[andyt]

Good for him. I think this will really help:

$1:

VANCOUVER - The man in charge of the RCMP in British Columbia says the laborious process of firing or even suspending Mounties without pay after serious misconduct is "absolute madness," but making changes requires a commitment from the force's political masters.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens said the RCMP Act is long overdue for change to allow local management to hire and fire like other employers in the country.
For example, Callens said an application was made years ago to suspend Cpl. Benjamin "Monty" Robinson without pay, but the request was rejected at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.
Robinson was convicted last month of obstruction of justice in the death of a young motorcyclist in Delta, B.C. He admitted to taking two shots of vodka to "calm his nerves" after the accident and before he gave himself up to investigating officers, but the court heard testimony that Robinson would have known those actions can be used to cover up drunk driving.
A year before the traffic accident, Robinson was the senior officer in charge when Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was jolted several times with an RCMP Taser and died at Vancouver's airport.
Robinson and three fellow officers still face perjury charges, accused of lying under oath in that case.
Commissioner Thomas Braidwood concluded in his final report into Dziekanski's death that the officers deliberately misrepresented their actions during the investigations and during their testimony to his inquiry.
"I want him (Robinson) dismissed from the RCMP," Callens told a forum at the Radio Television Digital News Association annual provincial gathering on the weekend.
"Now he's convicted of obstruction of justice and so I say to myself, a reasonable-minded Canadian, a British Columbian, is outraged by that. I'm outraged by that."
The RCMP Act gives Callens the power to suspend an officer if he considers the officer's actions serious misconduct. He must get approval from headquarters in Ottawa if he wants an officer suspended without pay.
But Callens said the process becomes adversarial, similar to the criminal justice system.
"That's the problem with the RCMP Act. What I want to do is have the ability, for me personally, as the deputy commissioner, or for the commissioner ... to say 'No, you need to be fired from the RCMP.'"
The current process sometimes seems to overtake the necessity of decisive action, and that's why he supports its modernization, he told The Canadian Press in a later interview.
"I think what frustrates the community are cases where an RCMP officer is convicted of a serious criminal offence and yet an internal adjudication board must be held, and the delays that are associated to that occur, to determine whether a member should be dismissed from the RCMP," he said. "And it's quite obvious, or it is the view of the community that it's obvious, the individual should be dismissed from the RCMP."
Neither Robinson nor his lawyer were available for comment.
In the four months that Callens has been in charge of the B.C. division, he said he has taken the step to request suspension without pay four times.
But under the act, the RCMP isn't the employer and federal government statutes and regulations govern the way the RCMP operates, leaving a long and cumbersome appeal process for the RCMP and those fighting to keep their jobs, Callens said.
"We've seen people who've been dismissed and who have committed murder while still RCMP officers because they're in the process of appeal," he said at the forum, referring to a case other than Robinson's.
"It's madness. It's absolute madness."
Callens told the group he wants to see greater transparency and accountability on issues affecting the RCMP. He acknowledged the force hadn't done well in those areas in the past.
"Most importantly, I've come to understand the importance of public trust and confidence so that we are able to fulfil our duty and successfully meet our mandate to keep the communities we serve safe."
The Mounties' image in B.C. has been tarnished over several years by a profusion of bad public relations involving Robinson's actions, the RCMP-involved shooting death of Ian Bush and allegations by Cpl. Catherine Galliford of sexual harassment and abuse from senior officers.
Callens said he could see a distinct advantage to being able to hire and fire like other companies.
Fixing the RCMP Act hasn't been a priority for politicians for some time, but Callens said RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is committed to moving the issue to the top of the agenda.
"As election cycles come and go, there's all kinds of different priorities and there's all kinds of different pressures on the agenda and fixing the RCMP Act has not been at the top of the agenda," Callens said.
"Our current commissioner is committed to having it at the top of the agenda."
The RCMP has assigned lawyer Kevin Brosseau to review the act and recommend changes to the federal government.
After a request for an interview, the Ministry of Public Safety issued a statement saying the Conservative government is committed to giving the RCMP the tools it needs to keep Canadians safe and ensure appropriate oversight is in place.
"We agree that some change is necessary to deal with what Commissioner Paulson called 'dark-hearted behaviour' displayed by a small minority of RCMP members."
However, the statement said the government hadn't made any final decisions on changes to the act.

[Newsbot]

Title: Top RCMP officer: Process for firing Mounties is �madness'
Category: Law & Order
Posted By: Regina
Date: 2012-04-17 10:19:47
Canadian

[Benn]

Does not say if he recommended the firing before the Airport debacle or not. That would be interesting to know. Such an upstanding cop who they wanted fired yet somehow he made Corperal, which in some detachments would put him in charge of the detachment. Crazy, scary...

[andyt]

He didn't recommend the firing before the Airport debacle because he didn't become top cop until well after it happened. And there were no black marks on Robinson before the two incidents. He was probably already an alcoholic, but I guess covered it well.

[andyt]

Sorry this post is a duplicate - please combine.

[Benn]

andyt andyt:

And there were no black marks on Robinson before the two incidents. He was probably already an alcoholic, but I guess covered it well.

So far as we know.

Pull off the shroud of Law Enforcement mystic and secrecy and you'll see it promotes incompetence just as much as other government departments do.

Not saying this guy was, just wondering out loud.

[andyt]

He's native so may have been given extra benefit. But, he may also have functioned perfectly well, while still being a lush, until a situation got out of hand - ie the Dziekanski case, which stressed him to the point of breakdown.

Lots of people like that in private industry too, tho they're more easily fired if their work suffers. But with human rights legislation, even there you can't just fire them for being an addict.

[Benn]

GRUMPY1 GRUMPY1:

The good cops looked the other way When misconduct and criminal activity happened Because they knew Somewhere down the road the system would be there to protect them.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt (before I tell you to go F yourself) that you are not meaning to say all good cops will one day become bad and that good cops will not report criminal activity going on among other members.

[Benn]

andyt andyt:

He's native so may have been given extra benefit. But, he may also have functioned perfectly well, while still being a lush, until a situation got out of hand - ie the Dziekanski case, which stressed him to the point of breakdown.

Lots of people like that in private industry too, tho they're more easily fired if their work suffers. But with human rights legislation, even there you can't just fire them for being an addict.

True

and

True

[Benn]

Well my ability to write English is certainly superior. Forgive my misunderstanding with your improper capitalization, absent use of commas, improper pluralization, and misuse of verb tense. I can't imagine how I was not sure what you were saying.

Good cops don't have to worry about the system protecting them. Because they are good, and won't break the law, they don't need protection.

"Thin blue line old boys club" lol, if one of my co-workers sexually assaulted another I'm diming him or her out for sure. I keep creepers and scum in jail, certainly don't want to work side by side with scum for co-workers.

[Tricks]

Benn Benn:

Well my ability to write English is certainly superior. Forgive my misunderstanding with your improper capitalization, absent use of commas, improper pluralization, and misuse of verb tense. I can't imagine how I was not sure what you were saying.

Good cops don't have to worry about the system protecting them. Because they are good, and won't break the law, they don't need protection.

"Thin blue line old boys club" lol, if one of my co-workers sexually assaulted another I'm diming him or her out for sure. I keep creepers and scum in jail, certainly don't want to work side by side with scum for co-workers.

I'd rep ya if I could.

[Gunnair]

Benn Benn:

Well my ability to write English is certainly superior. Forgive my misunderstanding with your improper capitalization, absent use of commas, improper pluralization, and misuse of verb tense. I can't imagine how I was not sure what you were saying.

Good cops don't have to worry about the system protecting them. Because they are good, and won't break the law, they don't need protection.

"Thin blue line old boys club" lol, if one of my co-workers sexually assaulted another I'm diming him or her out for sure. I keep creepers and scum in jail, certainly don't want to work side by side with scum for co-workers.

Turn those points on, sport.

[andyt]

If Callens is actually successful in this, and they do start weeding out the bad apples more effectively, it will do nothing but good for the good apples. In BC, we get nothing but bad RCMP stories right now. You can say that's the media, but it's not as if the media is making up these stories - so many horsemen are acting like roadapples. Time to straighten them out - we want to be proud of the RCMP the way we used to be.

[Tricks]

andyt andyt:

If Callens is actually successful in this, and they do start weeding out the bad apples more effectively, it will do nothing but good for the good apples. In BC, we get nothing but bad RCMP stories right now. You can say that's the media, but it's not as if the media is making up these stories - so many horsemen are acting like roadapples. Time to straighten them out - we want to be proud of the RCMP the way we used to be.

There are almost 18 thousand badged RCMP officers. We've heard of what? 50? Max? That's .28 % of officers. So yes, it is the media blowing up each situation and making it bigger than it actually is.

[andyt]

So what are you saying, the media shouldn't report on those .28%? Or run stories like: "today 98% of RCMP officers did not assault a suspect who was handcuffed and not resisting. No RCMP officers shot anybody under suspicious circumstances today?"

This is a good effort, but not nearly enough. The Dziekanski 4 were originally not charged and so would never have fallen under the rubric of this reform. The cop who claimed to have shot an unarmed man while he was prone and in fear of his life, and was not charged despite forensic evidence and the eyewitness testimony of his partner would not fall under it either. Etc - many bad apples will still skate, but at least it's a step in the right direction. If it goes ahead.