campus More in News •Opinion
In Opinion HomeLettersColumnistsEditorialsOp-EdBlogsSubmit LettersEditorials Ottawa’s loss Marie Lemay’s move to the federal public service is a real loss for Ottawa. Editorial Teacher deal a baby step Conservatives aren’t in trouble yet Habitat gone wild The public’s business Opportunity at CIDA Too many going hungry Blogs The Ed BoardThe BulldogIdeas and Consequences More in Opinion •Business
In Business HomeMoneyMarkets on FPMortgagesTop Stories Samsung wins bid to sell Nexus in Apple court battle Samsung has scored a partial victory against arch-foe Apple after a U.S. appeals court lifted a freeze on sales of its Galaxy Nexus smartphones but upheld a lower court's decision to temporarily halt ... Follow canada.com Tech on Twitter Samsung's Galaxy powers record $5.9 billion profit; euro a worry The top apps of the week The history of mobile patent wars U.S. judge rejects Samsung request to lift stay on Nexus sales Canadian firms upbeat about sales, hiring despite global uncertainty: BoC Many unaware of new mortgage rules in effect today: Poll QLT biotech firm to slash workforce by two-thirds Contractors fear impact of new regulatory body Money What the new IRS rules mean for U.S. citizens... Half of Canadians expect to be debt-free... Canada pension plans pummeled in May More in Business •Sports
In Sports HomeHockeySenators ExtraFootballBaseballBasketballGolfAuto RacingHigh School SportsTennisSoccerTop Stories Chelsea captain John Terry in court, accused of racially abusing... The racism trial of John Terry began Monday with prosecutors claiming the Chelsea captain acknowledges using offensive language as a "sarcastic exclamation." Wimbledon Tears flow as Federer takes seventh career title at Wimbledon Road to the London Olympics: Fencer Schalm medals in being a mother Jays hit 4 homers to snap Chicago win streak at 5 Anderson Silva retains title at UFC 148, beats rival Chael Sonnen Fury men control own destiny with stellar weekend Britain's Wiggins retains Tour de France lead Canadian Filip Peliwo climbs to No. 1 junior overall at Wimbledon Larry Robinson named associate coach of Sharks Sports Blogs Sports » SenatorsExtra Scouring the Sidelines The Beautiful Game Par for the Course More in Sports •Arts
In Arts HomeMoviesTelevisionEvent ListingsTV ListingsMusicBooksCelebrityCapital CappiesThe PlaylistTop Stories The wonderful witches of Oz She’s green, mean and powerful. But Elphaba didn’t just appear one day as the Wicked Witch of the West. That metamorphoses was nurtured. Photos Bluesfest Photos: Seal, Norah Jones, The Wooden Sky and more on July 8, 2012 For tabloids, Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes split a celebrity divorce like the good ol' times Photos: Anne Hathaway looks sleek and slim with super short hair Kourtney Kardashian gives birth to baby girl; reality TV star names second child Penelope Usher's stepson declared brain dead after boating accident Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies at 95 Arts Blogs The Big BeatClassical OttawaJazzblog.caSax and the City More in Arts •Life
In Life HomeReal DealHealthFashion & BeautyFood & WineParentingRelationshipsCitizenCycleFaith & EthicsWorld of BirdsLife StoryDiversions - Comics & GamesTop Stories When life hands you lemons: the new science of positive thinking... Canadian social psychologist Jamie Gruman is proposing a new way of achieving nirvana: Do nothing. People who are obese face higher rates of pain: study Cheer up, and that heart attack may never happen Canada fifth in global happiness ranking David Lynch on transcendental meditation and his foundation Fitness Laughing yoga cultivates merry mindfulness Dave Brown: Canoe camping with the kids People who are obese face higher rates of pain: study Ottawa runner spreads word about women and heart disease Hotdog versus hamburger The Week Ahead Diabetes drug triggers neuron growth, potential to regenerate brain cells: study Life Blogs Adventures of a Working MomOmnivore's OttawaReal Deal More in Life •Technology
In Technology HomePersonal TechGamingTech-BizInternetEnvironmentSpaceScienceFuture TechBest of YouTubeTop Stories Yahoo and Facebook announce they have settled patent dispute... SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute, averting a potentially lengthy battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. Science Ancient Fossils Newfoundland fossil discovery unearths ancient animal... New airport virtual assistant holograms guide passengers... Alberta researchers help find earliest evidence of... Canadian scientists use stem cells to reverse diabetes... More in Technology •Travel
In Travel HomeTrip IdeasTools & TipsDestination GuidesTravel ShotsTop 5Top Stories British Airways Googles VIP fliers so crew recognizes them British Airways really wants to get to know its customers. So much so that the airline has dispatched crew members with about 2,000 iPads to look up the Google images of a select group of VIP customers... Share your best travel photos with us on the canada.com Travel Flickr pool. Airlines up chase for corporate traveller with new come-ons Teddies to trinkets, airlines eye sales in the sky The next airline fee: Paying more to get off a plane faster? Delta adding more restrictions on pet travel Travel The next airline fee: Paying more to get off a plane faster? Belgian tourism officials blame the weatherman Route 66 still holds allure for travellers, industry Quebec City hotel partners with clinic to offer 'medical tourism package' Photo Galleries Travel Photo of the Day Photo Gallery: Spain's Pamplona bull-run fiesta kicks... Photo Gallery: Relaxing at Thailand's resorts Photo Gallery: Hindu pilgrims climb to Amarnath Cave... More in Travel •Health
Health HomeWomenMenFamily & ChildSeniorsSexual HealthDiet & FitnessEditor's Picks Stampede bastion of deep-fried everything faces invasion by healthy alternatives The tempting culinary hodgepodge of deep-fried everything has brought us such concoctions as the 1,550-calorie doughnut cheeseburger with bacon, the macaroni and cheese pizza, deep-fried Coke, deep-fried... Photos: How to avoid summer diet pitfalls Gallery: How to avoid common breakfast mistakes Gallery: How to eat smart after dark Gallery: Keep the doc away with fighter foods Happiness When life hands you lemons: the new science of positive thinking Laughing yoga cultivates merry mindfulness •Jobs
In Jobs HomeSearch JobsResourcesPost JobsJobseekersEmployer LoginTop EmployersTop Stories As demand grows for skills training, certificates grow popular... The number of people earning college certificates has dramatically increased as students seek the quickest connection to a job. Find a job! Teens 'struggling to survive' tough job market Global experience viewed as an asset Generation independence Canadian startups struggle to attract talent: survey How to find a job that suits you Internships How interns, employers can benefit from internships Working anytime, anywhere creates overtime problems Features Loud Co-worker Control reaction to noisy co-worker For new spot at workplace, take action Many midlevel jobs go missing as employment market... Reflect on your career as you recharge during holidays... More in Jobs •Cars
In Cars HomeNewUsedWeekly SpecialsSellResearch & CompareNews & EventsVideosFeaturesTop Stories BMW to invest $388 million on Mini in Britain German carmaker BMW will invest $388 million U.S. (250 million pounds) over the next three years to increase capacity at the British manufacturing plants where it makes the Mini. Gallery: 2012 Mini Roadster Gallery: 2012 Mini Coupe Gallery: 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman Road test: 2012 Mini Coupe First drive: 2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster First Drive: 2012 Mini Cooper JCW Comparison: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth vs. 2012 MINI Cooper S Coupe Kia Robots run flexible Kia plant Wheels when you want them Peugeot Citroen posts sales slump, shares drop Jerry Seinfeld launches "Comedians in Cars" series Blog: Fiat targets Mini with 500X SUV Fisker Karma pushes the envelope of technology CAW, CEP draft merger Mercedes sales growth drops to slowest YTD pace Features 2012 New Cars 2012 New Model Preview Going Green Auto Shows Special site: Sensational supercars Special: Driver Education More in Cars •Homes
In Homes HomeFor Sale/RentReal Estate AdviceRenovatingDecoratingGardeningVacation HomesMike HolmesTop Stories The Soho brand The morality police better be on high alert: There is a new party place in town. It's 17 floors up on the terrace of Soho Parkway, a slick condo on Parkdale Avenue with a hot cool factor and filled with... Video: SOHO brand in Ottawa Homes What’s in a name? From a quick fix to a total gut A new Group of Seven Marketplace: One nightstands Does your cottage look like a sauna? Propped up on a cliff Bringing the shine back to brass hardware What they got in Stonebridge Green thumb app tells users when plants need watering Calendar Ottawa Condos Homes The Soho brand What’s in a name? One-stop shopping for condos 23-storey tower proposed near Bayview station Condo scene: Getting the scoop on pets More in Homes •Classifieds
In Classifieds HomePersonalsObituariesAnnouncementsVehiclesReal EstateRentalsJobsPetsFor SaleShoppingPlace an AdFlyerCityTop Stories BMW to invest $388 million on Mini in Britain German carmaker BMW will invest $388 million U.S. (250 million pounds) over the next three years to increase capacity at the British manufacturing plants where it makes the Mini. Gallery: 2012 Mini Roadster Gallery: 2012 Mini Coupe Gallery: 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman Road test: 2012 Mini Coupe First drive: 2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster First Drive: 2012 Mini Cooper JCW Comparison: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth vs. 2012 MINI Cooper S Coupe Kia Robots run flexible Kia plant Wheels when you want them Peugeot Citroen posts sales slump, shares drop Jerry Seinfeld launches "Comedians in Cars" series Blog: Fiat targets Mini with 500X SUV Fisker Karma pushes the envelope of technology CAW, CEP draft merger Features 3 Acre Commercial Property on Bank Street (Oodle) $... Own Your Own Smoothie Bar (Oodle) $115,000 2003 St Joseph Blvd (Househunting.ca) $75,000 601 St Isidore (Househunting.ca) $239,900 More in Classifieds Don't miss: Digital Lounge OttawaGolfing.ca Sens Extra Style Online Weather Watch FlyerCity Shopping Reader galleries » RCMP corporal under investigation for sexually explicit photos won't be asked to quit
But Bond disappointed by officer’s actions
By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun July 6, 2012 •Story•Photos ( 4 )
Cpl. Jim BrownPhotograph by: Handout , Special to the SunJustice Minister Shirley Bond is disappointed and unhappy about the actions of a Coquitlam police officer who posted online sexual images of himself domineering women, but stopped short of demanding the corporal resign.
“I am clearly unhappy about the kind of message this incident sends to the public. It’s important that British Columbians have confidence in the men and women who serve in our communities every day as police officers,” Bond said in a statement Thursday.
“We expect more from our police and I am disappointed in this particular situation.”
The Vancouver Sun first reported Wednesday the Coquitlam RCMP launched a code of conduct investigation into Cpl. Jim Brown, after sexually explicit photos of the Mountie — who at times was clad only in his RCMP-issued boots — were posted on a slave-and-master website.
Bond noted Brown has been placed on administrative duties and said she could not comment further until a review of the RCMP’s handling of the case is completed by an outside police agency.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart did not return several messages Thursday asking for comment on whether he has any concerns about Brown working in his city.
Hilla Kerner, who works at Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, said she and her colleagues were outraged by the thought of a police officer engaging in sexualized images that portray women in a demeaning way.
“It is absurd to think that his personal, private behaviour has nothing to do with his professional role as a police officer,” she said.
Kerner added it is stories like this one that have made some women hesitate to report sexual assaults to police.
“We do not trust this man, and the agency he is part of, to protect women from male violence,” she said.
But University of Victoria philosophy professor Eike-Henner Kluge, whose area of expertise includes police ethics, said as long as activities in a person’s private life are not illegal or unethical or cross over into his professional life, the public should not cast aspersions.
“While it may be emotionally questionable to onlookers, in fact, ethically speaking, there is nothing wrong here. We have a tendency to equate people with their professional standing and that is unfair,” Kluge said.
“One should never confuse an emotional reaction with what is ethically appropriate.”
University of B.C. psychology professor Del Paulhus, whose research includes psychopathy and narcissism, said there is no evidence to suggest that slave-and-master sexual activity at home will necessarily reflect how an individual behaves in the office.
“It is possible to have an interest in S&M photos, for example, and not necessarily have an aversive [unpleasant] personality in your personal life or any other aspect of your life,” Paulhus said. “In particular, the S&M community seems to be a group of people who are normal in every respect, except for their interest in sadistic and/or masochistic activities.”
Paulhus allowed such research might be surprising to some, but said the results shouldn’t be applied any differently to Brown because he is a police officer. “Other than for public relations purposes — it is going to look pretty bad because of the association of any kind of unusual sexual behaviour.”
That is of little comfort to Lilliane Beaudoin, whose sister Dianne Rock was one of the 26 women Coquitlam pig farmer Robert (Willy) Pickton was accused of killing. Beaudoin accused Brown, who played a small role in the Pickton investigation, of discriminating against women in the photos.
“To me, he broke the oath he took when he became a police officer. I think it is disgusting and he should be reprimanded and should lose his job,” Beaudoin said.
A now-retired Vancouver police officer, Dave Dickson, said his recollection is that the B.C. Police Act states improper off-duty conduct that could sully a police agency’s reputation should be considered discreditable conduct.
Dickson also took umbrage with Brown’s comment to The Sun that there were no victims in his photos.
“As [a] former police officer still working with the women in the Downtown Eastside, I found it extremely offensive that the officer would suggest there was no victim,” Dickson said in an email to The Sun.
Maureen McGrath, a nurse who hosts CKNW’s Sunday Night Sex Show, said many people are into consensual bondage and submissive/masochistic sex acts. “Photographing these scenes is [however], unnecessary and disgusting, and to post them even worse,” she said.
McGrath added it is disturbing behaviour by a police officer: “the very person one would look to to help us in this kind of crisis.”
lculbert@vancouversun.com
With files from Ian Mulgrew
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mulgrew+Officer+racy+photos+spark+inquiry/6885247/story.html#ixzz209IXcdQ7
•HomeOttawa & AreaCanadaWorldThe BlotterWeather WatchToday's Paper & ArchiveAround TownDiplomaticaOttawa & Area A lifeline for society’s most vulnerable smokers When Jen Biscope couldn’t pay for cigarettes any more, she turned to butt picking, joining other impoverished, mentally ill people who scavenge others’ discards. Homicides Ottawa police offer rewards in seven ‘cold case’ homicides Blood-donor debate on the books at Carleton University The royal treatment — Ottawa audience graced by performance of Handel’s Water Music Plan to renovate community centre could leave arts groups singing blues Parishioners asked to pray for Father Joe Blogs Opinion The Bulldog Greater Ottawa Omnivore's Ottawa The Ed Board Campus More in News •Opinion
In Opinion HomeLettersColumnistsEditorialsOp-EdBlogsSubmit LettersEditorials Ottawa’s loss Marie Lemay’s move to the federal public service is a real loss for Ottawa. Editorial Teacher deal a baby step Conservatives aren’t in trouble yet Habitat gone wild The public’s business Opportunity at CIDA Too many going hungry Blogs The Ed BoardThe BulldogIdeas and Consequences More in Opinion •Business
In Business HomeMoneyMarkets on FPMortgagesTop Stories Samsung wins bid to sell Nexus in Apple court battle Samsung has scored a partial victory against arch-foe Apple after a U.S. appeals court lifted a freeze on sales of its Galaxy Nexus smartphones but upheld a lower court's decision to temporarily halt ... Follow canada.com Tech on Twitter Samsung's Galaxy powers record $5.9 billion profit; euro a worry The top apps of the week The history of mobile patent wars U.S. judge rejects Samsung request to lift stay on Nexus sales Canadian firms upbeat about sales, hiring despite global uncertainty: BoC Many unaware of new mortgage rules in effect today: Poll QLT biotech firm to slash workforce by two-thirds Contractors fear impact of new regulatory body Money What the new IRS rules mean for U.S. citizens... Half of Canadians expect to be debt-free... Canada pension plans pummeled in May More in Business •Sports
In Sports HomeHockeySenators ExtraFootballBaseballBasketballGolfAuto RacingHigh School SportsTennisSoccerTop Stories Chelsea captain John Terry in court, accused of racially abusing... The racism trial of John Terry began Monday with prosecutors claiming the Chelsea captain acknowledges using offensive language as a "sarcastic exclamation." Wimbledon Tears flow as Federer takes seventh career title at Wimbledon Road to the London Olympics: Fencer Schalm medals in being a mother Jays hit 4 homers to snap Chicago win streak at 5 Anderson Silva retains title at UFC 148, beats rival Chael Sonnen Fury men control own destiny with stellar weekend Britain's Wiggins retains Tour de France lead Canadian Filip Peliwo climbs to No. 1 junior overall at Wimbledon Larry Robinson named associate coach of Sharks Sports Blogs Sports » SenatorsExtra Scouring the Sidelines The Beautiful Game Par for the Course More in Sports •Arts
In Arts HomeMoviesTelevisionEvent ListingsTV ListingsMusicBooksCelebrityCapital CappiesThe PlaylistTop Stories The wonderful witches of Oz She’s green, mean and powerful. But Elphaba didn’t just appear one day as the Wicked Witch of the West. That metamorphoses was nurtured. Photos Bluesfest Photos: Seal, Norah Jones, The Wooden Sky and more on July 8, 2012 For tabloids, Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes split a celebrity divorce like the good ol' times Photos: Anne Hathaway looks sleek and slim with super short hair Kourtney Kardashian gives birth to baby girl; reality TV star names second child Penelope Usher's stepson declared brain dead after boating accident Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies at 95 Arts Blogs The Big BeatClassical OttawaJazzblog.caSax and the City More in Arts •Life
In Life HomeReal DealHealthFashion & BeautyFood & WineParentingRelationshipsCitizenCycleFaith & EthicsWorld of BirdsLife StoryDiversions - Comics & GamesTop Stories When life hands you lemons: the new science of positive thinking... Canadian social psychologist Jamie Gruman is proposing a new way of achieving nirvana: Do nothing. People who are obese face higher rates of pain: study Cheer up, and that heart attack may never happen Canada fifth in global happiness ranking David Lynch on transcendental meditation and his foundation Fitness Laughing yoga cultivates merry mindfulness Dave Brown: Canoe camping with the kids People who are obese face higher rates of pain: study Ottawa runner spreads word about women and heart disease Hotdog versus hamburger The Week Ahead Diabetes drug triggers neuron growth, potential to regenerate brain cells: study Life Blogs Adventures of a Working MomOmnivore's OttawaReal Deal More in Life •Technology
In Technology HomePersonal TechGamingTech-BizInternetEnvironmentSpaceScienceFuture TechBest of YouTubeTop Stories Yahoo and Facebook announce they have settled patent dispute... SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute, averting a potentially lengthy battle over the technology running two of the Internet's most popular destinations. Science Ancient Fossils Newfoundland fossil discovery unearths ancient animal... New airport virtual assistant holograms guide passengers... Alberta researchers help find earliest evidence of... Canadian scientists use stem cells to reverse diabetes... More in Technology •Travel
In Travel HomeTrip IdeasTools & TipsDestination GuidesTravel ShotsTop 5Top Stories British Airways Googles VIP fliers so crew recognizes them British Airways really wants to get to know its customers. So much so that the airline has dispatched crew members with about 2,000 iPads to look up the Google images of a select group of VIP customers... Share your best travel photos with us on the canada.com Travel Flickr pool. Airlines up chase for corporate traveller with new come-ons Teddies to trinkets, airlines eye sales in the sky The next airline fee: Paying more to get off a plane faster? Delta adding more restrictions on pet travel Travel The next airline fee: Paying more to get off a plane faster? Belgian tourism officials blame the weatherman Route 66 still holds allure for travellers, industry Quebec City hotel partners with clinic to offer 'medical tourism package' Photo Galleries Travel Photo of the Day Photo Gallery: Spain's Pamplona bull-run fiesta kicks... Photo Gallery: Relaxing at Thailand's resorts Photo Gallery: Hindu pilgrims climb to Amarnath Cave... More in Travel •Health
Health HomeWomenMenFamily & ChildSeniorsSexual HealthDiet & FitnessEditor's Picks Stampede bastion of deep-fried everything faces invasion by healthy alternatives The tempting culinary hodgepodge of deep-fried everything has brought us such concoctions as the 1,550-calorie doughnut cheeseburger with bacon, the macaroni and cheese pizza, deep-fried Coke, deep-fried... Photos: How to avoid summer diet pitfalls Gallery: How to avoid common breakfast mistakes Gallery: How to eat smart after dark Gallery: Keep the doc away with fighter foods Happiness When life hands you lemons: the new science of positive thinking Laughing yoga cultivates merry mindfulness •Jobs
In Jobs HomeSearch JobsResourcesPost JobsJobseekersEmployer LoginTop EmployersTop Stories As demand grows for skills training, certificates grow popular... The number of people earning college certificates has dramatically increased as students seek the quickest connection to a job. Find a job! Teens 'struggling to survive' tough job market Global experience viewed as an asset Generation independence Canadian startups struggle to attract talent: survey How to find a job that suits you Internships How interns, employers can benefit from internships Working anytime, anywhere creates overtime problems Features Loud Co-worker Control reaction to noisy co-worker For new spot at workplace, take action Many midlevel jobs go missing as employment market... Reflect on your career as you recharge during holidays... More in Jobs •Cars
In Cars HomeNewUsedWeekly SpecialsSellResearch & CompareNews & EventsVideosFeaturesTop Stories BMW to invest $388 million on Mini in Britain German carmaker BMW will invest $388 million U.S. (250 million pounds) over the next three years to increase capacity at the British manufacturing plants where it makes the Mini. Gallery: 2012 Mini Roadster Gallery: 2012 Mini Coupe Gallery: 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman Road test: 2012 Mini Coupe First drive: 2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster First Drive: 2012 Mini Cooper JCW Comparison: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth vs. 2012 MINI Cooper S Coupe Kia Robots run flexible Kia plant Wheels when you want them Peugeot Citroen posts sales slump, shares drop Jerry Seinfeld launches "Comedians in Cars" series Blog: Fiat targets Mini with 500X SUV Fisker Karma pushes the envelope of technology CAW, CEP draft merger Mercedes sales growth drops to slowest YTD pace Features 2012 New Cars 2012 New Model Preview Going Green Auto Shows Special site: Sensational supercars Special: Driver Education More in Cars •Homes
In Homes HomeFor Sale/RentReal Estate AdviceRenovatingDecoratingGardeningVacation HomesMike HolmesTop Stories The Soho brand The morality police better be on high alert: There is a new party place in town. It's 17 floors up on the terrace of Soho Parkway, a slick condo on Parkdale Avenue with a hot cool factor and filled with... Video: SOHO brand in Ottawa Homes What’s in a name? From a quick fix to a total gut A new Group of Seven Marketplace: One nightstands Does your cottage look like a sauna? Propped up on a cliff Bringing the shine back to brass hardware What they got in Stonebridge Green thumb app tells users when plants need watering Calendar Ottawa Condos Homes The Soho brand What’s in a name? One-stop shopping for condos 23-storey tower proposed near Bayview station Condo scene: Getting the scoop on pets More in Homes •Classifieds
In Classifieds HomePersonalsObituariesAnnouncementsVehiclesReal EstateRentalsJobsPetsFor SaleShoppingPlace an AdFlyerCityTop Stories BMW to invest $388 million on Mini in Britain German carmaker BMW will invest $388 million U.S. (250 million pounds) over the next three years to increase capacity at the British manufacturing plants where it makes the Mini. Gallery: 2012 Mini Roadster Gallery: 2012 Mini Coupe Gallery: 2011 MINI Cooper Countryman Road test: 2012 Mini Coupe First drive: 2012 Mini Cooper S Roadster First Drive: 2012 Mini Cooper JCW Comparison: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth vs. 2012 MINI Cooper S Coupe Kia Robots run flexible Kia plant Wheels when you want them Peugeot Citroen posts sales slump, shares drop Jerry Seinfeld launches "Comedians in Cars" series Blog: Fiat targets Mini with 500X SUV Fisker Karma pushes the envelope of technology CAW, CEP draft merger Features 3 Acre Commercial Property on Bank Street (Oodle) $... Own Your Own Smoothie Bar (Oodle) $115,000 2003 St Joseph Blvd (Househunting.ca) $75,000 601 St Isidore (Househunting.ca) $239,900 More in Classifieds Don't miss: Digital Lounge OttawaGolfing.ca Sens Extra Style Online Weather Watch FlyerCity Shopping Reader galleries » RCMP corporal under investigation for sexually explicit photos won't be asked to quit
But Bond disappointed by officer’s actions
By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun July 6, 2012 •Story•Photos ( 4 )
Cpl. Jim BrownPhotograph by: Handout , Special to the SunJustice Minister Shirley Bond is disappointed and unhappy about the actions of a Coquitlam police officer who posted online sexual images of himself domineering women, but stopped short of demanding the corporal resign.
“I am clearly unhappy about the kind of message this incident sends to the public. It’s important that British Columbians have confidence in the men and women who serve in our communities every day as police officers,” Bond said in a statement Thursday.
“We expect more from our police and I am disappointed in this particular situation.”
The Vancouver Sun first reported Wednesday the Coquitlam RCMP launched a code of conduct investigation into Cpl. Jim Brown, after sexually explicit photos of the Mountie — who at times was clad only in his RCMP-issued boots — were posted on a slave-and-master website.
Bond noted Brown has been placed on administrative duties and said she could not comment further until a review of the RCMP’s handling of the case is completed by an outside police agency.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart did not return several messages Thursday asking for comment on whether he has any concerns about Brown working in his city.
Hilla Kerner, who works at Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, said she and her colleagues were outraged by the thought of a police officer engaging in sexualized images that portray women in a demeaning way.
“It is absurd to think that his personal, private behaviour has nothing to do with his professional role as a police officer,” she said.
Kerner added it is stories like this one that have made some women hesitate to report sexual assaults to police.
“We do not trust this man, and the agency he is part of, to protect women from male violence,” she said.
But University of Victoria philosophy professor Eike-Henner Kluge, whose area of expertise includes police ethics, said as long as activities in a person’s private life are not illegal or unethical or cross over into his professional life, the public should not cast aspersions.
“While it may be emotionally questionable to onlookers, in fact, ethically speaking, there is nothing wrong here. We have a tendency to equate people with their professional standing and that is unfair,” Kluge said.
“One should never confuse an emotional reaction with what is ethically appropriate.”
University of B.C. psychology professor Del Paulhus, whose research includes psychopathy and narcissism, said there is no evidence to suggest that slave-and-master sexual activity at home will necessarily reflect how an individual behaves in the office.
“It is possible to have an interest in S&M photos, for example, and not necessarily have an aversive [unpleasant] personality in your personal life or any other aspect of your life,” Paulhus said. “In particular, the S&M community seems to be a group of people who are normal in every respect, except for their interest in sadistic and/or masochistic activities.”
Paulhus allowed such research might be surprising to some, but said the results shouldn’t be applied any differently to Brown because he is a police officer. “Other than for public relations purposes — it is going to look pretty bad because of the association of any kind of unusual sexual behaviour.”
That is of little comfort to Lilliane Beaudoin, whose sister Dianne Rock was one of the 26 women Coquitlam pig farmer Robert (Willy) Pickton was accused of killing. Beaudoin accused Brown, who played a small role in the Pickton investigation, of discriminating against women in the photos.
“To me, he broke the oath he took when he became a police officer. I think it is disgusting and he should be reprimanded and should lose his job,” Beaudoin said.
A now-retired Vancouver police officer, Dave Dickson, said his recollection is that the B.C. Police Act states improper off-duty conduct that could sully a police agency’s reputation should be considered discreditable conduct.
Dickson also took umbrage with Brown’s comment to The Sun that there were no victims in his photos.
“As [a] former police officer still working with the women in the Downtown Eastside, I found it extremely offensive that the officer would suggest there was no victim,” Dickson said in an email to The Sun.
Maureen McGrath, a nurse who hosts CKNW’s Sunday Night Sex Show, said many people are into consensual bondage and submissive/masochistic sex acts. “Photographing these scenes is [however], unnecessary and disgusting, and to post them even worse,” she said.
McGrath added it is disturbing behaviour by a police officer: “the very person one would look to to help us in this kind of crisis.”
lculbert@vancouversun.com
With files from Ian Mulgrew
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mulgrew+Officer+racy+photos+spark+inquiry/6885247/story.html#ixzz209IXcdQ7
Time for RCMP to cleanse itself
Time for RCMP to cleanse itself
Time for RCMP to cleanse itself
Times Colonist July 7, 2012 he red-serge uniform of the RCMP used to represent the highest of standards in law enforcement. Now it might more be the blush of acute embarrassment.
T Worse, police force is becoming increasingly tarnished, severely the reputation of Canada's national shaking Canadians' confidence in those sworn to uphold law and order on our behalf. We don't need more inquiries, more reports, more vague promises about gradually changing the culture the RCMP needs to do a sharp about-face in ensuring its members adhere to the force's code of conduct, and to solid standards of ethical, moral behaviour.
It's disturbing enough that a Coquitlam RCMP corporal in regulation Mountie boots and a kilt would pose for photographs for posting on an Internet pornography site that features sexual degradation and violence toward women. It's more disturbing that the officer is still on the job.
When Cpl. Jim Brown's participation in pornography became public knowledge, Supt. Claude Wilcott, his commanding officer, said he consulted the force's legal services to see if Brown's actions violated the RCMP code of conduct.
He needs a lawyer to figure that out? Sadly, the legal opinion he received was that "it did not appear - to meet the threshold for a code-of-conduct violation." To Wilcott's credit, an investigation was launched, but this is a case where the officer should have been shown the door as soon as it was determined he was indeed the person in the photos.
Yes, a lawsuit might have followed, but the RCMP leadership should have shown some backbone and taken that risk. The vast majority of Canadians would have approved.
The RCMP Act includes a perfectly workable and reasonable set of standards for its members, in which it states, among other things, that it is incumbent on every member:
? to ensure that any improper or unlawful conduct of any member is not concealed or permitted to continue;
? to act at all times in a courteous, respectful and honourable manner; and
? to maintain the honour of the force and its principles and purposes.
That doesn't mean tossing an officer out the door for the slightest indiscretion police work is difficult, stressful and exacts a heavy toll. Compassion and understanding are needed when mistakes are made.
But this isn't one of those "oops" moments, a momentary lapse in judgment quickly regretted. Putting photos of oneself on a porn site that glorifies violence and bondage isn't an option for those sworn to uphold the law and protect citizens from violent criminals and perverts.
There is much myth in the image of a red-coated Mountie, a Hollywoodized image that history does not always support. Spots on the force's reputation include strikebreaking in the 1930s, illegal activities in Quebec in the 1970s, the misuse of pension funds, the RCMP's role in the imprisonment and torture of Maher Arar in Syria; the shooting of Darren Varley in the Pincher Creek, Alta., RCMP holding cells in 1999; the shooting of Ian Bush in the Houston, B.C., detachment in 2005; the fatal Tasering of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport in 2007; widespread allegations of sexual harassment. Disturbing is the recent transfer of Sgt. Don Ray to B.C. after a pattern of sexual misconduct in Alberta, indicating that the RCMP protects its own, rather than ensuring the public good is served.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson hopes to change the culture within the force, and is hoping new legislation will give him more power to fire the bad apples. Let's hope he succeeds.
For the sake of Canadians who want to believe in their national police force, and for the majority of officers who are dedicated and professional, the RCMP needs to cleanse itself.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Time+RCMP+cleanse+itself/6899302/story.html#ixzz209HWmVue
Time for RCMP to cleanse itself
Times Colonist July 7, 2012 he red-serge uniform of the RCMP used to represent the highest of standards in law enforcement. Now it might more be the blush of acute embarrassment.
T Worse, police force is becoming increasingly tarnished, severely the reputation of Canada's national shaking Canadians' confidence in those sworn to uphold law and order on our behalf. We don't need more inquiries, more reports, more vague promises about gradually changing the culture the RCMP needs to do a sharp about-face in ensuring its members adhere to the force's code of conduct, and to solid standards of ethical, moral behaviour.
It's disturbing enough that a Coquitlam RCMP corporal in regulation Mountie boots and a kilt would pose for photographs for posting on an Internet pornography site that features sexual degradation and violence toward women. It's more disturbing that the officer is still on the job.
When Cpl. Jim Brown's participation in pornography became public knowledge, Supt. Claude Wilcott, his commanding officer, said he consulted the force's legal services to see if Brown's actions violated the RCMP code of conduct.
He needs a lawyer to figure that out? Sadly, the legal opinion he received was that "it did not appear - to meet the threshold for a code-of-conduct violation." To Wilcott's credit, an investigation was launched, but this is a case where the officer should have been shown the door as soon as it was determined he was indeed the person in the photos.
Yes, a lawsuit might have followed, but the RCMP leadership should have shown some backbone and taken that risk. The vast majority of Canadians would have approved.
The RCMP Act includes a perfectly workable and reasonable set of standards for its members, in which it states, among other things, that it is incumbent on every member:
? to ensure that any improper or unlawful conduct of any member is not concealed or permitted to continue;
? to act at all times in a courteous, respectful and honourable manner; and
? to maintain the honour of the force and its principles and purposes.
That doesn't mean tossing an officer out the door for the slightest indiscretion police work is difficult, stressful and exacts a heavy toll. Compassion and understanding are needed when mistakes are made.
But this isn't one of those "oops" moments, a momentary lapse in judgment quickly regretted. Putting photos of oneself on a porn site that glorifies violence and bondage isn't an option for those sworn to uphold the law and protect citizens from violent criminals and perverts.
There is much myth in the image of a red-coated Mountie, a Hollywoodized image that history does not always support. Spots on the force's reputation include strikebreaking in the 1930s, illegal activities in Quebec in the 1970s, the misuse of pension funds, the RCMP's role in the imprisonment and torture of Maher Arar in Syria; the shooting of Darren Varley in the Pincher Creek, Alta., RCMP holding cells in 1999; the shooting of Ian Bush in the Houston, B.C., detachment in 2005; the fatal Tasering of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport in 2007; widespread allegations of sexual harassment. Disturbing is the recent transfer of Sgt. Don Ray to B.C. after a pattern of sexual misconduct in Alberta, indicating that the RCMP protects its own, rather than ensuring the public good is served.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson hopes to change the culture within the force, and is hoping new legislation will give him more power to fire the bad apples. Let's hope he succeeds.
For the sake of Canadians who want to believe in their national police force, and for the majority of officers who are dedicated and professional, the RCMP needs to cleanse itself.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Time+RCMP+cleanse+itself/6899302/story.html#ixzz209HWmVue
Victoria-based RCMP officer facing two counts of fraud
Victoria-based RCMP officer facing two counts of fraud
A Victoria-based RCMP officer is due in court Aug. 1 to face two counts of fraud under $5,000, both related to alleged improper use of federal government credit cards while on-duty.
The accused is Cpl. Tony Spink, who is part of a special-investigations unit. He has been suspended with pay, but was served last week with a notice of the RCMP’s intent to recommend that his pay and allowances be stopped.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Victoria+based+RCMP+officer+facing+counts+fraud/6838125/story.html#ixzz1ywvp0Zv0
A Victoria-based RCMP officer is due in court Aug. 1 to face two counts of fraud under $5,000, both related to alleged improper use of federal government credit cards while on-duty.
The accused is Cpl. Tony Spink, who is part of a special-investigations unit. He has been suspended with pay, but was served last week with a notice of the RCMP’s intent to recommend that his pay and allowances be stopped.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Victoria+based+RCMP+officer+facing+counts+fraud/6838125/story.html#ixzz1ywvp0Zv0
Need a Mugger? Call 911
It's been business as usual in Terrace since April 21 when RCMP gang members mugged 47 year old Robert Wright. For Robert Wright and his family- definitely not business as usual.
More than three weeks in hospital have gone by so far, with the day in and day out hour after hour after hour daily grind of visiting and coping as best they can for his family. Mr. Wright's crime? 'Suspicion of drunk driving' whatever that means.
He was healthy when taken into RCMP custody and locked in their jail. Then they beat him up. His 'crime' was that- like 70 % of us in BC- he didn't show respect. Bullies can't cope with lack of respect because they are cowards. Lack of respect fills them with fear. The RCMP has even put a label on the behavior that inspires their cowardice. They call it 'non-compliance', and it means whatever they want it to mean.
The RCMP has earned it's lack of respect. Each of us has to hope that we or somebody we love won't be the next victim.
May 6
May 13Mr. Wright, who spent his birthday in an RCMP induced coma, was 'non-compliant' : the name for the new rug under which the RCMP sweeps it's cowardly atrocities. In this case, 'non-compliance' means that some over-bearing swaggering thug in an RCMP uniform ordered him in a tone Mr. Wright considered disrespectful, to do something Mr. Wright considered demeaning, and that Mr. Wright either refused to do it or didn't do it fast enough. Those are responses that a gang of bullies simply will not tolerate- at least not when they themselves are safe.
It has nothing to do with the safety of the public or the police. It has everything to do with the RCMP exerting absolute authority for the sake of exerting absolute authority.
More than three weeks in hospital have gone by so far, with the day in and day out hour after hour after hour daily grind of visiting and coping as best they can for his family. Mr. Wright's crime? 'Suspicion of drunk driving' whatever that means.
He was healthy when taken into RCMP custody and locked in their jail. Then they beat him up. His 'crime' was that- like 70 % of us in BC- he didn't show respect. Bullies can't cope with lack of respect because they are cowards. Lack of respect fills them with fear. The RCMP has even put a label on the behavior that inspires their cowardice. They call it 'non-compliance', and it means whatever they want it to mean.
The RCMP has earned it's lack of respect. Each of us has to hope that we or somebody we love won't be the next victim.
May 6
May 13It has nothing to do with the safety of the public or the police. It has everything to do with the RCMP exerting absolute authority for the sake of exerting absolute authority.
Criminal Accident or Vicious Crime?
Was Robert Wright beaten nearly to death in his Terrace cell by the RCMP? Nobody will say. It's like living in South America. Police investigators say they want a few months before they will condescend to tell us.
Mr. Wright is now in Royal Columbia Hospital, having been flown there after being dragged back and forth three times in the night between his Terrace cell and the Mills Memorial Hospital where his initial treatment was botched.
April 26: Rob is still unconscious but doing really well for his condition. Lots of eye movement. He is on a blood thinner to reduce risk of blood clots. Thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts.
April 29: Robert had a big day today. He had vascular surgery to his neck to repair a vein and an artery that were damaged from an IV put in at Mills memorial Hospital. He also had a tracheotomy performed this morning. Unfortunately any heavy sedation resets his wake up clock. Fortunately both procedures were performed without any complications. He is peacefully resting and healing. He appears more at ease since his mom, Pam and Rob visited. Thank you to Jerri-Ann Starrett and Harry Starrett for all your support. I am getting myself prepared for a long recovery process.
May 3: Today Rob sat up in a chair for a bit. Tomorrow a littie longer. He moved his foot when asked to. He puckers up for a kiss. He follows with his eyes. Small improvements every day. Hr still has a fever so please pray for his Temperature to lower. He had a visit from cousin Ethel and son. His birthday tomorrow, mom Mary got him a CD player and Wiggins Clan got him some CDs. I plan making his day as festive as allowed.
Sticks and Stones?
Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will get you a punch in the face. An on duty Kelowna mountie chased down and punched a man in the face for lipping him off- and if the mountie was swaggering arrogantly like some of them do, the mountie deserved to be lipped off. Either way, the mountie was found guilty of assault, but the judge gave him an absolute discharge.
Well, consider this: as of last month, an Angus Reid survey shows that 7 out of every 10 British Columbians think all of us should be calling the RCMP names!
Now that the judge has declared open season on 70% of us, that could amount to a whole lot of face punching by armed thugs we don't like or respect against unarmed citizens who now don't even have the appearance of the protection of the law. Oh, and judge.... if somebody doesn't meekly submit to having his face punched by one of your enforcers, we all know a serious charge will be trumped up, the poor sap is going to be swarmed by a mob of your crazy RCMP thugs and beaten up- if not actually killed *- back at the station house, and then to top it all off, if he survives you'll send him to jail.
70% of us are not amused.
(* video about Robert Wright, mugged 8 days ago by Terrace RCMP and still in a coma. In the video the spokesman for the Westminster police (appointed by the guilty police to investigate themselves as usual) very casually says- as if he could hardly be bothered and was talking about a pesky fly that had just been swatted- that it will be MONTHS before they condescend to give their report. MONTHS!
I think that we as a society, are failing to take a few seconds to really FEEL the enormity of travesties like this one when we find out about them, and that's one reason they keep happening again and again. We need to make the effort and use the energy that it takes to really get deep down disgusted and let our blood pressure rise. Here's what I mean.... What would happen if the mountie had been punched in the face for swaggering and generally throwing his weight around in a totally bullyish and obnoxious manner? There wouldn't be any absolute discharges, I can tell you that for sure. I can also tell you there wouldn't have been any absolute discharges if the victim had been related to the judge. Maybe there wouldn't have been an absolute discharge if the mountie's lawyer hadn't been an ex-RCMP officer- which he is. After all, the legal system is quite a cozy little in-bred close knit group. For example, one of the lawyers defending one of the RCMP murderers in the airport tazer case was appointed a judge right after the case was over by, of course, the provincial government- the team leader. The team leader who quietly foisted the RCMP on us for another 20 years so sneakily.
CITIZENS, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE !
Well, consider this: as of last month, an Angus Reid survey shows that 7 out of every 10 British Columbians think all of us should be calling the RCMP names!
Now that the judge has declared open season on 70% of us, that could amount to a whole lot of face punching by armed thugs we don't like or respect against unarmed citizens who now don't even have the appearance of the protection of the law. Oh, and judge.... if somebody doesn't meekly submit to having his face punched by one of your enforcers, we all know a serious charge will be trumped up, the poor sap is going to be swarmed by a mob of your crazy RCMP thugs and beaten up- if not actually killed *- back at the station house, and then to top it all off, if he survives you'll send him to jail.
70% of us are not amused.
(* video about Robert Wright, mugged 8 days ago by Terrace RCMP and still in a coma. In the video the spokesman for the Westminster police (appointed by the guilty police to investigate themselves as usual) very casually says- as if he could hardly be bothered and was talking about a pesky fly that had just been swatted- that it will be MONTHS before they condescend to give their report. MONTHS!
I think that we as a society, are failing to take a few seconds to really FEEL the enormity of travesties like this one when we find out about them, and that's one reason they keep happening again and again. We need to make the effort and use the energy that it takes to really get deep down disgusted and let our blood pressure rise. Here's what I mean.... What would happen if the mountie had been punched in the face for swaggering and generally throwing his weight around in a totally bullyish and obnoxious manner? There wouldn't be any absolute discharges, I can tell you that for sure. I can also tell you there wouldn't have been any absolute discharges if the victim had been related to the judge. Maybe there wouldn't have been an absolute discharge if the mountie's lawyer hadn't been an ex-RCMP officer- which he is. After all, the legal system is quite a cozy little in-bred close knit group. For example, one of the lawyers defending one of the RCMP murderers in the airport tazer case was appointed a judge right after the case was over by, of course, the provincial government- the team leader. The team leader who quietly foisted the RCMP on us for another 20 years so sneakily.
CITIZENS, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE !
RCMP Earns No Respect
Confidence in Canadian police down by half in 15 years: poll
The survey of just over 1,000 Canadians, done in late March by Angus Reid Public Opinion, found that 7 of every 10 British Columbians have no confidence in the RCMP.
The survey of just over 1,000 Canadians, done in late March by Angus Reid Public Opinion, found that 7 of every 10 British Columbians have no confidence in the RCMP.
Terrace B.C. Travel Alert
At least nine RCMP officers in Terrace have been charged with assault , and at least one of those is facing charges for another assault on a different day.
Completely separate from all that, the Terrace RCMP gang members are also under investigation for a serious head injury suffered by a suspect in their care at their jail last weekend. The victim is in serious condition in a Vancouver hospital where he is still in a coma as of one week later. His wife was barely kept informed, and has had to take the initiate to keep posted.
Before all these incidents, and due entirely to other RCMP crimes not mentioned in this article, a BC Civil Liberties report had already labeled Terrace as a danger zone for civilians due to the presence of the RCMP.
"The (BC Civil Liberties) report highlights three cities, Prince George, Williams Lake and, most concerning, Terrace, as areas where the RCMP should place increased attention in order to ensure that public confidence in the force is maintained. Participants were nearly universal in sharing the opinion that police should no longer investigate themselve in B.C."
As far as we know, in spite of being requested to intervene, the Terrace City Council is not doing anything to try to protect Terrace civilians from the RCMP gang members but- on the contrary- continues to pay their salaries, equip them and put uniforms on their backs.
Completely separate from all that, the Terrace RCMP gang members are also under investigation for a serious head injury suffered by a suspect in their care at their jail last weekend. The victim is in serious condition in a Vancouver hospital where he is still in a coma as of one week later. His wife was barely kept informed, and has had to take the initiate to keep posted.
Before all these incidents, and due entirely to other RCMP crimes not mentioned in this article, a BC Civil Liberties report had already labeled Terrace as a danger zone for civilians due to the presence of the RCMP.
"The (BC Civil Liberties) report highlights three cities, Prince George, Williams Lake and, most concerning, Terrace, as areas where the RCMP should place increased attention in order to ensure that public confidence in the force is maintained. Participants were nearly universal in sharing the opinion that police should no longer investigate themselve in B.C."
As far as we know, in spite of being requested to intervene, the Terrace City Council is not doing anything to try to protect Terrace civilians from the RCMP gang members but- on the contrary- continues to pay their salaries, equip them and put uniforms on their backs.
RCMP officer pleads guilty to drunk driving, fined $1,000 | The Chronicle Herald
RCMP officer pleads guilty to drunk driving, fined $1,000 | The Chronicle Herald
Suspended with pay, it goes without saying. Oh, and by the way...
"Two other members of the regional police force are also before the courts on impaired-driving charges.
Sgt. Kevin Tellenbach, 53, was arrested Dec. 17 after an unmarked police vehicle was involved in a minor crash on Magazine Hill near Bedford.
Const. Jennifer Lea McPhee, 35, was charged Feb. 19 after police stopped a car on Coronation Avenue in Halifax.
Tellenbach and McPhee were both off duty at the time and have been suspended with pay.
"
Suspended with pay, it goes without saying. Oh, and by the way...
"Two other members of the regional police force are also before the courts on impaired-driving charges.
Sgt. Kevin Tellenbach, 53, was arrested Dec. 17 after an unmarked police vehicle was involved in a minor crash on Magazine Hill near Bedford.
Const. Jennifer Lea McPhee, 35, was charged Feb. 19 after police stopped a car on Coronation Avenue in Halifax.
Tellenbach and McPhee were both off duty at the time and have been suspended with pay.
"
RCMP Thug Summary
Thugs:
Cases of impaired driving, watching porn and sex with prostitutes described in report
By Kathleen Harris, CBC News Posted: Apr 24, 2012
Some of the disciplinary cases summarized in the report:
A constable received a reprimand and forfeiture of five days’ pay for allowing a prostitute actively soliciting sexual activity to enter personal vehicle for sexual activity.
A constable received a reprimand and forfeiture of 10 days’ pay for impaired driving.
A constable was dismissed for sexual assault and inappropriate comments of a sexual nature; reporting for duty while under the influence of alcohol.
A staff sergeant received a reprimand and forfeiture of 10 days’ pay for making a false statement to a Canada Border Services Agency official.
A civilian member received two reprimands and two forfeitures of seven days’ pay for use of controlled substances and theft.
A constable received a reprimand and forfeiture of five days’ pay for operating a motor vehicle at excessive speeds without legitimate operational purpose causing damage of vehicle beyond repair.
A constable received reprimand and forfeiture of one day’s pay for excessive force.
A constable received reprimand and forfeiture of five days’ pay for improper use of government credit card
And dozens and dozens more such cases.
Cases of impaired driving, watching porn and sex with prostitutes described in report
By Kathleen Harris, CBC News Posted: Apr 24, 2012
Some of the disciplinary cases summarized in the report:
A constable received a reprimand and forfeiture of five days’ pay for allowing a prostitute actively soliciting sexual activity to enter personal vehicle for sexual activity.
A constable received a reprimand and forfeiture of 10 days’ pay for impaired driving.
A constable was dismissed for sexual assault and inappropriate comments of a sexual nature; reporting for duty while under the influence of alcohol.
A staff sergeant received a reprimand and forfeiture of 10 days’ pay for making a false statement to a Canada Border Services Agency official.
A civilian member received two reprimands and two forfeitures of seven days’ pay for use of controlled substances and theft.
A constable received a reprimand and forfeiture of five days’ pay for operating a motor vehicle at excessive speeds without legitimate operational purpose causing damage of vehicle beyond repair.
A constable received reprimand and forfeiture of one day’s pay for excessive force.
A constable received reprimand and forfeiture of five days’ pay for improper use of government credit card
And dozens and dozens more such cases.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
