EDITORIAL: Damaged goods

April 9, 2009
Prince George Citizen

If you are like most right minded Canadians, you can’t help but be saddened as you witness yet another spasm in the death spiral of the reputation of the RCMP.

As the shameful spectacle of the Braidwood Inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski illustrates, this is a brand in serious decline and along with it, the ability of the Force to command the respect that is essential if its 24,000 members from Iqaluit to Corner Brook are to be able to do their jobs effectively.

To quote the philosopher Sophocles, “Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make (or enforce) the law.”

To gain some understanding of how the reputation of the RCMP has been reduced to this state, first go to YouTube and watch the video footage of Robert Dziekanski in his final moments, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPe_hf7aBXM, then consider the following:

1.”Members know or ought to know that whatever misadventure happens to them, the Force will stand by them so long as there is some justification for doing so.” “That policy has been in effect for over 30 years.” Ex-RCMP Commissioner William Higgitt, in an internal memo and comments presented to the Commission of Inquiry Concerning Certain Activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1979.

2.”There has been a tendency to look at this as a black and white situation...I would ask Canadians to reflect for a moment before they jump to conclusions.” RCMP Commissioner Ward Elliott March 22, 2009 (commenting on the Dziekanski case.)

3. Be professional, be prepared and know the facts. Be patient. State who you are and why you are there. Ask for an interpreter, as required. Allow people an appropriate amount of space. Let person(s) vent their frustrations. www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca Conducted Energy Weapon-Verbal Intervention. Instructions to RCMP officers summarizing verbal and non-verbal communication, negotiation, mediation and conflict management skills.

4. Question? Why does the RCMP website have a link to The Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths 2007 Conference? This is an event whose main sponsor is LAAW International Inc., and whose president, Mr. Michael Brave, also happens to be lead counsel for TASER International, the controversial supplier of the weapon used on Robert Dziekanski. As the politicians say, check out the optics on this one.

Like a scene from the movie Groundhog Day, the RCMP keeps reliving the same mistakes that saw it ripped apart in the 1980s, when the RCMP Security Service was shut down and replaced by a civilian agency, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS)

Then, as now, the motto “Maintain the Right” was replaced by “Maintain the Force” (no matter the cost).

While replacing former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli was a step in the right direction in moving the Mounties away from this old-school thinking, it is clear that his replacement, Commissioner William Elliott, is incapable of leading the cultural change needed to bring the Force into the 21st century. He needs to go.

For the good of Canadians and people like Robert Dziekanski, for the sake of the RCMP and the members who put on the red serge for all the right reasons, and especially in the interest of preserving public trust in our national police force, and the criminal justice system.

If Mr. Dziekanski’s death leads to a major overhaul of the Force, it will not have been in vain.

From Truthnottasers: STAY WITH ME HERE.

Here is a link from the RCMP website to The [AMERICAN] Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths 2008 Conference (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/?eng=http://www.ipicd.com/seminars/symposium.html)

Click on View this website now.

Tsk, tsk, tsk - the least the RCMP could do is link to the CANADIAN CENTRE for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths INC. (ccpicd.com)

The nice people over at The [AMERICAN] Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths (ipicd.com) link to the CANADIAN CENTRE for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths INC. http://www.ipicd.com/docs/2009_Canada_Conf_Bro.pdf

Now APPARENTLY, the "CANADIAN CENTRE" (whose president is Guelph, Ontario police office Gary Mulder) and the "AMERICAN INSTITUTE" are IN NO WAY connected to each other. A simple look at the friendlies, the links, the speaker lists and logos would strongly suggest otherwise.

How STOOPID do these people think we really are?????