EDITORIAL: More RCMP hiding

March 26, 2008
Sault Star (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario)

The Mounties are part of a large group of civil servants who just don't get it.

What they don't get is that they work for us. We are ultimately their bosses.

According to a recent Canadian Press story: "The RCMP now strips crucial details about Taser firings from public reports as use of the controversial stun guns skyrockets across the country."

The Mounties now hide items such as related injuries, duration of shocks, whether the individual was armed, what police tried before resorting to the stun gun, and precise dates of firings. They do so under the bogus pretence of privacy. This is not acceptable.

You'd think that an institution, which has been recently humiliated by a variety of scandals, would be committed to more openness. Well, think again.

Liberal Public Safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh says revelations of an RCMP clampdown on Taser data is another blow to the national police force's battered reputation.

The government must step in and tell the force this counterproductive secrecy must stop. Most police officers on the beat will tell you that if there's nothing to hide, don't hide.