| This section of the Info Centre presents all of the most recent
news articles relevant to the policing sector. The articles are organized by
date. Policing experts from around the globe will meet in Edmonton
to trade crime-fighting tips this week, when Interpol's 17th training
symposium comes to the city. It is the first time Interpol--the world's
The Mounties in B.C. are fighting fire with fire in a bold bid to bolster their battered reputation. They're taking the unprecedented step of hiring a military-style video cameraman to help build public confidence in the force, whose image has taken a beating of late -- largely due to a citizen's shocking video of RCMP officers Tasering Robert Dziekanski. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields revealed that the cameraman, an "accomplished videographer" with corporate video experience, would film daily police operations that are as dramatic as possible for use on the RCMP website and for distribution to news outfits. "This is groundbreaking for the RCMP in Canada. It has not been done before," said Shields, B.C.'s senior RCMP media officer, who recently apologized for inaccuracies in the information police put out about Dziekanski's death last October. Shields told me the full-time videographer would be similar to those in the Combat Camera team, which shows Canadian forces in action in Afghanistan and elsewhere. He said the footage could be graphic: "The more dramatic the better, because it's important that the public sees what is truly going on in their communities. We have nothing to hide." Shields, 43, said people no longer accept being told in words what police are up to. They want to see it for themselves: "The public wants to see their police officers taking drugs and guns off the street."
Tue 9 June 2009, Saskatoon StarPhoenix Forum - Ever since the now famous brutal and fatal confrontation Robert Dziekanski had with four RCMP officers on Oct. 14, 2007, at the Vancouver International Airport, Canada's national police force hasn't missed an opportunity to shoot itself in the foot. Such was the case this week when lawyers for the officers involved in Mr. Dziekanski's death announced they want the B.C. Supreme Court to prevent a public inquiry judge from issuing a finding of misconduct.[...] While the officers shouldn't be denied every legal channel to protect themselves -- particularly since the findings of the inquiry could indirectly open the way to have the members face criminal charges -- the police agency should have vigorously opposed their application for an exemption rather than allow the once proud RCMP name to be dragged through the mud.[...] RCMP Commr. William Elliott and D/Commr. William Sweeney both apologized for the event and promised the force would do better in the future Yet by failing to step in to quash the officers' request to suppress the results of the inquiry led by Justice Thomas Braidwood, the RCMP is sending Canadians the clear message that, when push comes to shove, the force will protect its own rather than the people it is sworn to serve. This should be of little reassurance even to members of the RCMP. Without the confidence of Canadians, they will find it difficult to do their job.
Wed 3 June 2009, Winnipeg Sun A group of University of Winnipeg diploma recipients is charting new ground to give aboriginals a place among the city's, and Canada's, finest. The nine police and/or corrections officer hopefuls [...] stepped forward yesterday at the university's Convocation Hall to become the first graduates of a program aimed at giving "indigenous" people a leg up toward careers in law enforcement. The graduates of the Indigenous Police Preparation Program were in the spotlight at the special ceremony for U of W's 89th convocation The training for the would-be RCMP officers or municipal cops involved eight months of upgrades that are crucial for natives or anyone seeking police or corrections careers. Of the diploma recipients, said [Rene]Stevenson, most -- like him -- want to become Mounties.
27 May 2009, Regina Leader-Post Anita Pelletier now has the confidence she needs to become a member of the RCMP. Pelletier is a participant in the APTP, which is a national RCMP recruiting initiative. Along with 31 other young men and women, she completed the first part of the program last week. "It was probably the best experience of my life," said Pelletier. The APTP runs for 17 weeks. Participants spend the first three weeks in Regina at the RCMP "Depot" division. "You form as a troop and live life just as a regular cadet would live in Depot," said Sgt. Ed Jobson, APTP program manager.[...] Jobson said that most of the APTP participants are college or university students, and will return to their studies after the 17 weeks. However, a good portion of them have decided to pursue a career with the RCMP and will apply to be a regular member. [...] Jobson said that because the RCMP provides services to aboriginal communities throughout Canada, there is a need to have aboriginal officers working with the people in those locations. "We are currently looking to employ as many aboriginal people as we can within the RCMP to help us provide appropriate services to those communities," he said. "There's no other way to describe what Depot life is like to anybody out there, other than actually being here and taking part in it."
12 May 2009, Calgary Herald Chief Rick Hanson will unveil a three-year plan for the Calgary Police Service today that will include changes such as a streamlined command structure and new officers in the city's core. One of the key changes will be bringing several joint-forces units focused on fighting gangs and organized crime under the supervision of a single inspector from either the Calgary Police Service or the RCMP. Sources inside both police forces said the move is aimed at bolstering the units' ability to share intelligence and to make sure investigations don't get sidetracked. [...] Although law enforcement agencies have increasingly embraced the idea of sharing resources, another source explained joint units are often squeezed when police agencies have manpower shortages elsewhere or embark on large investigations of their own.[...] Putting command of units such as the Integrated Child Exploitation team and the Integrated Response to Organized Crime under a single inspector will give them better control of how their members are used, added the source. Hanson has spent the majority of his policing career with the Calgary Police Service, but before taking the chief's job in 2007, he spent two years as a senior officer in the RCMP. [...] "One of the focuses Chief Hanson had when he was appointed was to . . . reinforce ties with the RCMP," said Doug King.
Saturday 2 May 2009, Toronto Star ‘I think we (RCMP) have a lot more open dialogue now' Bill Elliott, the guy who's never been a cop, has worked hard to connect with the Mounties he's been leading for nearly two years. [...] The 2007 appointment by the Conservative government of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioner who has never worn the uniform was supposed to usher in a new era of transparency, accountability and change. It hasn't turned out that way. As the new commissioner has connected with the Mounties, he has lost touch with the civilians he was supposed to represent. Elliott's tenure has been marked by the same sort of secrecy and efforts to stonewall public attempts to get information - particularly about Tasers - as any of his predecessors faced in earlier crises. [...]Yet after 21 months on the job, Elliott is all but invisible to Canadians. Elliott did unexpectedly sit down with the Toronto Star recently, on an hour's notice, and declared there has been no real overall loss of confidence in the RCMP. [...]Yet he's concerned about a "potential" loss of confidence. He should be. [...] In the interview, he displays a lawyer's attention to detail - quoting past news conferences verbatim - and a politician's ease of argument. Elliott suggests he shunned any extensive interview until now because he didn't want it to be just about Tasers. He was waiting until the uproar eased. "But there is no lull," he admits. If anything, the storm over Tasers is growing.[...] Insiders say Elliott has kept a tight grip on "everything to do with Tasers." Nevertheless, the RCMP's handling of the tragedy has renewed calls by many opposition MPs for more robust civilian oversight of the RCMP. [...] Elliott says he believes more independent civilian oversight is needed. [...] He acknowledges a "gap" in oversight of only the RCMP's national security activities.[...] Elliott disputes any suggestions the RCMP is politically directed.[...] If anything, Elliott says, the RCMP needs to be more politically savvy, "more engaged and engaging" when it comes to identifying its needs and priorities. For that, it seems, the Mounties have got the right man.[...] The interview is over. [...] But the next day, Elliott calls back to elaborate on a couple of answers. Without a policing background, he acknowledges he is at a disadvantage when it comes to doing a job that used to belong to the top cop. But if anything, he says, it has forced him to consult more broadly and listen more carefully to the officers who do have that background. "I think we have a lot more open dialogue now than was the case in the past." Perhaps so. It's just rarely a dialogue with the public.
Thur 30 April 2009, Vancouver Province Editorial - I congratulate Jon Ferry on his excellent column on re-establishing the B. C. Provincial Police. I was a municipal police officer in B. C. for 30 years. Policing in B.C. has never been at such a low ebb and our provincial government is in denial. No other country in the world polices as we do. We have this bizarre colonial system of "detachments" of Mounties who aren't accountable to anyone, much less the people they police. They are beholden only to Ottawa, who selects the leaders, supervisors and men and women with absolutely no community input or civilian oversight. We have a contracted provincial police force that is not subject to the B.C. Police Act, nor to its discipline regulations. These people can apparently mislead, fabricate, obstruct and maybe even lie with impunity. The former B.C. Provincial Police was the best police force in Canada in its day. We don't allow Ottawa to run our schools, universities or hospitals. Why then do we contract with them for policing?
April 2009, Ottawa Citizen Harper broke policing pledge, association says Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not kept his 2006 election promise to put 2,500 new police officers on Canada's streets, the Canadian Police Association said Tuesday, saying its members feel 'betrayed.' In the 2008 federal budget, the government set aside $400 million for the Police Officers Recruitment Fund, and has allowed the provinces and territories to draw on that funding for five years and to use it as they see fit. 'The Police Officers Recruitment Fund is insufficient both in terms of a lack of long-term sustainable funding, the amount of money being contributed to the funding and the controls over the use of those funds,' Charles Momy, police association president, said at a news conference. The federal government has designed the program so that there are no guarantees the federal funding will trickle down to police forces and actually put more officers on the front lines, Momy said. Tom Stamatakis, the national police association's vice-president and president of the BCPA, said B.C.'s share of the fund is $53 million. 'Not one of those dollars has made it to the city of Vancouver to assist with recruiting and deploying more front-line officers in that community. And the same can be said for every community in the province of BC,' he said.
Tues 28 April 2009, Vancouver Sun Opinion - The RCMP has had a culture of nepotism, elitism, and systemic abuse of power for its entire history. Originally established as a national paramilitary force with the premise of ensuring the stability of the Northwest Frontier, it quickly became an icon for law and order throughout the north west frontier and eventually throughout Canada. [...] A review of the whole RCMP operations throughout Canada is long overdue. As the contracting police force to the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and
Newfoundland, together with the responsibility for enforcing federal statutes throughout Canada, its influence and power is both pervasive and corrosive. It makes eminent sense for these provincial contracts to be abolished and the policing authorities to be devolved onto provincial police forces, similar in structure to the Ontario Provincial Police. The RCMP should be maintained to provide an overview authority on federal statutes, and to work closely with Canadian Security Intelligence Service on matters of national security. A civilian authority should be established to maintain a close watch on both the RCMP and all other police authorities to ensure that all abuses of power are rigorously examined. Similarly, standards of training should be established which ensure that police training -- whether for municipal forces, RCMP, and tribal police forces -- have training to equivalent standards. In the words of Sir John Peel the founder of the first official constabulary in Britain, the public are the police and the police are the public. The RCMP has never accepted this as a basic premise.
Wed 22 April 2009, THE HAGUE The new head of Europol said Wednesday the European police agency hoped soon to conclude an agreement with Russia to allow for the sharing of information in joint anti-crime operations.
April 2009, National Post William Elliott, Commr. of the RCMP, first defends the force's use of Tasers. He later asks Canadians to empathize with the "dangerous, unpredictable situations every day" that officers face and to cut the RCMP some slack. Unfortunately, the Commr's understanding of the public's growing distrust is stunningly off the mark. The public appreciates the potential harm that members of all police forces face on a daily basis. That said, no one is forced to apply for the job. The public's growing mistrust of the RCMP is attributable more to its culture of arrogance and impunity than to its use of Tasers -- and in recent years, certain members of the force have given Canadians a lot to consider. For example, the unmitigated bull spewed by the officers involved in the death of Robert Dziekanski. To repair the RCMP's image, it would be helpful to start with a correct diagnosis of the problem. Tasers, per se, are not the problem. Rather, it is the management and training of the people that use the devices. We also lack independent oversight of the force, with the requisite fortitude, political support and power to investigate and prosecute. Address the foregoing and restoration of trust will follow.
April 2009, National Post Recent events have caused considerable anguish within the RCMP. We are grappling with complex issues under the glare of the media's spotlight. Public scrutiny is fundamental to maintaining the accountability of public institutions, and any issues that erode the public's confidence in our work are cause for concern. Without public support, the RCMP cannot be effective. As Commr. of the RCMP, it is my job to ensure that we hear and understand the communities we serve and that the public is fully apprised of our practices and policies. It is within this context that I'd like to discuss the RCMP's approach to the use of CEWs, otherwise referred to as "Tasers," in our everyday operations.[...] RCMP officers face dangerous, unpredictable situations every day. They often deal with individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and intervene with people who are angry and upset. Events can quickly spiral out of control, and quick judgment, confidence and highly skilled responses are required. Given the kind of work we do, there is very little margin for error. We have to be honest about our weaknesses and acknowledge our mistakes. The men and women of the RCMP are committed to their country and their fellow citizens. Canadians have a right to expect nothing but the best from their RCMP officers. I want to assure you that our officers expect no less from themselves.
Sat 18 April 2009, Ottawa Citizen
15 April 2009, Canadian Press
Monday 13 April, Globe and Mail Editorial - The foundation of taser use in this country rests on an obvious conflict of interest, and involves a group that should know better: the police chiefs of Canada. The resignation of an ethics adviser to the chiefs over that conflict speaks volumes about the rotten state of police discourse on the 50,000-volt stun guns. "Doesn't pass the smell test," John Jones said of the chiefs' corporate sponsorships, including one from Taser International, of their annual conferences. The chiefs' board of directors was so dismissive it wouldn't even hear from the ethics committee when it asked formally for a meeting about the conflict.[...] Taking sponsorship money from a weapons manufacturer is a direct, not merely a perceived, conflict. The chiefs have received $75,000 over the past three years from Taser International, according to the chiefs' executive director, Peter Cuthbert. Everything the chiefs say about the taser is tainted by their acceptance of that money. More than that, the policies of all the police forces that rely on the chiefs' research are tainted.[...] John Jones is right. Something stinks about the chiefs' coziness with Taser International.
7 April 2009, Associated Press The Pentagon spent more than $100-million (U.S.) in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyberattacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said Tuesday. Air Force General Kevin Chilton, who heads U.S. Strategic Command, said the military is only beginning to track the costs, which are triggered by constant daily attacks against military networks ranging from the Pentagon to bases around the country. “The important thing is that we recognize that we are under assault from the least sophisticated — what I would say the bored teenager — all the way up to the sophisticated nation-state, with some pretty criminal elements sandwiched in-between,” said Gen. Chilton, adding that the motivations include everything from vandalism to espionage. “This is indeed our big challenge, as we think about how to defend it.” According to Army Brigadier-General John Davis, deputy commander for network operations, the money was spent on manpower, computer technology and contractors hired to clean up after both external probes and internal mistakes. Strategic Command is responsible for protecting and monitoring the military's information grid, as well as co-ordinating any offensive cyberwarfare on behalf of the U.S. Officials would not say how much of the $100-million cost was due to outside attacks against the system, versus viruses and other problems triggered accidentally by Defence Department employees. And they declined to reveal any details about suspected cyberattacks against the Pentagon by other countries, such as China. Speaking to reporters from a cyberspace conference in Omaha, Neb., the military leaders said the U.S. needs to invest more money in the military's computer capabilities, rather than pouring millions into repairs. “You can either pay me now or you can pay me later,” Brig.-Gen.Davis said. “It would be nice to spend that money proactively ... rather than fixing things after the fact.” Officials said that while there has been a lot of anecdotal evidence on the spending estimate, they only began tracking it last year and are still not sure they are identifying all the costs related to taking computer networks down after a problem is noticed.
4 April 2009, Victoria Times Colonist The Mounties might not mention fighting, but promise a career "nowhere near ordinary." They offer a job with excitement and meaning: "Forget ordinary. The RCMP offers meaningful work, vast opportunities, the chance to serve across Canada and a career like no other." Sounds tempting. But I hope they don't make it too easy to get in. The force needs to get its pride back, which means recruiting the best and the brightest. Easier said than done, but the RCMP has an image problem. Neither the ads for the Armed Forces nor the RCMP are entirely complete. The RCMP recruiting web page shows a young, black officer with a regular cap, looking serious and determined, walkie-talkie pinned to his chest. No red serge, no horses, no smiling or saluting. Good. It feels closer to reality. But again, it doesn't tell the whole story. No pictures of cops going into dangerous situations, facing drug dealers and gang members, doing surveillance, chasing car thieves, facing danger. Life in uniform was always tough. The Armed Forces and the RCMP are honourable career choices, important places to work. But let's not sugarcoat it: They're going to need people with a lot of fight in them.
For the past forty years the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) has been at the forefront pressing for strong firearms control measures. Canada’s police leaders have adopted twenty-five resolutions on firearms control, including support for the Firearms Act and registration of all firearms, in the interests of public and officer safety. Where do guns come from? Every illegal gun was once legal. Handguns and assault weapons smuggled in from the United States certainly are part of the problem. We have seen escalating gun violence among rival gangs and the devastating results when legal guns are diverted to illegal markets and unlicensed users. 31 March 2009, The Canadian Press A new report says the RCMP is making strides toward reform, but still has a long way to go and not enough cash to get there. The arm’s-length council overseeing transformation of Canada’s national police force says many needed changes can’t be carried out with existing resources. The year-old council’s second report warns that pushing forward without more money will mean difficult choices between competing priorities. In 2007, a federal task force on the RCMP called for major changes to the structure, independence and oversight of the Mounties. The task force said the RCMP was tangled in bureaucracy and required more authority to manage its own staff and budget. It made dozens of recommendations on everything from recruitment and performance evaluations to public relations and ethics to address deep problems. Last year, the government appointed a reform implementation council, led by Montreal lawyer and consultant David McAusland, to provide advice and monitor progress toward change. “The challenges facing the RCMP are real and substantial,’’ says the report released Tuesday. “The force does not now have the resources it needs to meet present and future policing commitments.’’ It adds that the “full engagement of employees’’ is still a work in progress rather than something that can be taken for granted. “And even as the process of reform proceeds, the media daily remind us of new areas where the RCMP must respond to the expectations of the people it serves.’’ The report says real change will be a long-term process requiring determination from within the force, and necessary support from the government.
B.C. became the first province in Canada to introduce legislation to dismantle barriers to full labour mobility to all trades and professions today. This legislation supports the national Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), improving opportunities for workers and employers, said Murray Coell, Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, and Ida Chong, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development. “With the introduction of Bill 9, we are supporting a historic agreement on labour mobility between Canada’s first ministers and fulfilling British Columbia’s commitment to the Agreement on Internal Trade,” said Coell. “This legislation provides a solid foundation for our future success, ensuring we have the human resources B.C. will need in the coming decades.” Bill 9 will allow a person certified in any Canadian jurisdiction to be recognized and able to practice their profession in any other Canadian jurisdiction, and is similar to legislation being enacted or revised in other provinces. 19 March 2009, Vancouver Province Police have a new program to identify at-risk cops before they go sideways. The Early Intervention System identifies eight warning signs that an officer is about to lose control. "It's intended to identify behaviour that could lead to more serious circumstances," Supt. Steve Schnitzer told the VPB yesterday. "For example, if an officer uses a Taser 10 times in a year, whereas the normal is two." Schnitzer said a three-member team meets monthly to calculate data for front-line officers on eight trigger issues -- sick leave, overtime leave, voluntary overtime, officers being assaulted, pursuits, attended motor-vehicle accidents, use of force and professional conduct allegations. If an officer sets off flags in four or more of those pressure-cooker areas, the department tags the officer for remediary psychological help or intervention. The goal, said Schnitzer, is to lower the number of public complaints about officers by identifying cops who are at risk before it ends up as a public incident. "We take a proactive stance with that," said Schnitzer, who noted that 28 officers have been identified as at-risk in the program's first 10 months. Job seekers are swamping federal, state and local police agencies during the economic downturn, a reversal from recent years when departments struggled to find qualified recruits. Police chiefs expect the new prospects, many of them highly experienced and victims of corporate cutbacks, will be better suited to fill a range of public safety jobs, from dispatchers to beat cops. The FBI, which said in December it would hire about 3,000 agents and staffers, is sorting through 227,000 applications, the largest such response in its history. Among the usual accountants, military veterans and recent college graduates are computer technicians and financial executives. A Washington chef and two National Football League players also expressed interest in jobs. Among other law enforcement agencies seeing lots of applicants: • In Las Vegas, car salesmen, mortgage brokers and construction workers — representing some of the nation's most troubled industries — want to help keep the peace in America's playground. Normally, about 280 prospects take the entrance test each month. That rose to 400 in the past few months, says police Lt. Blake Quackenbush. A 69-year-old man who "out-ran a lot of younger people" and two chiropractors recently took the exam. • Houston's Police Chief Hurtt says his agency has been getting about 200 more applications a month since late last year. He sees evidence of better-qualified officers. Cadets that graduated from the local police academy last week posted the highest combined score on academic tests of any class in city history. One of the cadets also broke the record for most consecutive push-ups: 1,100. • The Phoenix Police Department set an annual record for the most applicants last year — 4,000 — before the hiring program was shut down in October because of budget cuts. "The economy had to play a part in this," Sgt. Forrest Vincent says, though he also credits the agency's aggressive recruiting. Police agencies are among the few employers still hiring. When the Justice Department invited local agencies to apply for a share of $1 billion in stimulus funding to hire more officers, its website got 19,000 inquiries within a week. "It's been unbelievable," says Justice Department spokesman Corey Ray. Opinion - The focus of the federal government's Jan. 27 budget was job creation. What I find curious about the budget is that the government didn't look to the huge gaps in Canada's security matrix and take measures to fill them with what Canadian security agencies need so badly: people. We're short of soldiers. We're short of cops. We're short of spooks. We're short of border guards. The RCMP is as hard up as the Canadian Forces, which is bad news in a declining economy in which crime will inevitably increase. Our committee has calculated that the Mounties are short 5,000-7,000 officers. While the U. S. Coast Guard patrols the Great Lakes with 2,200 officers, Canada's contingent consists of 14 Mounties. Crime is rife at Canadian ports, but the Mounties don't have the people to snuff it out. The RCMP told us last year that it only has the resources to track one-third of the Canadian criminal organizations that it knows exist. Then there are the customs officers. Our borders are sieves, yet our border crossings are clogged. The Canadian Border Services Agency should have 2,300 additional employees. And there is CSIS -- the intelligence agency behind Canada's antiterrorism fight. CSIS has fewer employees now than it did 18 years ago, even though it has taken on overseas responsibilities. Colin Kenny, former chair of the Senate committee on national security and defence in the last Parliament. The Harper government is under fire from its national police force this month after it reneged at the 11th hour on an agreed RCMP wage increase due to the slowing economy. The national T.B. established a package last June that included a 3.5-per-cent increase in 2009. But on Dec. 11, the figure was unilaterally dropped to 1.5 per cent, cutting in half the raise RCMP officers were expecting to see three weeks later. "These [rollbacks] reflect the difficult financial situations facing the country," Treasury Board spokesman Robert Makichuk said. But RCMP members, who aren't permitted to unionize, aren't going down without a fight. Some have set up a website, CallForBackup.ca, to push for the government to reverse its decision. More than 9,000 people have signed a petition at the site. "What we're looking for is for the government to honour our agreement as it was signed off," said S/Sgt. Bob Meredith, one of two executives for the 40 RCMP SRRs who run the protest website.
The RCMP will completely overhaul its management and operations structures in an effort to transform the force from a rigid para-military organization into a modern, flexible world-class police force that will be more accountable to the public. The Mounties said yesterday they have created a separate task force and transition team to implement changes the force hopes will address internal problems of widespread officer discontent that have seriously crippled one of Canada's most vaunted institutions and one of the world's most famous police forces. "We are on the right track, but there is a lot of heavy lifting to be done," David McAusland, a lawyer and civilian head of the the RCMP's transition team, said. A/Comm Keith Clark, who is the officer in charge of the transition team, said the changes will essentially remake the RCMP. "The senior executives realize that we need to get this right," he said. "They (the changes) are not superficial. They are significant. The RCMP needs to evolve." Clark said that transforming the Mounties from a command structure that demands strict obedience into a more consensual organization that requires sensitive leadership and spreads responsibility throughout the ranks will be a towering challenge. "We are a very bureaucratic organization," he said, adding that this has stifled creativity and undervalued its members. Accusations of high-level political interference, petty vindictiveness and tarnished reputations will be on public display this week as Ontario's top cop heads to court to force an adjudicator he accuses of bias to step down from a police disciplinary hearing. The Divisional Court case Thursday that has entangled Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino comes years after an act of domestic violence that, at most, would have been a media footnote. Instead, a years-long process was set in motion that has raised troubling questions about the politics of justice in Ontario. A dust storm of allegations — witness tampering, personal reprisals, professional wrongdoing, legal chess games and judicial intimidation and judicial bias — still swirls. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., the world's biggest defence companies, are deploying forces and resources to a new battlefield: cyberspace. The military contractors, eager to capture a share of a market that may reach $11 billion in four years, have formed new business units to tap increased spending to protect U.S. government computers from attack. Chicago-based Boeing set up its Cyber Solutions division in August "because of a realization by the company that it's a very serious threat," Barbara Fast, vice-president of the unit, said in an interview. "It's not a question of if we'll be attacked, but when, and so, how will we be prepared." Lockheed launched its cyber-defence operation in October. Members of the RCMP are calling for backup from friends of the Force and ordinary Canadians through a new public campaign at www.callforbackup.ca. Recently, the Harper government took the unprecedented step of rolling back RCMP wages. This site was created to enable the public, RCMP members and friends of the Force to contact the Harper government directly to express their support for the rank and file of the RCMP; front line members who work hard to keep Canadians and their communities safe. While we understand that many Canadians are suffering in these tough economic times, this rollback will negatively affect Canadians and the communities in which we live. The wage roll back will make it difficult to retain experienced members and even harder to recruit new ones; this wage rollback is about the future of the RCMP. RCMP members will always do their duty to the best of their abilities, just as they've always done but this rollback may mean there will fewer of us spread thinner than ever. Canadians suffer when the RCMP suffers. We are calling for their back-up now. CallForBackup.ca is a new forum to help spread the word, generate support and spark discussion about this wage rollback and what it means for Canadian public safety. The RCMP's SRR Program, with support from the Mounted Police Members' Legal Fund, developed this tool for visitors to express their support for RCMP members. In a standing room only crowd at city hall, council heard nearly an hour of deputations from Kenora Police Chief Dan Jorgensen, Kenora Police Services Association president Shane Miles, police board chairman Colin Wasacase and community members. They all urged council to slow down and compare new proposals from each service. Immediately following the last deputation, council entered a quick 4-3 vote, with no discussion, to disband the local force. Councillors offered no explanation for their decision. According to Mayor Len Compton, Coun. Dave McCann, who chaired the police costing committee, was to be directed all media questions. However, following the meeting he refused comment and slammed a door on reporters. The meeting was called less than 24 hours after the Ontario Commission on Police Services released its decision to approve the provincial services bid, subject to the addition of five officers, among other things. The need for effective, independent oversight of the RCMP is so great that B.C. should be working now to develop plans for a provincial police force. Solicitor General John van Dongen said this week that he is discussing an improved complaints process with the federal government. But his goals are far too modest and without significant pressure no change can be expected. The only real lever the province can bring to bear is a commitment to its own alternative to the RCMP. We ask police to do difficult, dangerous and important work. We give them great powers, including the right to use firearms and Tasers and to question and detain people. To balance that, we need a fair and effective process for dealing with complaints that those powers have been abused. The RCMP is not subject to such a process. There are reports the RCMP has hired a senior communications official from the Justice Department to head up its public relations division. Quoting from an internal message sent to Mounties by Commissioner William Elliot, Edmonton-based CHED Radio says Sheila Bird, _ the department's director general of communications _ has been hired to head up public affairs at the RCMP. The message to RCMP members says Bird will provide communications and marketing advice, will advise senior executives and will also oversee its Access to Information and Privacy program. In the note, Elliot says they need strategies and practices to ensure that ''an appropriate balance'' is struck between sometimes competing interests, like ''privacy and the public's right to know.''
Tues 25 November 2008, Ottawa Citizen
Tues 25 November 2008, Vancouver Sun Former Vancouver police chief Jamie Graham was named Victoria's top cop Monday, and he quickly pledged to clean up the city's troubled downtown core and improve morale among police officers. "There's some obvious things I will focus on," Graham told a news conference packed with police officers and police board members. "The disorder in some areas of the downtown must end. Every single person who lives here or visits here has a right to walk anywhere in this beautiful city without fear." [...] Former colleagues described Graham as a positive leader who improved morale and drove down the crime rate in Vancouver.
Thurs 20 November 2008, Edmonton Journal Law‑and‑order, once a key component of the Conservative agenda, received back‑of‑the‑bus treatment in a throne speech Wednesday that committed one paragraph to justice reforms. In a blueprint dominated by the economy, the government said it will proceed with campaign promises to "take tough action" on youth crime, organized crime, gang violence, gun smuggling and gun crime. The government, however, omitted mention of some of its more controversial campaign promises on crime and punishment. Government strategists have warned that the Conservatives are not in the mood for a showdown in the opposition‑dominated House of Commons and that they have all but abandoned PM Harper's stated plan to make anti‑crime initiatives confidence votes that could trigger an election upon defeat. Law and order, a staple of the Conservative grassroots, secured a secondary spot near the end of the 16‑page speech as the government seeks a more conciliatory approach with the opposition parties as the Commons focuses on economic issues.[...] The government pledged Wednesday new laws to target biker gangs and other organized criminal groups, reflecting their campaign promise to make any murder related to gangs first‑degree murder. The Conservatives said earlier this fall they intend to create a new criminal offence of drive‑by‑shooting, which will carry a mandatory prison sentence.[...] The Conservatives also omitted Wednesday a contentious pledge to reintroduce a bill to impose mandatory prison terms for drug crimes, proposed legislation that was strongly opposed by the opposition parties. Nicholson has not outlined a timetable for his reforms.
Thurs 13 November 2008, Moncton Times and Transcript The Codiac RCMP's budget for next year features a large increase, much larger than inflation, of 7.7 per cent ‑‑ a $1.8 million hike ‑‑ that leaves many wondering if taxpayers are getting value for their money or just getting hosed.[...] If we thought the extra money would go to actually improving policing, the increases would be more palatable. But we fear it is going to overhead in Ottawa and Fredericton, not into keeping our homes and streets more secure. As well, operational changes are made unilaterally in these two centres rather than locally, where we know our needs. Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe need to lobby hard in Ottawa for the return of federal subsidies for using RCMP; subsidies to help municipalities hit hard by exorbitant costs they cannot control.
Mon 10 November 2008 It's an alarming list of proven police misconduct, including cases of B.C. municipal officers involved in impaired driving, ''inappropriate sexual advances'' toward the wives of senior officers and outright rude behaviour such as demeaning a mall security guard and accessing a fellow officer's e‑mail without permission. But the B.C. police complaint commissioner, commenting on the list of 106 substantiated allegations of misconduct over two years recorded by his office, says the level of incidents is consistent with those in other provinces and even countries. The list covers ''substantiated complaints'' between Oct. 1, 2006, and Oct. 1, 2008 ‑ complaints where police have reviewed allegations of misconduct, and basically found there is something to them, leading to disciplinary proceedings. ''In my view, British Columbians are fortunate to be extremely well policed,'' Dirk Ryneveld, the commissioner, said in an interview. ''There are going to be individual officers who commit these . . . errors of judgment, errors of moral lapses, errors of laziness ‑ the whole panoply of things that resulted in these substantiated offences, stupidity being one of them.'' Issues of police misconduct have lately loomed large in the news in B.C.[...] In response to a media request, the commissioner this week released a list of misconduct matters covering municipal forces in B.C. No specific officers or forces are identified and the list does not cover the RCMP, which polices many areas of B.C.
Thurs 16 OCTOBER 2008, PRESS RELEASE Saturday 18 October 2008, St. John's Telegram More than 30 woman attended a "women's only" recruitment forum at RCMP headquarters in St. John's recently. It was intended to run for about 1 1/2 hours, but almost three hours after the forum started, officers were still busy answering questions from eager teenagers and middle‑aged women ‑ all interested in making policing a career. The women who attended enjoyed listening to Insp. Maggie Smith and retired Staff Sgt. Gail Courtney tell stories of their early years in what was then a male‑dominated profession. Smith, who comes from a small town in northern New Brunswick, has 26 years' service with the RCMP.[...]
Fri 10 October 2008, Globe and Mail The Liberals scrambled to contain the fallout of Paul Martin's scathing autobiography yesterday, fearing their election campaign could be derailed by accusations that Jean Chretien deliberately undermined the party before his 2003 retirement. Entitled Hell or High Water , the book is a first‑hand account of Mr. Martin's problem‑filled stint as prime minister, and will revisit more than a decade of Martin‑Chretien infighting when it is officially released at the end of the month. Mr. Martin gives much of the blame for the short life of his government to Mr. Chretien, saying his predecessor is responsible for the sponsorship scandal's political fallout and the Liberal Party's subsequent funding woes. The book's content was revealed in a Montreal newspaper yesterday, and Liberal officials quickly clamped down on any public statement for fear of turning the attention away from their campaign for the Oct. 14 election. In his book, Mr. Martin said he was hobbled when he became prime minister in late 2003 because he had to deal with Auditor‑General Sheila Fraser's damaging report on the sponsorship scandal.[...] Mr. Martin said the ensuing crisis, fuelled by evidence of a kickback scheme involving senior Liberal organizers, doomed his government.[...] Mr. Martin also does not mince words when it comes to former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, saying the announcement of a criminal probe into the matter of income trusts was the key moment of the 2005‑2006 campaign. "The only question is whether his action can be explained by ineptness or whether it was a premeditated malicious act. In my view, no one can be that inept," said Mr. Martin.
Fri 10 October 2008, Winnipeg Free Press The RCMP began moving into East St. Paul on Tuesday to take over the bedroom community's police force, despite a united effort to stop it.[...] [Mayor Lawrence] Morris and deputy mayor Mike Wasylin said they plan to fight Chomiak's decision to replace the East St. Paul Police Service with Mounties.[...]The community has already posted a notice on its website to protest the decision to Premier Gary Doer and Chomiak.[...] Chomiak said his decision to replace the local police force with Mounties came after his reading of the Taman inquiry report into the botched police investigation into Crystal Taman's 2005 death.[...] Wasylin said the taking over by RCMP means people in the residential community will get poorer service as Mounties patrol a wider area.[...] Already, four RCMP officers have been dispatched to patrol the East St. Paul community along with the current force, Mountie spokesman Sgt. Line Karpish said Tuesday. A sergeant and corporal from RCMP Manitoba headquarters are leading the transition team, assisted by two officers from Oakbank and Powerview, Karpish said. Karpish indicated RCMP have no choice but to follow through on Chomiak's decision.[...]She couldn't comment on whether officers in East St. Paul could be offered lateral movement into the RCMP's ranks, meaning they wouldn't lose seniority by choosing to join up.
Fri 10 October 2008, New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal A lack of police presence and the need for more police officers is an issue for many of New Brunswick's municipalities, says Raymond Murphy [executive director of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick] [...] The group lobbies provincial and federal governments on issues of importance to all municipalities. Murphy said communities have noticed a lack of police presence with the RCMP's district system and some communities are experiencing wait times of an hour or longer for the Mounties to respond to a call. He said the union has a group dedicated to working with the RCMP's J division to bring in more officers and better services. Superintendent Ross White, the RCMP's district policing officer, met with the municipalities Saturday to discuss what the force is doing to increase service to municipalities all over the province. White said the force has invested in more crime analysts and hired community co‑ordinators to lessen the load on officers and give them more time to be on the streets fighting crime instead of at their desk behind a computer. [...] Murphy said the union's RCMP ad hoc group will be taking all questions from municipalities across the province and forwarding them to the RCMP.
Fri 3 October 2008, Globe and Mail There seemed to be few worries at Queen's Park about the Toronto Police Service's decision to end its participation in the OPP‑led joint‑force units that combat organized crime ‑ groupings that one officer said yesterday are in chaos. Many insiders believe the split stems from differences between the strong‑minded leaders of the two biggest police forces in Canada (outside of the RCMP) and that it could severely hamper investigations. But Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Rick Bartolucci, who oversees policing in the province, and Tory opposition critic Garfield Dunlop were both upbeat in voicing support for the protagonists, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino.[...] But among rank‑and‑file police, concern clearly persists. [...] The Toronto Police Service says its decision to pull out of the joint‑forces operation is driven not by dissatisfaction with the OPP leadership but with its own particular needs, most notably the city's enduring street‑gang problem.
Fri 3 October 2008, Regina Leader Post Column - Having young marketing students help out with RCMP recruiting efforts in the midst of a labour shortage is smart policing. [...] The news that the federal police agency, which patrols the province and municipalities in addition to its federal duties, has formed a partnership with a team of young marketing students to help with its recruiting challenges, tells us much about the venerable Force. Once so stodgy that it continued horsemanship training into the early 1960s, it is now willing to innovate in the face of a shortage of qualified recruits.[...] The troubles endured by the RCMP in the last decade ‑‑ not so much the casualties as persistent reports of poor equipment, cronyism and uncaring senior management ‑‑ have not helped either. [...] The RCMP hopes to meet this year's recruiting quota from the Prairies, but the future will be even more challenging. Allowing a group of young marketing students from Alberta to help with its recruiting program shows two things: just how serious the recruiting issue is and how the Force is willing to do unorthodox things to alleviate it.
Thurs 2 October 2008, Globe and Mail Organized crime knows few boundaries, yet in a move one veteran officer described as "astounding," the Toronto Police Service is planning to pull out of the province-wide teams that target gangs, guns and terrorism. Effective Dec. 1, Toronto police attached to key multiforce groups such as the biker enforcement unit, the auto theft squad, weapons interdiction, proceeds of crime and counterterrorism will report to their Toronto superiors rather than to the Orillia-based Ontario Provincial Police, whose Joint Forces Operations are in the throes of being revamped and centralized. Theories abounded as to why the rift occurred, and whether it might benefit the bad guys. But numerous observers cited personality differences between Toronto Police Chief William Blair and his former boss, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino. Deputy Toronto chief Tony Warr, however, flatly rejected the suggestion that animus played any role in the pullout, which will affect about 28 officers. Rather, he said, the change stems from Toronto's unique needs, particularly its gangs problem. "The concentration of organized-crime investigations needs to address local priorities and we wanted to focus on the local picture rather than having the national picture dictating to local priorities," he said. As of Nov. 1, those units will be based in four hubs dubbed "fusion centres" dotted across the province in London, Sudbury, Kingston and in Toronto - where the OPP's office will, to a large extent, parallel its TPS equivalent. And while their manpower, budgets and mandate are expected to stay roughly the same, the officers' day-to-day duties will be modified.
Tuesday 30 September 2008, Toronto Sun When the Taliban engineered a prison break in the southern city of Kandahar in June, nearly 900 inmates escaped but not a single one had been fingerprinted or photographed. [...] Interpol now hopes to bring Afghanistan up to international standards. The international police organization wants to boost police capabilities here with equipment and training, and help connect police around the country with the Interior Ministry headquarters in Kabul. [...] The initiative could help alert police around the world when their wanted criminals are captured in the Afghan‑Pakistan region. [...] Police in Afghanistan have the least training and equipment of all the security forces. Last week, [Surrey Mayor Dianne] Watts brought forward a motion to Metro Vancouver's Mayors' Committee call on the federal government to increase its share of policing costs for municipalities with a population over 15,000 from the current level of 10 per cent to its historic level of 30 per cent. The motion passed, unanimously. Watts says police costs are the most expensive line item in the operating budget of every B.C. municipality with a population of 5,000 or more. [...] In a large municipality like Surrey, which is served by the RCMP, annual policing costs last year reached $83 million. [...] Watts says Surrey's policing costs have increased by 120 per cent in the past 10 years and that municipalities across Canada face similar budget challenges, whether they're served by the RCMP or by their own police forces. She notes that when the RCMP serve as a municipal police force, they spend some of their time performing federal policing duties as well.
Tuesday 30 September 2008, Calgary Herald Alberta police forces are counting on post‑secondary students to come up with a catchy campaign to recruit more young people to their ranks. Marketing students from the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan College and NAIT are competing with other Alberta colleges and universities to come up with a winning campaign intended to elevate the profile of the policing as a profession. The aim of the $1.27‑million campaign is to attract new recruits to police departments across the province, from large city police forces to RCMP and First Nations reserves police services. The announcement was made less than a week after big‑city chiefs called for hundreds of more officers. The program was launched simultaneously in Edmonton and Calgary on Monday by a new committee called Recruiting Alberta Police. Edmonton Police Chief Mike Boyd told a marketing class at the University of Alberta School of Business that his profession needs to find a new way to reach out to people aged 18 to 30. "I think you will bring some interesting ideas to how we can market the benefits of policing," he said
Monday 22 September 2008, Globe and Mail PCO has put an unprecedented clamp on government business during the federal election, slowing the workings of the bureaucracy almost to a crawl in some areas. With marching orders from the PCO, public servants are bowing out of long‑scheduled conferences, speaking engagements and meetings with everyone from consumer advocacy groups to industry representatives ‑‑ all in a bid to avoid making any gaffe, musing or comment that could somehow spill into the hustings and affect an already heated campaign. "Public servants ... are expected to maintain a low profile during an election and avoid public commentary on any matters that could potentially impact, or be perceived as impacting, on the election," said PCO spokeswoman Myriam Massabki. "The neutrality of the public service is a cornerstone of our democratic system, and heightened vigilance is appropriate during elections." But as one bureaucrat said, there is such a fear of saying something amiss that departments have opted for the "no‑risk strategy of doing nothing."[...] "This didn't happen during the last election," said John Lawford, a lawyer with the Ottawa‑based Public Interest Advocacy Centre which represents consumer groups and conducts consumer research. "(Bureaucrats) were reticent in making promises but that didn't stop them from meeting." The edict is even spilling over into efforts to improve the way the government works.[...] One senior bureaucrat said public servants have become "ultra sensitive" to information handed out during an election since the Mounties decided to announce their investigation into the income trust in the middle of the 2005 campaign. That announcement was seen as a turning point in the campaign that brought Stephen Harper's Conservatives to power.
Saturday 20 September 2008, Vancouver Sun British Columbians more than most ‑‑ have a generally low opinion of the federal public service. New, unpublished data from Angus Reid Strategies examines public perceptions of federal departments and agencies, and it finds that citizens rate 28 of the 29 studied ‑‑ all but the Armed Forces ‑‑ as mediocre or worse. Much worse, in some cases. This is no surprise, says Harry Swain, a former federal deputy minister of both industry and Indian affairs and now a research associate at the University of Victoria's Centre for Global Studies. Nor does he think the reputation is entirely undeserved. Swain notes that the public service propensity for sticking mindlessly to the rules has been exacerbated in recent years by both the chill stemming from the Gomery Inquiry and the compulsive micro‑management of the governing Conservatives. [...] The methodology of the Reid group's poll is a little complex to explain, but the results ‑‑ which more than hint at a good deal of frustration and distrust ‑‑ are simple to understand. There's a "public service index" ‑‑ an average of scores from 13 weekly surveys up to Aug. 26 ‑‑ where, to use private‑sector norms, a number in the 60s is considered outstanding and in the 50s is good. Only one federal entity, the Armed Forces, made it into that realm ‑‑ and just barely, with a score of 51. Every other agency or department was well below that number, especially in the data from B.C. respondents, who tended be a little more harsh in their judgments. A cluster of nine ‑‑ Environment Canada, Health Canada, the RCMP, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (despite the listeria hysteria), Tourism, Canadian Heritage, Public Safety, the Bank of Canada and National Defence ‑‑ scored in the low‑ to mid‑40s, a range Angus Reid vice‑president Catherine Rogers described as "not bad."
Wednesday 3 September 2008, Canadian Press Former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said the United States effectively ''threw away the rule book'' in dealing with Canadian authorities on the Maher Arar affair. In an interview with the CBC broadcast Tuesday night, Zaccardelli blamed a post 9‑11 hardline attitude in the United States for the Ottawa software engineer's detention and subsequent deportation to his native Syria. After Arar was detained in New York in the fall of 2002, Zaccardelli told the CBC that American authorities indicated to Canadian officials that they didn't have enough evidence to lay charges and asked whether he would be detained upon returning to Canada. ''The discussion centres around: 'If we let him go and he comes to Canada, can you arrest him or detain him?' And we keep reaffirming, 'No we can't','' Zaccardelli said in the CBC interview, conducted in Lyons, France, where he is a senior official with Interpol. The Americans then led Canadian officials to believe Arar was going to be released and sent back to Canada, prompting the RCMP to put together a surveillance team to watch him. ''We are waiting in Montreal for the plane to arrive with Mr. Arar getting off the plane. The plane arrives. Mr. Arar never got off,'' he said.[...] In the CBC interview, Zaccardelli also repeated a warning he has made in the past, that Canadian security is at risk because of lack of co‑operation between the Mounties and Canada's spy agency, the CSIS. ''When they (the two agencies) don't work smoothly together, Canada is at risk,'' he said.
Wednesday 3 September 2008, CBC News Canada's national police force should end its controversial use of stun guns, former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli says. Zaccardelli said he supported the use of stun guns, commonly known as Tasers, during his seven-year reign as commissioner because they were simply another tool for policing. But given the recent controversy surrounding police force's use of Tasers in Canada, the former commissioner has reconsidered his position, he said. "And you know, after all that I've thought about it, I've come more and more to the conclusion that I'm not sure that having Tasers is worth the negative impact that it has on police forces in terms of public perception," he told the CBC's Peter Mansbridge. "I think we should stop using it." In interview that will air on The National Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, Zaccardelli says the problem with the use of Tasers extends beyond public perception to a matter of safety and misuse. "I'm very concerned between the perception and, in cases unfortunately where we've had misuse, that we have to seriously consider maybe taking away that," said Zaccardelli, who is now a senior officer at Interpol in France. More than 2,800 Tasers are in use across the country by the 9,100-plus RCMP officers trained to use them. The electric shock weapons — which unleash 50,000 volts of electricity and are designed to incapacitate a person — have come under intense international scrutiny since Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant, died shortly after RCMP officers shocked him with a Taser and pinned him down at the Vancouver airport in October 2007. He was unarmed. An analysis of 563 incidents by the Canadian Press last year found that three in four suspects shot with a Taser by the RCMP between 2002 and 2005 were unarmed. In a report released in June, the House of Commons public safety and national security committee threatened to call for a moratorium on the use of stun guns if the RCMP doesn't begin restricting use of the weapons by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Paul Kennedy, the head of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, has called for Mounties with fewer than five years experience in the field to be banned from using Taser stun guns and for individuals who are zapped to get immediate medical treatment.
Monday 1 Sept 2008, Toronto Star Opinion - To some extent, reducing physical risk is a personal responsibility. Most Canadians can choose whether to insure their houses, participate in radical sports, go for a walk during electrical storms, smoke cigarettes, pick fights with big guys and so on. But to some degree, reducing physical risk for Canadians is the responsibility of governments, including provincial governments (health care) and the federal government (national security and defence). Canadians should be keeping a keen eye on how intelligently these governments are handling risk reduction. Canadians have a suite of federal protection agencies looking out for their physical well‑being, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and, of course, the Canadian Forces. I find it curious that at a time when our economy is shedding good jobs in the private sector, and at a time when Canadians are increasingly vulnerable to human‑made and natural disasters, all these agencies are underfunded and badly understaffed. Colin Kenny
Sunday 31 August 2008, Ottawa Citizen A veteran Ottawa police officer has been elected head of the Canadian Police Association. Charles Momy, who has served as president of the Ottawa Police Association since 2003, was elected by delegates at the CPA's annual general meeting in St. John's, N.L., yesterday morning. The CPA has 170 member associations, representing 57,000 police officers. When reached by the Citizen yesterday afternoon, Mr. Momy said it was "overwhelming" to receive the support of his CPA members after campaigning for their votes. "It's been a long campaign for both the other candidate and myself, and it's finally come to fruition today," he said in an interview. "And I'm looking forward to working with the (CPA) board of directors and the member associations."
Saturday 30 August 2008, Seattle Times Paaga was one of 10 teens participating in the police department's Teen Employment Program — a five-week paid internship that lets youth work under precinct captains and undergo some basic police training. Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske introduced the program this spring in an effort to reach out to young people. The inaugural group of interns finished the program Friday. "Some might be interested in police work, some might not be, but we wanted to give them an understanding of every portion of it," said Officer Adrian Diaz, who helped run the program. The teens were paid $599 — funded by the Seattle Police Foundation — to work 20 hours per week filing reports, taking calls and going on ride-alongs. They also volunteered at some special events, and one day each week was spent in training. They took target practice at a shooting range, saw a K-9 unit, visited with mounted officers and listened to lectures on probable cause and use of force. For the teens without police ambitions, Diaz said he hopes the program will provide a better understanding of what officers do. And the teens interested in a police career are encouraged to participate in the Explorers Program, which is tailored to potential recruits, until they can apply to be officers at age 21.
Montreal - Organized criminals in Canada are going green, turning to environmental crime as an increasingly lucrative way of raising money. A report released Friday by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada says crime networks have developed underground markets for electronic waste and scarce natural resources. The annual survey of organized crime, compiled from local police reports across the country, indicates criminals are using such markets to complement traditional revenue sources, such as narcotics. [...] ''One of the reasons organized crime has been as successful as it is, is that they're very adaptable and its not like they've given up any of their traditional markets,'' said RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, who chairs CISC. Asked to provide an idea of the scope of illegal e‑waste, Elliott said: ''If it wasn't lucrative, organized crime groups wouldn't be involved in it.'' [...] Often extremely toxic, much of Canada's e‑waste ends up up in Asia and Africa, where it is mined for parts. But the environmental threat represented by organized crime also extends to the country's natural resources.[...] ''We have in Canada an abundant supply on the one hand of natural resources, including fisheries and forestry,'' Elliott said. ''But we have all seen that overexploitation of natural resources can have dramatic effects.''
Wednesday 20 August 2008, Leader Post Workplace mentorship programs pay off both for the young people experiencing new opportunities and the employer who hires fresh talent with a different perspective. Leaving aside the labour shortage in Saskatchewan, there is a widespread consensus that human organizations run best when their workforces are broadly representative (in racial, gender and ethnic terms) of the communities around them. It's an idealistic, widely accepted concept. But how does an organization go about implementing it?
Thurs 21 August 2008 The RCMP should help end aboriginal poverty by mentoring and training native youth on the ambitious scale of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt postwar Europe, says an internal Mountie discussion paper. It advocates spending billions of dollars on education and skills training, eventually scrapping the Indian Act, and drawing more young aboriginals into RCMP ranks to turn the tide of despair plaguing many native communities. ''If the status quo of aboriginal economic and educational initiatives continues, street gangs and violent activity will increase and already marginalized aboriginal populations will experience a diminishing quality of life,'' says the paper, obtained by CP under ATIP. ''The fallout from aboriginal poverty is all too obvious and will only get worse.'' The recent shooting death of a young mother on the Samson reserve south of Edmonton left the community reeling and renewed the already deep concerns about violence and gang activity among native youth. Street gangs that have evolved little since taking root in some native communities two decades ago are a disturbing barometer, the paper says.[...] The Aboriginal Youth Cohort: A Discussion Paper on Future Consequences was prepared last November by the force's criminal intelligence branch. The authors acknowledge the 14‑page paper is far from exhaustive and is primarily intended to provoke further thought, adding that it delves into territory ''beyond the law enforcement mandate of the RCMP.''
Thurs 21 August 2008, Toronto Star Drugs, guns and violent crime charges, traditionally considered the scourge of the big city, are seeping steadily into small‑town ON, where the number of serious criminal charges is outpacing even major urban centres, an analysis by CP has found. Violent crime charges _ everything from criminal harassment and assault to robbery and murder _ have largely stagnated in Ontario's major cities, but the opposite appears to be the case in the less populated centres, where the number of serious charges laid between 2000 and 2007 spiked last year by nearly 25 per cent. The number of weapons charges shot up in all but four Ontario communities during the seven years covered by the provincewide statistics, which are compiled according to courthouse location and provided online by the Ministry of the Attorney General. But it was in the towns and cities with fewer than 100,000 residents where weapons charges doubled during the same period, rising at a dramatically faster pace than in the province's larger cities.
Wednesday 20 August 2008, Globe and Mail Merchants in Chinatown have hired a private security firm to do foot and bicycle patrols of their busy downtown area of restaurants and shops in an attempt to bolster security for themselves and their customers. The decision by the Toronto Chinatown Business Improvement Area reflects an emerging pattern in which city BIAs employ private firms to carry out neighbourhood functions once provided by police, said Ross McLeod, president of Intelligarde Security, the company hired in Chinatown. As well as the Chinatown BIA, Intelligarde provides its services to the BIAs in Emery Village in the northwest part of the city and Liberty Village on the west side of downtown, he said. In Emery Village, two security cars from the firm do nighttime patrols in an industrial area that has had a number of break-ins, while in Liberty Village it also provides late-night security, including escorting employees to their cars or public transit, he said.
Thurs 14 Aug 2008 Victoria is looking for a new police chief after the city's mayor announced the immediate resignation of embattled former chief Paul Battershill under mysterious circumstances. Battershill has been on paid administrative leave since last October and was facing a disciplinary hearing next Monday, but what prompted the leave has never been made public. Mayor Alan Lowe said Wednesday that Battershill's resignation means the hearing has been cancelled. Lowe wouldn't give details about what's behind Battershill's departure.[...] But Lowe suggested the Battershill matter could still face public scrutiny. The office of B.C.'s police complaints commissioner is entitled to review the findings of an RCMP investigation it ordered and has the power under the Police Act to call a public hearing, he said. ''A public hearing could be held if (the commissioner's) office believes that the issues are such that they are in the public interest,'' Lowe said. Police Complaints Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld was not immediately available for comment. Lowe said an RCMP investigation of the allegations, which were never made public, against Battershill found nothing criminal against the former chief. ''The investigation completed by the RCMP did not find that Battershill had committed any criminal acts, had any involvement with any criminal activity, nor did it find any financial impropriety,'' he said. Lowe did say the allegations against Battershill were a personnel matter, but refused to go further.
Wednesday 12 August 2008, Globe and Mail The Harper government is creating a new fast-track immigration route for skilled foreign workers and students who've already proved employable in Canada: an effort to prevent an erosion of talent as global competition heats up for higher-value labour. Unlike existing programs, the Canadian Experience Class immigration stream will make work experience in this country a key criterion for vetting applicants. It will also allow temporary foreign workers and students living here to apply from within Canada rather than having to leave first. It's expected to grant permanent resident status to 12,000 to 18,000 economic immigrants in the first year, a figure that's forecast to rise to 25,000 annually over time. But it's not expected to increase the number of economic immigrants, which last year totalled 50,000.
25 June 2008, CNW "It's actually offensive to hear that term used in reference to First Nations citizens," said Grand Council Chief John Beaucage. "Our Chiefs are giving us direction to inform government agencies, NGOs, educators and media organizations that they should discontinue using inappropriate terminology when they are referring to the Anishinabek. We respect the cultures and traditions of our Metis and Inuit brothers and sisters, but their issues are different from ours." The Beaucage said that the resolution's goal of encouraging the use of respectful terminology could lead to changes in organizational names. "We have lived with The Indian Act since 1876, but the legislation's provisions are as archaic as its name - and we hope it won't be around for too much longer." Beaucage said the resolution could result in re-naming the Anishinabek Nation's corporate arm, which has been known as the Union of Ontario Indians since 1949. "Those terms were acceptable then, but today we recognize them as confusing and inappropriate."The Anishinabek Nation incorporated the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 42 member First Nations across Ontario. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact. For further information: Bob Goulais, Executive Assistant to the Grand Council Chief, Anishinabek Nation - Union of Ontario Indians, Head Office: Nipissing First Nation, P.O. Box 711, North Bay, ON, P1B 8J8, Ph. (705) 497-9127, Fx. (705) 497-9135, CELL: (705) 498-5250, E-mail:goubob@anishinabek.ca, Internet: http://www.anishinabek.ca/uoi
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is digging deep into its pockets to solve its recruitment problems and is actually willing to pay its recruits. In fact, it now relies heavily on cold hard cash to attract new candidates. In the first time in over ten years, RCMP officers-in-training will be paid while in training. This summer, RCMP cadets will receive a cheque for $500 for each of the 24 weeks spent in training in Regina for a grand total of $12,000. The Crown will also house, feed and dress the cadets. Times are a changin’ - Michel Gallant, responsible for recruitment in Québec, hopes that the weekly $500 will change things this year as the target has been set at close to 2,000 new officers: Money was a major obstacle.» It’s not easy to convince someone to work for free for six months when bills need to be paid, adds Mr. Gallant. Candidates in Montréal - Falling into step with the RCMP, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (Montreal Police Force) has also been recruiting actively in recent times. L'École nationale de police in Nicolet, mandatory for all new officers, was specifically asked by the Service de police de Montréal to create an extra cohort of 72 students last spring. These recruits, new graduates all, should be joining the police force progressively in the coming weeks. They will be replacing those police officers assigned to those new programmes in the fight against street gangs or to peacekeeping duties. The SPVM does not plan to renew the request, however, and the number of registered students in Nicolet should be back to normal by Fall.
Tues 22 July 2008, Ottawa Citizen Stats-Can. research suggests crime is on the downswing in Canada, but gang warfare continues to make its way from the streets to the headlines. Four men left a nightclub early Sunday morning in Toronto, but only one made it home alive following what police said was a drive‑by shooting on a highway off‑ramp that bore the "hallmarks" of being gang‑related. Hours earlier, in Calgary, police were kept busy taking photos and recording licence plates of mourners' cars at the funeral of a high‑ranking gang member who died in a drive‑by shooting earlier this month. Police said they are bracing for retaliation in the long‑standing feud between two gangs. Stats-Can. recent data reporting a drop in crime across the country come as the level of violence associated with gangs continues to escalate, according to gang expert Michael Chettleburgh. Yet, despite the public nature of recent gun violence, Canadian cities are safe by most measures, said Mr. Chettleburgh who wrote Young Thugs: Inside the Dangerous World of Canadian Street Gangs. "We perhaps stand a much better chance of dying in a car accident than being the unintended victim of a gang," said Mr. Chettleburgh. "It's not to minimize the problems, but I think we need to keep our fears in check and recognize that most of the violence you see is constrained tightly within the business of gangs and drugs.” Mon 21 July 2008, Toronto Star First of an eight‑part seriesCanadians firmly support federal measures that will put more offenders behind bars for longer, according to a poll conducted for the Star. That's good news for the federal Tory government but bad news, experts say, for the criminal justice system and for taxpayers themselves. The country's annual bill for policing, courts and incarceration ‑ about $13 billion ‑ is about to jump. And rather than make neighbourhoods safer, the opposite is likely: troubled communities figure to get worse. Propelling Canadians down this road ‑ one proven to be monstrously expensive and inept at reducing crime in the U.S. ‑ are seriously flawed perceptions of crime and punishment. Those misperceptions were revealed in the recent poll done for the Star and an analysis of three sets of data: one detailing the criminal histories of 2.9 million people and the other two showing what neighbourhoods, towns and cities Canadian and Ontario prison inmates come from. The confusion and legislative changes threaten to throw more disadvantaged Canadians into jammed prisons already struggling to deliver rehabilitation programs. At present, at least 40 per cent of inmates reoffend within two years of release. The policy direction for Canada seems more about politics than reality: Headline‑grabbing violent incidents, and the government's forceful response, obscure the fact that the country's crime rate has tumbled more than 25 per cent during the past 15 years and continues to do so. Sandro Contenta, Jim Rankin, Betsy Powell and Patty Winsa
Edmonton - The Mounties are in a major recruitment bind and are lowering their hiring requirements while offering cadet pay to reverse the trend, said the force's Alberta boss. Normally, the RCMP counts 8,000 people applying for the national police force at any one time, said D/Comm Rod Knecht. "But now, we find the waiting list totally exhausted," he said. Previously, the force gave top priority to recruits with university degrees but that's no longer a leading prerequisite, said Knecht. "We want the farm boys and girls and fishermen but we're not lowering standards, we're maintaining the standards." The RCMP is also introducing a $500‑a‑week allowance for cadets to cover their 24‑week training period in an effort to hire 2,000 recruits in each of the next three or four years, said Knecht. "One of the biggest challenges is we weren't paying our cadets," he said. "It'll pay for groceries." The RCMP is also increasing pay, meaning a first‑class constable will earn $74,539 a year. Knecht said recent controversies and setbacks facing the force, such as Taser use and the 2005 Mayerthorpe killings of four Mounties doesn't appear to have impacted recruitment. Following the Mayerthorpe tragedy, he said, recruiting actually spiked. The RCMP needs 512 new members immediately to bolster its Alberta ranks but don't expect to hire that many in the short term, said Knecht.[...]
Thurs 3 July 2008, Globe and Mail Two Toronto police officers and three corrections officers have been charged with drug-related offences in a large-scale bust of marijuana grow operations in the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair announced the charges at a press conference Thursday, hours after police executed 63 search warrants throughout GTA. Of 23 people arrested, 20 were charged, including a young offender. The police officers, who are suspended with pay, are constables with more than eight years of experience each. They are scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court Friday. Toronto police identified the accused officers as Kevin Bourne, a nine-year veteran based at 51 division, and Patrick Lee, an eight-year veteran based at 31 division.
Wed 3 July 2008, Toronto Star It's rare for a heavy police presence to attract, much less entice a crowd. "Don't they give you grief for wearing that," Vince Morvatz asked an officer wearing a silver chain hung with rainbow loops. Morvatz lives in Akron, Ohio and had come up for the parade. "Our police could never do that," he said. "Why would they give me grief?" replied the young Mountie helping to staff the recruitment booth. "It was a gift." Morvatz was one of many milling around Church St. booths staffed by the Mounties, OPP, Toronto, Durham and York forces yesterday. Durham's police were making their Pride debut. Peel police did not have a booth, but officers marched in the parade. For the men and women in uniform, earning the trust of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender/transsexual community is still a work in progress. [...] Attitude changes in police ranks are still taking place.[...]
Sun 22 June 2008, Regina Leader-Post Whoever can someday find a way to balance the demand for trained police officers against the supply deserves an award ‑‑ and certainly one much bigger than the $500 a week that RCMP cadets soon will get while they train. The RCMP seems to be either perpetually short of personnel ‑‑ or with so many recruits and members that the training facility here in Regina is temporarily shuttered. One plausible explanation blames the Second World War ‑‑ when many aging policemen stayed on the job because so many young men were serving in the armed services. When the war ended, these older policemen retired and there was a national hiring binge for police officers ‑‑ all of whom retired in the 1970s, setting the stage for another round of recruiting and, eventually, retirements. Over and over this cycle goes. Ironically, it was less than a decade ago that the RCMP ended its long‑standing policy of paying "recruits" while they trained. Cited was a tight budget as the financially battered federal government struggled to balance its books.[...] This was addressed in the recent report on improving operations and morale within the RCMP that followed the appointment of its first civilian commissioner, William Elliott. Perhaps we'll see more of this commission's recommendations ‑‑ like more RCMP personnel, better equipment, an end to the unofficial system of compulsory unpaid overtime and a fairer promotion process.[...] The RCMP, as an organization, has made this policy decision and now has the money to back it up. It seems churlish to deny modest pay to people training to protect the rest of us.
Sat June 21 2008, Edmonton Sun The federal government is offering up some scratch to future RCMP officers, realizing the red serge alone may not be enough anymore to attract the best and the brightest. Prime Minister Stephen Harper travelled to the RCMP training depot in Regina yesterday to announce that cadets will begin receiving a $500 per week allowance while they attend 24 weeks of classes in preparation for serving with the force. "The job market for young people coming out of college and high school these days - there is so much more opportunity than there was 10 or 20 years ago," Harper said. "This is competitive with other law enforcement agencies and it will help cadets meet financial obligations - car payments, mortgages, student loans - that they cannot ignore during their training." Years ago, RCMP officers were hired on by the force and then paid as they went through their training. That ended in 1993 when the cadets started getting an allowance rather than regular pay. Through the 1990s, however, that allowance was whittled away to nothing. "We had no issues with the number of applications we were receiving ... we didn't have a problem," said Supt. Glen Siegersma, the director in charge of the national recruiting program. "We are now a very competitive format and we have got to be looking at this from a different perspective. If we don't continue to do that, we won't stay competitive. We won't have enough people coming into the organization." The RCMP are still very selective about the people they allow into their program. Only one in every 10 people who apply are accepted. "We're not going to lower our standards," Siegersma said. "We'd be in a position where we can't provide public safety and we just can't go down that road." Many other police forces pay their recruits while they train. The Edmonton Police Service, for instance, is currently running an advertising campaign that touts the fact that the force pays $50,000 a year "from Day 1 of training." Regina Leader-Post
Canadian Press Canadian cities want the federal government to give them more than a half‑billion dollars in funding to provide better police services to their citizens. Mayors from across the country justified the federal contribution at a meeting in Quebec City on Thursday by saying city police are required to enforce federal laws. The amount should make up about 10 per cent of police budgets, according to their calculations, or about $539 million. The mayors said the federal government must also better define the responsibilities of federal, provincial and local police. The recommendations were contained in a report released at the meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Gord Steeves, the federation president and acting mayor of Winnipeg, said local taxpayers should not have to shoulder the costs of enforcing federal laws. ''Police services have been for a very long time enforcing in areas that are of federal jurisdiction, things like cybercrime, port enforcement, border enforcement, issues on First Nations,'' he said. He noted that city police also have taken part in drug enforcement, anti‑terrorism and national security investigations.[...] Steeves said the city police forces are finding it ''more and more difficult to assume the responsibilities'' and the funding request is an issue of fairness and efficiency. Enforcement of federal laws usually falls to the RCMP but the federation contends that the Mounties do not have the resources to meet the need. [...]
Media Release The Canadian Police Association (CPA) supports concerns raised by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), that the federal government is falling short on its commitment to policing Canadian municipalities. • Fails to insure the delivery of the advertised number of front-line police officers • Fails to provide multi-year, sustainable funding, as called for by the CPA, FCM, and other police stakeholders “This risks leaving the provinces, territories and municipalities on the hook for the long-term costs of sustaining any additional officers created by the fund. It also holds no guarantees that any new front-line police officers will be working in our communities,” said CPA President Tony Cannavino.
May 29 Media release
Canadian Press All it takes to get noticed by Canada's top anti‑terrorism team is a shocking band name and a provocative logo. At least, that's the contention of The Suicide Pilots, a self‑described ''no‑name punk band'' based in Ottawa that promotes itself with a cartoon image of an anthropomorphic plane swooping toward the Parliament Buildings. Access to Information documents released by the band's lawyer Tuesday show that the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team took a look at the group last year. It started just after the band popped to brief national notoriety courtesy of its outspoken and politically active drummer, Jeffrey Monaghan. [...] Monaghan was alleged last spring to have leaked the environmental plan of the Conservative government, and was marched in handcuffs by the RCMP out of his contract job at Environment Canada. He was never charged with anything, but his musical tastes _ including a song titled ''Harper Youth'' _ quickly attracted state scrutiny.[...] The Canadian Security Intelligence Service was apprised. ''Advise CSIS of our findings,'' states a timeline for May 29. The last entry is dated Sept. 8 and is marked ''NFAR, CH'' _ RCMP jargon for No Further Action Required, Cancelled Here. [...] The RCMP declined to comment.
Moncton Times & Transcript Police in Montreal are taking their experience in the underworld to the business world as they try to make money by putting security on sale. Private‑sector demand for police services has jumped dramatically in recent years and now the city's cops want to capitalize on the healthy market. [...] Montreal, like police forces in several other big Canadian cities such as Toronto and Halifax, rent out off‑duty officers for sporting or cultural events. [...] But putting publicly financed police at the disposal of private businesses has left many concerned about who they are answering to. [...] Questions were also raised when the RCMP's Alberta branch accepted cash and equipment from the Alberta Energy Company for its investigation into anti‑industrial activist Weibo Ludwig. [...] The practice of pay‑duty policing is controversial even within law enforcement circles. [...] The RCMP heavily restricts where officers can work during off‑duty hours. Moonlighting by individual officers is prohibited and any other work must be approved by superiors. ''It's a very American‑type practice,'' says Patrick Mehain, who heads the British Columbia RCMP members association. [...]
Victoria Times The RCMP First Nations community policing service agreement for B.C.'s Tsartlip, Tseycum, Tsawout and Pauquachin First Nation has been signed, Saanich‑Gulf Islands MP Gary Lunn announced yesterday. The $21.3‑million tripartite agreement was negotiated between the Canadian government, the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and First Nations under the First Nations Policing Program. In all, 20 RCMP First Nations community policing service agreements were signed. The funding provides for policing in First Nations communities over and above the regular policing services that a province or territory funds. (Victoria Times Colonist A4)
Friday 9 May 2008, MacLean’s
Anyone looking for a rewarding career in Canadian law enforcement with a healthy dose of comic relief should probably get in line behind RCMP Sgt. Gord Elias. As the lead spokesman for British Columbia's Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT), based in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, he's played a part in a sharp decline in auto theft—it's down 38 per cent province-wide from 2003 to 2007, according to figures from ICBC, the government-run auto insurance concern. In Surrey, the decline was 46 per cent; in Burnaby, by more than half. But crime-fighting aside, Elias also gets to watch a steady stream of car thieves humiliate themselves in new and inventive ways, and shares the finer moments with the world on IMPACT's highly addictive website, Baitcar.com. "Bait cars"—decoy vehicles that, once stolen, can be tracked and disabled remotely by police—are among IMPACT's most effective weapons. The tiny camera that monitors the car's interior offers a window into the methods and minds of car thieves. Some videos depict hardened, ruthlessly efficient professionals. In one (see below), for example, a suspect spends nearly two minutes trying to start a truck before concluding he doesn't have the proper tool. But he returns shortly thereafter with what he needs and is away to the races in a matter of seconds. (Warning: videos contain extremely vulgar language.)
Thurs 8 May 2008, Red Deer Advocate Students involved in or considering a career in law enforcement have a chance to reduce their tuition through the second annual Brock Myrol scholarship. Entries are being accepted for the scholarship which will see the winner awarded up to $2,000, says Steve Woolrich, director of the memorial fund. "Our goal is to award the scholarship to a local student and it doesn't matter where they attend school as long as it's connected to law enforcement or security," Woolrich said. Const. Myrol and three other RCMP officers were killed in a shoot‑out near Mayerthorpe in March 2005. The scholarship was developed by Woolrich and Veena Channan, corporate safety and security manager with Red Deer Co‑op Ltd. [...] A 2,500‑word essay on three topics involving criminal justice and the role of security professionals in Alberta are part of the selection process. For more information visit www.reddeercoop.com on the Internet.
Thurs 8 May 2008, Canadian Press Cornwall, ON - Assistant RCMP Commissioner Mike McDonell has taken over as the commanding officer of the force's Ontario Division. The 32‑year RCMP veteran is now responsible for a division with some 1,400 officers at 13 detachments and a $156 million budget. McDonell has spent the past two‑and‑a‑half years as the head of the RCMP's national security criminal investigation section. That unit is currently investigating nearly 850 security cases, many involving suspected terrorism, across Canada. McDonell says one of the RCMP's top challenges in Ontario and across the country is recruiting enough people to replace aging officers. He says with about 750 new recruits per year, the RCMP is struggling to fill positions left open as baby boomers hit retirement age.
Sat 3 May 2008, Winnipeg Sun Rookie Mounties are huge hockey fans who read Maxim and Men's Health and spend their downtime watching action flicks and networking on Facebook. A new survey of RCMP cadets and recent recruits, designed to help the federal police force target market advertising, builds an interesting profile of the average man or woman in red uniform. Based on its findings, the TNS Canadian Facts report recommends the RCMP entice new officers through more TV advertising during hockey games and on popular websites, and promote a family‑friendly workplace, decent salary and opportunity to travel. "The most popular future aspirations of cadets and new regular members are having a family and travelling," the report reads. "Other common aspirations include making a lot of money, getting married or completing further education." With a combination of looming retirements and increased demand for police, the RCMP must train more than 2,000 new cadets in each of the next few years. The target age is 18 to 34 years.[...] Facebook, Hotmail and Google were cited as the top websites, and action flicks and comedies were far more popular than dramas or thrillers. Hands down, the new Mounties would pick a live sporting event over a local festival or performance theatre.
Friday 2 May 2008, CBC News An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is calling for more study of the health risks posed by stun guns.The opinion piece released on Thursday argues that Taser use is a public health issue, and Canadian officials should not be relying on the manufacturer, Taser International, or its paid research to determine if stun guns are safe.It also questions the assertion by Taser International that the weapon does not adversely affect the heart, and its explanation that people who die after being shocked by a Taser were killed by excited delirium rather than the effects of the stun gun. "We were hoping to draw attention to the odd ways in which the message on Tasers has really been controlled by Taser proponents," said Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, the author of the editorial and an assistant professor, researcher and specialist in respirology at Toronto Western Hospital. He told CBC News that while the public has been told that Tasers save lives, he says the number of deaths that have occurred after a Taser was used would prompt warnings and action by regulators if the weapon were a medical device or a drug."Make that data available to independent qualified researchers, epidemiologists that could answer the questions as to whether or not the use of this device has indeed saved lives of law enforcement personnel and suspects as has been claimed, or whether it has not," Stanbrook said. More than 300 people in North America, including 20 in Canada, have died after being struck by a Taser. Taser International has defended its devices in several lawsuits and stresses that the weapon has never been directly blamed for a death. It has, however, been cited repeatedly as a contributing factor. Most recent research not funded by Taser, maker claims Peter Holran, a Taser International spokesman, said Stanbrook's claim that the company has funded most of the safety research is based on a 2005 newspaper article. "Over the three years since that article was written, most of the research by the governments of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and leading academic and medical institutions has been funded independent of Taser International," he said, adding that 80 per cent of 120 major studies or assessments of the devices have been funded independently from the manufacturer. On May 1, 2008, CAPB On May 1, 2008, The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, welcomed the coming into force of three sections of the Tackling Violent Crime Act. These three sections provide for:
Wed 30 April 2008, Montreal Gazette Technology and a sense of civic duty are driving a new form of citizen "snitching," say experts, who are concerned about chilling implications for personal privacy and social cohesion. When bystanders willingly handed over their cellphone videos and digital photos to help police round up Montreal hockey hooligans last week, it was the latest example of ordinary people helping the police do their work. Sixteen people were arrested the night the Canadiens clinched their first‑round series and 29 others were later charged thanks to evidence sent to a designated email account, says Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux. "We often say the public's eyes are police eyes," she said. Ordinary citizens are helping police because they want to help make their cities safer, said Richard Rosenberg, professor emeritus of computer science at the UBC, but there's a slippery slope between justified and invasive involvement. "It just immediately struck me as turning the population into a branch of the police and that creates a society that I don't want to live in, where my neighbours, people I don't even know, are looking to see if there's something I'm doing that the police might be interested in," said Rosenberg, also the president of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association. It's still unclear whether do‑it‑yourself evidence can be used to convict someone, said David Paciocco, a law professor specializing in criminal process and evidence at the U of O.
Wed 30 April 2008 , New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal Federal cash sent to the province as part of a new police recruitment fund should be spent on bulking up the complement of front‑line municipal police officers and not on the RCMP, says the president of the New Brunswick Police Association. Dean Secord said the RCMP already receives 30 per cent of its budget from the federal government. He said because the $8.8 million in federal money ‑‑ to be spent over five years ‑‑ wasn't earmarked for specific police services, it leaves the door open for the province to spend it as it deems fit. The infusion of federal dollars could be used to hire about 70 more municipal police officers, said Secord, adding the money was announced as part of a Conservative plan to help put 2,500 more officers on streets across Canada.[...] Secord said regional and municipal policing is more cost‑effective than contracting services to the RCMP, adding it costs about $156,000 a year per to hire a Mountie while municipal police officers cost about $115,000. He said the province's current policing strategy is costing taxpayers thousands of dollars a year.[...] But New Brunswick's Public Safety Minister John Foran said replacing RCMP services with regional police forces is not a decision his government is willing to make.
Sat 26 April 2008, Ottawa Citizen Column - It's past time to put "E" Division out of its misery. Oh, I know. Studies, recommendations and implementation plans for rehabilitating the RCMP are underway but it's unlikely the overarching need for leadership, streamlining and a clear‑cut mission will arrive soon enough to prevent more catastrophes. Like the taser death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport, the botched communications that allowed a man in violation of a court order to visit his three children in Merritt, B.C., then to be charged in their slayings, tops a history of missteps and out‑of‑touch police work. So "E" Division has to go. With some 6,000 officers in 126 detachments throughout BC, the contract for Canada's largest RCMP division is up for renewal in 2012. And as retired judge Wallace Craig has argued in Vancouver's North Shore News for the last few years, it is now or never to decide B.C.'s policing arrangements for the subsequent 20 years. He also argues it's about time BC grew up and reclaimed its own police force.[...] Restoring "E" Division's duties as a federal police force begins the streamlining process.
Thurs 17 April 2008, Globe and Mail One thing is missing from the Canadian Forces' latest generation of TV recruitment ads unveiled this week: any mention of Afghanistan or overseas combat. It's an odd omission given that Canada is engaged in its biggest military operation since the Korean War in Afghanistan, a mission that has revitalized the Forces and driven a lot of its new equipment spending. Peter Donolo, a partner with the polling firm the Strategic Counsel, said the minority Conservative government is likely trying to play down the controversial Afghanistan mission in case it is defeated and must go to the polls, while playing up two issues it has long championed to political acclaim: Arctic sovereignty and border security. "Maybe they don't want to remind voters about Afghanistan any more than they have to in this pre-election period," he said, adding that polling shows "an ongoing malaise" about the mission, in which 83 Canadians have died since 2002. The new ads' focus on domestic military operations differs from the past two generations of recruitment ads for the Forces, in 2006 and 2007, both of which included one ad dwelling on overseas missions and Afghanistan. One 2006 ad featured soldiers moving stealthily through an Afghanistan streetscape, rifles at the ready, and included a clip of troops breaching a door, and a glimpse of a homemade bomb studded with nails. One of the 2007 ads used the same clip of soldiers moving through an Afghan street, but dropped the label "Afghanistan." General Rick Hillier, Canada's top commander, said this week that "these new advertisements demonstrate the reality of serving in today's Canadian Forces." Yet the reality is that many soldiers will also end up in Afghanistan. More than 12,000 Canadian troops - regular force and reservists - have been through Afghanistan in six-month rotations of roughly 2,500 each since the latest deployment to the Afghan province of Kandahar began two years ago. Dan Dugas, director of communications for Defence Minister Peter MacKay, said the new ads will simply complement those of previous years - all of which will continue to be broadcast. "These ads focus on another one of our priorities, Arctic sovereignty and border security, and will be added to the mix and run alongside the ads previously recorded for the campaign," Mr. Dugas said. Newly released documents show that keeping soldiers in uniform is proving to be a difficult task as Canada settles in for three more years of fighting in Afghanistan. Briefing materials prepared for Mr. MacKay show army attrition - the number of people choosing to retire or not renew their contracts - has reached 13 per cent, almost double the average for all three branches of the military. Figures show the overall size of the land force declined by 1,846 soldiers between May, 2005 and May, 2007. The Forces say they're exceeding their recruitment targets, though, surpassing their goal last year by 3 per cent.
Thurs 17 April 2008 “BEING a cop was a great job in the late '80s. It paid well. Now, I would never encourage people to do it,” confides a veteran New York police officer. For the past couple of years the New York Police Department (NYPD) has been having trouble attracting recruits, largely because of the paltry $25,100 starting salary decreed by a state arbitrator in 2005. Previously, annual pay had started at $40,000. It took a little while for NYPD to feel the impact as it had a big pool to draw from, but now recruitment is drying up. The department cannot even hold on to the recruits it does manage to find. Since the salary cut, the numbers graduating from its police academy have steadily fallen. Of the 1,968 hired in July 2005, 1,736 graduated, but only 914 graduated out of the 1,142 hired last summer. The NYPD blames a combination of tougher academic standards and reduced pay. The NYPD has shrunk by 5,000 from a high of 41,000 in 2001. The good news is that crime continues to fall; the bad news is that this may not be sustainable. Crime is down 25% since 2001 and 75% since 1993. Operation Impact, which floods troubled areas with police, has been credited with the continuing improvement. When two-thirds of recent police academy graduates were sent out to a dozen or so notorious zones, crime went down by about 30% there. But without a steady supply of new recruits, Operation Impact could be in serious danger. Ray Kelly, the police commissioner, has assigned all rookies to the operation to ensure that the flooding strategy continues. The most experienced officers, too, are leaving the force. Huge numbers were hired in the late 1980s. They can retire after 20 years on half-pay, and most do; about 3,000 leave each year. Around 40% of today's force has been hired since Michael Bloomberg became mayor in 2002. Eugene O'Donnell, a former cop and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says the NYPD is demoralised and is on the verge of terminal decline. Mr Bloomberg's recent calls to cut a further 1,000 officers could result in the smallest police force for 16 years. The NYPD points out that it would have been unable to fill those jobs anyway. But the police union fears that cuts may strain the force to breaking point. Paul Browne, the deputy police commissioner, says the NYPD “is keeping all the balls in the air”, but conceded it cannot continue indefinitely. An arbitrator is expected to come up with a new salary limit later this month. But it's not just about the money. Greg Ridgeway of RAND, a think-tank, points out that Los Angeles, San Diego and Pittsburgh pay their cops double the New York rate but are also having recruiting problems; the value of the NYPD brand, he adds, should not be underestimated. Using it, the force is recruiting at military bases and college campuses all over the country. But a bit more cash would help.
Wed 16 April 2008, Globe and Mail
Sun 13 April 2008, Wisconsin State Journal You may have seen them working security at a bar near Camp Randall, or at the beer tent at a village festival. They wear the Dane County Sheriff's deputy uniform, and they carry their guns, badges and legal authority to make arrests. They're also off duty. The Dane County Sheriff's Office allows deputies to hire themselves out to private groups, rather than controlling off-duty employment. Police management experts frown on the hands-off practice, pointing out that it leaves the department and the officers vulnerable to charges of favoritism to the private organizations, and even corruption, if there is no record of the money changing hands. "Where a police department doesn't take any role in that, it invites an awful lot of abuse and misuse of the police," said Michael Scott, a UW-Madison law professor and former police chief. No allegations of abuses have come to light in Dane County, and command officers defend their program. They acknowledge, though, that they don't have basic information about the operation. For example, officials said they don't know how much private money is paid to deputies each year, because the department doesn't keep records of the off-duty pay. Deputies are expected to fill out green permission slips, which the department reviews, approves and logs in an electronic database. A State Journal review of electronic records the department started keeping in 2001 showed they are inconsistently maintained with missing names, inaccurate hours and no accounting of amounts paid. Chief Deputy Ron Boylan acknowledged that a better job could be done keeping track of how many hours deputies work. Despite the absence of accounting safeguards, Sheriff Dave Mahoney insisted that the off-duty system is superior. If the department collected the money and paid the deputies, taxpayers would have to fund a part-time staff position to coordinate the tasks, Mahoney said, and running the off-duty income through the county's books would increase deputies' pensions. "I don't think the system is broken," Mahoney said. "I think it's strengthened our relationship with many of our businesses. It provides the ability of our deputies to get out into the community. Throughout my 28 years here it's been very positive. Far more positive than it's had negatives." Before he took office last year, Mahoney himself worked off-duty jobs, and acted as informal coordinator for private organizations that hire deputies. He estimated that he brought in up to $5,000 a year on top of his county salary. Records examined by the State Journal indicate that since 2001, Mahoney has worked the second-highest number of off-duty jobs. He also coordinated the recruiting and payment of deputies for several event organizers. Friday 11 April 2008, Globe & Mail Parliament acted as a kangaroo court yesterday when it brought a large and rarely used hammer down on an individual public servant. It found RCMP Deputy Commissioner Barbara George in contempt of Parliament for giving misleading testimony to the House of Commons public accounts committee. But the House held no debate on whether the finding was just. It merely accepted the committee's word. Given the gravity of the verdict, and the potential devastation to Ms. George's career and personal life, the few dozen politicians in attendance yesterday morning should at the very least have asked some questions about the committee's finding, and called Ms. George to the Bar of the House to give her an opportunity to defend herself. Party House leaders insisted that yesterday's finding was not about Ms. George, but about Parliament asserting itself to protect its integrity and make a point about the need for complete and truthful testimony. Therefore, the House leaders said, she was not punished, nor was she called before the Bar, with its humiliating overtones. They wished to avoid the "theatre" of such an event, they said.
Monday 7 April 2008, Globe and Mail A high-ranking Mountie ensnared in the RCMP pension scandal said the House of Commons' top legal officer privately offered her a chance to avoid becoming “roadkill” in a campaign to have her cited for contempt of Parliament. The proposal by veteran law clerk Rob Walsh would have required that deputy commissioner Barbara George publicly admit that she misled the House public-accounts committee in repeated testimony last year, and apologize to committee members. “He said you should read out a statement and you should acknowledge that you misled the committee and you should apologize for that,” Ms. George told The Globe and Mail during a four-hour interview at her Ottawa home. “And he said if you were to do that, we would do our best. It would be painful for you, but we would do our best to ensure it wouldn't be a blood sport this time.” Ms. George, who attended the meeting with her lawyer, said she was shocked when Mr. Walsh told her there were “two systems of justice in Canada … the one where you go into a court and both parties are heard. … He said the other system is that we have our committees. “We work under parliamentary law. We are entities unto ourselves. He said we hear witnesses, we decide who we believe. Others, he said, we don't believe them. When we don't believe them, he said, there are consequences,” she recalled. “He said … we don't always get it right. Sometimes, he said, you know what, there's roadkill.” Ms. George, a 29-year veteran of the RCMP, said she refused to consider backing down before the committee even though her reputation and career have been hurt by the public battle over her testimony. “I never did lie or mislead,” she said. Ms. George, 57, was the highest-ranking female Mountie and considered to be a serious contender to replace former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, before her steep fall from favour began last year when she was asked to appear before the parliamentary committee to testify about an internal scandal that had shaken the RCMP and created a crisis in public confidence. The scandal unfolded between 2000 and 2005, and included transfers of several million dollars from the RCMP's pension and insurance funds to pay for commissions or products that had little or no value and to pay the wages of employees' friends and relatives hired as temporary staff. Whistle-blowers alleged that several high-ranking Mounties, including Ms. George, knew about the improprieties before they became public and engaged in a cover-up effort to protect their colleagues. The scandal led Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day last year to appoint an independent investigator to recommend how to restore accountability to the federal police force. Ms. George said she was shocked when the whistle-blowers – who allege she had a pension-scandal investigator removed from the case in June of 2005, when he began probing her department – tied her to the cover-up. Ms. George said that as head of human resources at the force, she was supportive of the investigation, which involved portions of her department. She said she presumed it would help clear up any lingering suspicions surrounding her employees' work under her predecessor, who was implicated in the scandal. In fact, Ms. George said when she was originally asked to testify about the pension issues in February of 2007, she envisioned she might get “a pat on the back” for helping clean up her department. Instead of fielding the questions about new accountability systems that she had anticipated, Ms. George found herself the target of heated questions over whether she attempted to cover up wrongdoing in her department by lobbying for the removal of investigator Sergeant Mike Frizzell. Ms. George denied having the investigator removed during her first testimony. Regardless, she was suspended from her job for eight months last year when interim commissioner Bev Busson launched her own investigation into whether Ms. George lied to the committee and was involved in a cover-up. During her suspension, Ms. George testified before the committee two more times in April of 2007 about the investigator's dismissal. Both times, she continued to deny the allegations. When the results of the RCMP's investigation were made public last December, Ms. George was not found guilty of any criminal or internal charges. The force not only reinstated her, but issued a public apology. In spite of that, the Commons committee continued to be troubled by what it deemed “inconsistencies” in her testimony. She was invited to clear up those inconsistencies during her fourth testimony, given last December, shortly after she returned to work. Still, committee members were not satisfied that Ms. George was telling the truth. After a series of in-camera meetings, they voted unanimously in February to recommend she be held in contempt of Parliament. If the full House agrees, it will mark the first time since 1913 that an individual has been found in contempt. Until then, Ms. George will continue to try to clear her name, an effort that has been made difficult by the fact that the committee operates under parliamentary privilege. Witnesses cannot appeal its decisions. Ms. George's husband, Tom Maybee, a 35-year veteran of the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has spent months canvassing legal and parliamentary experts, in disbelief over his wife's lack of recourse. “We've given our life to civil service,” Mr. Maybee said, adding that two of the couple's sons (one is an RCMP member in Duncan, B.C., and another recently wrote the RCMP training exam) were once on track to do the same. In a last-ditch attempt to get help, Mr. Maybee contacted their local MP in Ottawa-Orleans, Royal Galipeau. Mr. Galipeau, who did not return messages, arranged last week's meeting with Ms. George, her lawyer, and the law clerk, Mr. Walsh. Mr. Walsh was present during much of Ms. George's testimony to the public-accounts committee and advised the committee on how to proceed with the contempt issue. Reached at his Ottawa home Sunday, Mr. Walsh, who has been the Commons law clerk since 1999, was reluctant to discuss his recollections of the meeting. “It's not my practise as legal counsel participating in prior meetings to talk about them after meetings,” he said. However, Mr. Walsh said he was not acting as a spokesman for the public-accounts committee and “I never offered any deal” to Ms. George. He acknowledged using “the term” roadkill, but said “it was not with reference to her.” He would not elaborate. “Obviously there's a misrepresentation of my view of what was said. I can't comment about the discussions any further than that,” he said. Ms. George said she has been the subject of “an out and out persecution. I've been tried and condemned in the public eye. I can't get this issue brought into a court … where I think it should be. I've got this for the rest of my life.” She said the ordeal has affected her prospects for work when she leaves the force: Headhunters that sought her out for jobs before the scandal broke have stopped calling. “I've lost a lot,” she said, adding that her treatment by the committee “seems to be a blatant disregard for a citizen's rights, a citizen's life, a citizen's well being. “Every Canadian is in jeopardy of this other system of justice, which as far as I can see, operates with impunity,” she said. Thomas B. Hall, a retired Commons procedural clerk, told The Globe he fears the committee overstepped its bounds. “A committee is not designed to do what a judicial inquiry is designed to do. They're supposed to find out what happened in a sense of being able to make a recommendation on how to improve the administration of a department,” he said. “What went wrong here is they've almost turned into quasi-criminal investigations. They seem to be looking for guilty parties.” Mr. Hall said there are no checks and balances in place to ensure committees afford witnesses due process. He said when contempt issues are being considered, procedure dictates that a second committee should study the issue before a final decision is recommended to the House. That has not happened in this case. “This is the closest thing we have to some kind of due process or procedural fairness,” he said.
Wed 9 April 2008, Halifax Chronicle-Herald Policing in Nova Scotia has become too costly and ineffective and must change, says a report the province is reviewing. The Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association, whose members represent about a dozen police forces, said although the province has several RCMP and municipal forces, the policing system is not fully integrated and needs cash, manpower and technological expertise. Response times aren't consistent across Nova Scotia and there's often duplication of administrative costs, the report says. The document suggests that changes must occur before 2012, when the RCMP's contract with the province is renegotiated. The report says it costs about $125 per person to have the RCMP police the Port Hawkesbury area, while in Trenton, policing costs $306 per person, and there are significant differences in service.
Wed 2 April 2008, CBC News Businesses in an Ottawa neighbourhood with one of the city's highest crime rates are hiring their own private security guards to supplement the city's police force. Suzanne Valiquet, executive director of the Cartier-Vanier Business Improvement Area, said the foot patrols along Montreal Road and McArthur and Beechwood Avenues will begin at the end of the month. Similar patrols are already in place on Rideau Street and in the Byward Market. The security guards hired by the BIA will wear bright yellow T-shirts and won't carry weapons or make arrests. "They're going to be able to communicate directly with the police and help them better understand what's going on and where crime is happening," Valiquet said, adding that the guards will be trained by the Ottawa police.
Wed 2 April 2008, Toronto Star Sunday 30 March 2008, Canadian Press
Thursday 27 March 2008, Times and Transcript
Thursday 27 March 2008, Winnipeg Free Press
Thursday 27 March 2008, Calgary Sun
Wed 26 March 2008, London Free Press Don't expect federally funded police to patrol London streets anytime soon. At least not if a meeting yesterday between city politicians and London MPs was any indication. It's been more than two years since federal Tories promised on the campaign trail to beef up policing and more than a year since Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed $400 million to hire 2,500 officers across Canada. But there's no deal yet between Ottawa and Queen's Park on getting new officers in Ontario ‑‑ something not likely to change soon.[...] "We help hire officers and pay for the first few years, but eventually the salary passes to you," said Joe Preston, London's only Tory MP. The Harper government followed through quickly with money for the RCMP but negotiating with provinces takes time, Preston said.
Sat 22 March 2008, Regina Leader Post A career as a Mountie is "nowhere near ordinary," says the RCMP, which held an open house at IPSCO Place on Thursday. About 20 of the RCMP's 152 different investigative units were represented at the open house, such as fraud investigations, forensics and the police dog service. "It's an opportunity for people to come in and see that there's a whole lot more to the RCMP than uniformed officers and people running up and down the highway," said Cpl. Mike Herchuk of the recruiting office for Saskatchewan. It was the first open house of its kind in Regina and was part of the force's effort to attract more officers and civilian staff to the fold. According to Herchuk, the RCMP plans to hire 160 new officers in Saskatchewan this year. Country wide, the force is looking to add about 2,000 officers in each of the next three or four years. "That's huge," he said. "We've never had to do that before."[...] Because of the demand for new members, Herchuk said the time has never been better for aspiring police officers to apply to the RCMP. Const. Chris Roberts, a recruiting officer for the RCMP in Saskatoon, said the purpose of having the open house is two‑fold. "We're looking for new recruits ... (and) we want to clear up some of the misconceptions people have (about the RCMP)," he said.
Thursday 20 March 2008, Globe and Mail David McAusland, chairman of the new council, has an extensive background in corporate governance. He most recently served as vice-president of corporate development and chief legal officer at Alcan Inc. The rest of the five-person council includes Jean-Claude Bouchard, a career public servant who served in various government positions. Most recently, Mr. Bouchard was the president of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Jocelyne Cote-O'Hara, president of a Toronto-based consulting firm, is another member of the council. Like the council's chair, Ms. Cote-O'Hara's background is mostly in the private sector, with a focus on corporate strategy. The council also includes significant police experience, including a former RCMP commissioner. Beverley Busson, who served as commissioner from December 2006 to July 2007, was the first woman to hold the top post at the RCMP. Kevin McAlpine, a professor with the school of justice at Ontario's Durham College, served as chief of police with Durham Regional Police Service from 1997 to 2005. Before that. he held the same job with the Peterborough Community Police Service.
Wed 19 March 2008, Halifax Chronicle-Herald The MacDonald government is getting some federal help with its promise to hire 70 police officers this year. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced Nova Scotia can get $11.2 million over the next five years to put more officers on the streets. The money is part of a $400‑million fund to help recruit 2,500 police officers around the country. "There's a direct corollary between more officers on the streets and reduction in crime," Mr. Day told a news conference at Province House. In the 2006 election, the Tories promised to hire 250 more officers over four years. So far, 80 have been hired and another 70 are expected to be hired this year. Justice Minister Cecil Clarke said the federal cash will free up cash for other items in the spring budget. Earlier this month Halifax Regional Police and Halifax RCMP released 2007 figures showing crime rates in the city went down substantially from the previous year. Halifax police said homicides, attempted murders, robberies, assaults and other crimes against people dropped by more than 10 per cent from the year before. RCMP figures showed a drop of more than 13 per cent in those crimes from 2006 to 2007.
Tue 18 March 2008, Vancouver Sun The RCMP and its partners in B.C. are focusing in several communities on joint management of the most prolific offenders, who form perhaps 10 per cent of the criminal population but commit as much as 50 per cent of the crime. Similarly, Vancouver police are focusing on chronic offenders. A simple and compelling approach ‑‑ but its lasting impact will only come from matching this work in the field with a systemic revolution in B.C.'s approach to crime and social disorder. [...] In fact, for the most prolific offenders in B.C., the startling fact is that most of their crimes are committed while they are serving community sentences. The "revolving door" of justice is nearly literal. Some suggest we simply need to increase sentences. For those involved in repeated violence or gang crime, lengthy incarceration needs to be an option. [...]We think B.C. can do better. When the RCMP in B.C. began looking at different ways to deal with prolific offending in 2004, we were inspired by what had happened in Britain. Crime rates, at that point, had fallen in the United Kingdom by more than 40 per cent in an eight‑year span, based largely on improved management of prolific offenders. We put these ideas into play in several B.C. detachments. As reported, property crime rates began to tumble. However, by 2006 our commanders pointed out that it was labour‑intensive to stay on top of the most prolific individuals' activity from a police‑only perspective.[...] In 2006 two B.C. delegations from the RCMP, government and academia traveled to the U.K. to meet with officials and service providers responsible for the crime reduction approach. The range of agencies dealing with offenders we encountered suggested that we had only come part of the way in our problem‑solving exercise. [...] The first step was to develop a made‑in‑B.C. approach to prolific offending. But integrated criminal justice solutions have potential in many areas. There is important work to be done on street disorder, domestic violence, organized crime and crime prevention. We also need to study, in collaboration with health research, the relationship between drugs, crime and public health to develop the most effective intervention strategies.
Sunday 16 March 2008, Calgary Sun
Sunday 9 March 2008, Winnipeg Free Press Winnipeg, MB - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are looking for a few good women. Actually, they're looking for a lot of good women. The famed red‑serged force is in the middle of a massive recruitment drive to fill anticipated vacancies across the country caused by retirement and expansion. "We're looking at attracting huge numbers (of new recruits) for the next five years," said Const. Breanne Chanel, with the RCMP recruiting services office in Winnipeg. Chanel and several other officers held a women‑only recruitment seminar Saturday afternoon at the Greenwood Inn. About 20 women attended to learn about life as a Mountie. [...] Chanel said the RCMP is taking on greater responsibilities in the fields of counter‑terrorism and international policing and it will need more members. Nationally, women comprise 17 per cent of RCMP members and about 15 per cent in Manitoba, Smith said. [...] The young women who attended the seminar heard stories about policing in northern communities, the spirit of camaraderie among RCMP members, and career opportunities.
Fri 7 March 2008, Calgary Sun Two groups that represent RCMP officers are at odds over a federal report into the 2005 shooting deaths of four Mounties near Mayerthorpe, Alta. The RCMP Staff Relations Representative Program is angry with a breakaway faction of officers for questioning the independence of a health and safety review completed last year into the murders. The other faction _ the Mounted Police Professional Association _ has said the federal review is no more than a carbon copy of an RCMP review. The Health Resources and Social Development Canada probe found there was no evidence to lay labour code charges against the RCMP over its actions in the shootings. It did call for improving body armour and other safety recommendations. The association is calling for a new federal probe. SRR spokesman Staff‑Sgt. Bob Meredith said the association's comments are offensive and hurtful to the victim's families. ''They are questioning the ethics and integrity of the criminal investigation and they are questioning the integrity of the RCMP who were working during this incident,'' said Meredith.[...] Const. Patrick Mehain, a member of the association executive, said their call for a new review should be welcome by rank and file Mounties.
Thurs 28 February 2008, Vancouver Sun
Wed 27 February 2008, Media Release CPA The Canadian Police Association (CPA) is very pleased with yesterday’s Federal Budget, more specifically with the Federal Government coming through with its commitment of over 2, 500 new front-line police officers in Canadian communities. The CPA has been advocating for more front-line officers since the last election campaign. Since then, the Federal Government has recognized provincial and municipal police forces are severely underfunded and overstretched. In the 2007 Speech from the Throne, the Federal Government reaffirmed its commitment to provide resources to recruit 2, 500 more police officers. “We are very happy that this commitment is now in the Budget. $400 million over 5 years is a good start in getting this cost share program on its feet”, said CPA President Tony Cannavino. “As the Public Safety Minister has said, this sustainable program will put at least 2, 500 new police officers on the streets and address the much needed resources for tackling crime”. Provinces and territories have until March 31, 2008 to opt into the cost share initiative and participate in a national effort to hire an additional 2, 500 police officers across the country.
Wed 20 February 2008, Toronto Star Ottawa - A big shakeup is underway in the senior ranks of the RCMP, the Star has learned. In the wake of several damaging chapters last year for the Mounties, RCMP commissioner William Elliott has put new people in several top jobs. The moves include the instalment of a "change leader," new financial and human resources bosses, and the departures of commanding officers in two key divisions ‑ Ontario and the national capital region. Elliott, the RCMP's first civilian boss, has named assistant commissioner Keith Clark to lead a "change management team" to carry out the recommendations of an independent task force that in December called for a complete RCMP overhaul. In a Feb. 6 internal memo, Elliott said some of the new appointments are "an important step in putting in place a more robust and better aligned" senior executive team. The executive team yesterday listened to Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff, address the theme of change. Hillier urged them to trust and re‑engage the people at the front line. The message, Hillier's office said, was for the RCMP's leaders to remember "this is where you came from and made you what you are" and to think "outside the Ottawa bubble." Now gone are assistant commissioner Mike Seguin of Ontario's "O" Division (replaced for now by Chief Supt. Norm Mazerolle) and assistant commissioner Ghyslaine Clement of the RCMP's "A" Division responsible for operations in the national capital region (replaced by Chief Supt. Allen Nause). Gone too is Brian Aiken, head of the RCMP's internal audit, evaluation and review, (temporarily replaced by Supt. Rene‑Pierre Tremblay). All three retired. All had some involvement in the way the RCMP, under then‑commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, handled initial allegations about mismanagement of the force's pension fund, although their roles were not highlighted by a parliamentary committee report last week. That report did condemn deputy commissioner Barbara George and urged she be cited for contempt of Parliament for failing to provide complete and truthful testimony. But George is still on active duty with "a number of human resources assignments," said RCMP spokesperson Sylvie Tremblay. Elliott replaced her as the chief human resources officer with deputy commissioner Peter Martin. Acting deputy commissioner Alain Seguin becomes the new chief financial and administrative officer, replacing Paul Gauvin , the civilian ousted for his role in the pension scandal. Gauvin remains involved with major capital projects.
Sun 10 February 2008, Halifax Chronicle-Herald Nova Scotia - The changing nature of crime, public demands for more police and an expiring contract with the RCMP have prompted the MacDonald government to launch a year‑long consultation on how best to deliver police services. The contract with the RCMP, which marked its 75th anniversary in the province last year, doesn't expire until 2012 but is still a factor in the project, Justice Minister Cecil Clarke said Thursday. He said it's not a precursor to ending the RCMP's presence in the province in favour of a provincial police force. "There's no intention to disband one particular policing activity and move to another," Mr. Clarke said after a cabinet meeting. "What we're looking at is what's the best allocation of resources and deployment of police personnel." Mr. Clarke said violent crime and organized crime are two challenges facing police, and he wants to find out the best way to tackle them in the future. Justice Department staff will consult with the RCMP, municipal police forces, municipal officials and other groups about whether police services need to change. [...] RCMP spokesman Sgt. Mark Gallagher said the force will co‑operate in the consultation in any way it can. The RCMP's contract with the province was signed in 1992. The cost to the province in the last fiscal year was $80 million but municipalities pay about half of that. The Mounties cover 43 Nova Scotia municipalities, while 12 municipalities have their own police forces. Sgt. Gallagher said there's no feeling of concern among Mounties that the province may not want to continue with them, but the force would be disappointed if a split happens. [...] In Amherst, Mayor Jerry Hallee predicted Thursday that policing and how it's provided will become one of the major issues facing municipalities in the next couple of years. Amherst considered replacing its municipal police force with the RCMP but decided the switch would be too expensive, he said. [...] He said the Mounties provide excellent policing but the force is having difficulty finding enough officers. [...] Down the road in Parrsboro, Mayor Doug Robinson said he sees nothing wrong with the way policing is handled in the province now. "We are served well by the RCMP here and I am satisfied with what they are doing," he said.
Wed 6 February 2008, New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal Letter - Due to several news articles that have reported inaccurate police costing statistics, the New Brunswick Police Association wish to correct any misinformation with the following facts. The Codiac Regional RCMP police Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe at a cost of $21,700,225 in 2007. The RCMP only provided 145 officers to protect the citizens of these three communities that have a combined population of 100,525. This translates to only one officer for every 693 citizens. The total cost per RCMP officer was $149,657. In comparison we look at the municipal policing costs for Saint John, Rothesay and Quispamsis for 2007. The combined budgets of the Saint John and Rothesay regional police forces were $22,290,722 and provided 204 officers to protect the citizens of these three communities that have a combined population of 94,919. This higher level of protection allowed one officer for every 465 citizens. The total cost per municipal officer was $109,268. [...] The total cost per RCMP officer in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe was $40,389 higher than a municipal police officer in Saint John, Rothesay and Quispamsis. One of the main reasons for higher costs with the RCMP is the difference in the municipal officers' wage rates. The 2007 first class constable RCMP wage rate is $72,125 compared to $61,545 for the Saint John‑Rothesay‑Quispamsis municipal wage rate. With a $10,580 difference in the wage rate it, is not difficult to understand why it cost 37 per cent more in total costs per RCMP officer compared to a municipal police officer. [...] Dean Secord, President of the New Brunswick Police Association
Mon 4 February 2008, Halifax Chronicle-Herald Terry Fogarty is living his lifelong dream. At 49 years of age, the Halifax man has finished his RCMP training in Regina and was posted three weeks ago to the Windsor rural detachment, where he is now in field training.[...] Dressed in uniform and carrying the standard‑issue sidearm, Const. Fogarty said he has wanted to be a Mountie for as long as he can remember. [...] At five‑foot‑10 and 154 lbs, he thought he was too small because Mounties all seemed to be large men. "So I never applied." [...] It was only recently that he decided to pursue his lifelong dream of being a Mountie after hearing about increased recruiting efforts. The RCMP is trying to replace retiring baby boomers, who signed up in the 1970s. The force is planning to take almost 2,000 new cadets this year and 2,300 in each of the following two years. There are now 14 people recruiting in Nova Scotia, where the RCMP hopes to sign up 113 new recruits in this fiscal year. [...][Fogarty] said he found the training intense but had no fears about completing it. [...] He said RCMP officers can work until they're 65 and added that he hopes to "serve a good number of years." Const. Fogarty said he doesn't think his age presents any unique challenges in serving as a police officer. "Everything is certainly doable. I can accomplish this, but it takes commitment." Sgt. Tom Grant, district commander for the RCMP, said Const. Fogarty's age can be an advantage. Mon 3 December 2007, NBC news
Wed 28 November 2007, MacLean’s
Tues 6 November 2007, Globe and Mail After decades of having the lowest birth rate in North America, Quebec is having a baby boom. Births jumped 9 per cent between 2005 and 2006, and 2007 is proving to be even more fecund, with almost 1,000 more births in April-June, 2007, than in the same period a year earlier. According to recent data from the province's Institute de la statistique, a big part of the growth is coming from mothers having their third child. More women having babies into their late 30s are also adding to the surge in births. Demographic experts say that while two years of growth is not enough time to establish a firm trend, it's probably more than a blip. Many point to Quebec's family-friendly social policies such as $7-a-day daycare and a more generous parental leave program. Quebec's is the only leave program in the country to insure the self-employed and to provide a separate paternity leave that does not eat into a mother's leave.
Tues 6 November 2007, Globe and Mail The split of government revenues in Canada is 50 per cent federal, 42 per cent provincial — and 8 per cent municipal. Not only that, but Canada's municipalities are the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's most property tax dependent. That's why our communities' water pipes leak, streets are potholed, bridges and overpasses are crumbling, public transit is decrepit, the homeless aren't housed, and community centres, skating rinks, swimming pools, libraries and theatres are run down. That's why the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Toronto-Dominion Bank describe a $60-billion to $100-billion infrastructure deficit, one that is growing $2-billion larger every year. That's why the 19th-century scheme to rely on property tax as the main source for municipal revenue doesn't cut it in the 21st century.
Mon 1 October 2007 The RCMP will not meet its recruiting goal this year and is launching a new national campaign Monday to attract more young people to the force, The Canadian Press has learned. The $800,000 advertising blitz is aimed at the 18‑to‑34 age group _ potential recruits young enough to be the children of veteran officers who will be retiring in droves over the next few years. Designed around a pitch that the RCMP offers an exciting, meaningful career with vast opportunities, the campaign will target members of the Internet generation who are being courted by other employers faced with Canada's labour shortage. ''The crucial point is that we as an organization must be seen as a viable employer and people need to know that we are hiring,'' said Supt. Glen Siegersma, officer in charge of the RCMP's national recruiting program in Ottawa. ''All I ask they do is take a moment and look at us as a potential employer and make an informed decision as to whether or not it is something they would like to pursue rather than writing us off because of urban myth.'' Such urban myths include beliefs that the RCMP only wants to hire members of minority groups, people who are bilingual or university graduates _ a throwback to conditions a decade or more ago when a tight job market allowed the force to cherry‑pick recruits.
Sat 29 September 2007, Edmonton Sun Residents of a small native community northeast of Edmonton will be greeted Monday morning with their own police force. Three Mounties had been assigned full time to the Whitefish Lake First Nation (Goodfish Lake), 183 km northeast of Edmonton, after the federal and the provincial governments signed an agreement yesterday that commits a $2.7‑million policing budget for five years. There's no clear date when the new detachment will open but three cops from St. Paul will start their shifts on Monday morning, Cpl. Brent Sawatzky of St. Paul detachment. "Every family deserves to live in a safe community," said Fred Lindsay, Alberta's solicitor general and minister of public safety. Band chief Tom Houle called the agreement both a "historical and significant milestone for the Whitefish Lake First Nation." The reserve has more than 2,000 residents.
Thur 27 September 2007, Globe and Mail A showdown is brewing in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, as officers from Canada's third-largest municipal police force began a job action after contract talks with the police services board went sour. However, the Peel Regional Police Association, which represents more than 2,400 uniformed and civilian members, wouldn't confirm yesterday what that job action entailed. Union members rejected a recent contract offer, and the union's president said staff morale is at an all-time low. "Our members look to the compensation of their counterparts in neighbouring jurisdictions, at their comparative workloads and compensations levels and are saying clearly, we are not content to be average any longer," the police association said in a press release.
Wed 26 September 2007, The Globe and Mail
Tues 18 September 2007, Canadian Press Regina's police chief is moving on after nine years as the city's top cop. Chief Cal Johnston has handed in his resignation to the Regina Police Board, saying it's time to give the community a fresh face in the job. He says he feels he has accomplished a lot and is particularly proud of the bond he has forged between the police force and the community. Tues 11 September 2007, Globe and Mail A veteran police officer who was twice rejected in his bid to become Calgary's top cop, and two years ago quit the force to join the RCMP, was unanimously approved yesterday by city council to take over as police chief. RCMP Chief Superintendent Rick Hanson, who had 30 years experience including a stint as deputy chief, will replace the retiring chief, Jack Beaton, on Oct. 1. Just last spring, Chief Supt. Hanson, who had been deputy chief under Chief Beaton, said he had no intention of throwing his hat in the ring, but he was chosen as the best candidate from a list of 23 applicants from across the country. Sat 8 September 2007
Fri 7 September 2007, Canadian Press The new commissioner of the RCMP says he wants to change the force's culture to allow rank-and-file members to speak up about problems without fear for their jobs. William Elliott, who has formally been on the job less than a month, told a House of Commons committee Friday that a senior task force is looking at ways to open up communications within the Mounties. ”We need to have mechanisms and processes in place so that people can come forward,” he said. Linda Duxbury, a Carleton University professor who did a study on the Mounties, told the MPs that low-ranking members of the force tend to keep complaints to themselves for fear of repercussions. She said they feel that politics is the driving force in the senior echelons: ”They feel the promotions depend on who you know and playing the game rather than competence.”
Thurs 23 August 2007, CNW
Tues 28 August 2007 Canada has 950 known organized‑crime groups operating across the country, a jump of nearly 20 per cent from the past year, says an annual report by the Criminal Intelligence Service. But RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said the increase is probably due more to better reporting of their activities by police than to an actual change in the number of criminals. "The good news is that we're better at identifying these groups than ever before," Mr. Elliott said in Calgary yesterday. More than 380 different law enforcement agencies across Canada are members of the intelligence service, which gathers and shares information on criminal groups. Mr. Elliott, just one month into his new job as head of the RCMP, said the collaboration allows police to track and arrest gang members who operate across city, provincial and territorial boundaries. He said several large, multijurisdictional crackdowns on motorcycle gangs during the past year have led to the seizure of quantities of "illicit products" and the arrest of key criminals. [...] Mr. Elliott, who is the RCMP's first commissioner without either police or military experience, said there's evidence of more sophisticated groups coming together with less sophisticated ones for specific projects. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the increase of crime on the Internet has also allowed criminal organizations to share information more easily. "These groups will do that up until an issue becomes territorial ‑ they'll want to enhance or increase their profits or territory," Mr. Day said yesterday from Vancouver. "If they feel one group is moving in on the other, that's when we see some of the gangland‑related crime and shootings that have taken place." Mr. Day said the increase in the number of organized crime groups is not a surprise. Part of the rise, he said, comes from the splintering of groups as they fight each other and move into new areas.
Thur 23 August 2007, Canadian Press The leaders of Canada's police forces are calling for a national policing framework to help clarify the roles and responsibilities between municipal, provincial and federal law enforcement agencies. Jack Ewatski, departing president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said yesterday that the country's various police services have been working well together for several years. But the co-operation needs to be formalized at a higher political level. "I think we have to have clarity in terms of exactly who is accountable for the performance during the course of police operations," Mr. Ewatski said during the final day of the police chiefs' annual meeting in Calgary. "And quite frankly in the eyes of taxpayers, who pays for what?" Municipal police forces in Canada enforce both federal and provincial laws, but the costs for local policing are paid by local taxpayers.
Sat 25 August 2007 Property crime in Vancouver is slightly down but remains rampant, fuelled by the city's drug problems, while the police force faces a daunting challenge to recruit officers to combat it. The news was contained in the annual police report, released online yesterday. It shows that property crime - such as car theft and thefts of such big-ticket items as televisions and computers - has declined marginally but continues to be an epidemic, at 49,736 incidents last year. To combat these problems with the same strength - at 1,214 officers - the force will need to recruit another 100 officers to compensate for expected attrition and retirements, Chief Chu said. It's an unusually high quota, possibly the largest in the history of the Vancouver Police Department, he said. But, with the booming economy, applications to the force have dwindled, as potential recruits now have a wealth of other options.
Thurs 23 Aug 2007, Winnipeg Sun The leaders of Canada's police forces are calling for a national policing framework to help clarify the roles and responsibilities between municipal, provincial and federal law enforcement agencies. Jack Ewatski, outgoing president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said Wednesday that the country's various police services have been working well together for several years. But the co‑operation needs to be formalized at a higher political level. [...] Municipal police forces in Canada enforce both federal and provincial laws, but the costs for local policing are paid by local taxpayers. Ewatski said the police chiefs' association believes that in Canada's "complex environment of many orders of government," it's necessary to clearly determine roles and responsibilities for each force and to translate that into specific financial obligations. Ewatski said all police forces have had to take on a variety of new tasks in recent years and the lines of responsibility have been blurred. He said this is especially true in national security issues, which are technically managed at the federal level. But it would be local police officers first on the scene in the event of an attack and co‑ordination between the different services would be critical.
Monday 20 August 2007, Calgary Herald Calgary police should start recruiting in local high schools to stem a growing shortage of new officers, say two members of the police commission. Aldermen Craig Burrows and Ric McIver attended a panel discussion on recruitment and retention hosted by the Canadian Association of Police Boards during its annual conference Sunday. The panel discussed under-staffing in police departments as being on the verge of becoming a national crisis. "We need to stop chasing around to the other side of the planet for our hiring and look right here at home in our high schools," said McIver."We want a police force that represents the cross-cultural community that exists here, and I think what we want are police officers from this city's cross-cultural sector."
Wed 15 Aug 2007 Windsor resident Meghan Menard is sure she'd make a good RCMP officer. Menard was just one of more than 250 potential applicants who attended the RCMP Windsor detachment's open house on Tuesday evening. RCMP Windsor spokeswoman Const. Annette Bernardon said it was the first time the Riverside Drive East detachment building opened its doors to the public for recruiting purposes. The event was part of the RCMP's plans to train up to 2,000 cadets each year for the next few years. "All over the country, we've had retirements, and there's been an increase in demand for police officers," Bernardon said. Along with advice from recruiting officers, information packages and displays, visitors were given the opportunity to meet members of the RCMP's specialized sections, including the emergency response team (ERT), explosives disposal unit, forensic identification unit, police dog service, tactical troop and international peace‑keeping participants.
Mon 6 Aug 2007, Moncton Times & Transcript She's happily married and the mother of three boys, and now Martine Duguay is looking for a new career to bring her the same amount of satisfaction. For Duguay, this has meant considering a life in law enforcement with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "I've always wanted to do it, but because my kids were so young at the time I was staying at home with them." Duguay said her kids are now getting older, and this may just be the perfect time to pursue a career as a police officer. The RCMP couldn't agree more. The Mounties are looking for new hires ‑‑ about 10,000 new members in the next five years, adding to the 20,000 already serving nationwide. "The door's open," said Const. Cory Emmerson from the RCMP detachment in Halifax. He was in town to find new recruits after yesterday afternoon's performance of the RCMP Musical Ride at the Moncton Coliseum. The RCMP recruiters highly recommend anybody interested in becoming a Mountie to visit their website and look at examples of some of the tests they'd have to complete in training.
Monday 6 August 2007, Lancashire UK
Sat 4 Aug 2007, Moncton Times and Transcript Anthony Egeileh is living his dream ‑‑ and you can, too. Egeileh is one of Moncton's newest Mounties. "Don't be shy," the 25‑year‑old former Montrealer says. "Go for it." There has rarely been a better time in Canada's history in which to "go for it," with the RCMP in the middle of a massive recruiting drive. But the force's push to increase its membership doesn't mean the Mounties are relaxing their famously tough standards in a bid to recruit. Egeileh can attest to that, having recently graduated from Depot, the RCMP's training facility in Regina that is training record numbers of recruits who have had their mettle tested physically, mentally and psychologically. "Those are six months that I will never, ever forget," Egeileh laughs. Even before that six‑month basic‑training period, the process of being accepted to go to Depot takes months. "In my case, I did my information session in August of 2005, then I did my exams in September and it takes two months to get the results from that, and after that I did my interview on Dec. 5," Egeileh recalls, citing the exact dates of every step in the process with ease. "Then after the interview you have your polygraph test and that takes about a month to get those results. Then I had an English exam. Then they do a thorough background check." There's also a medical exam and a fitness assessment. Upon graduation, officers are asked where they would prefer to be posted, but there are no guarantees. When you sign on, you are agree to serve all of Canada and you will be posted where you are needed. Just as Egeileh chose the RCMP, he also chose Moncton. "I just love it here," he says. "Moncton is great."
Friday 3 August 2007, Saskatoon StarPheonix
Thurs 2 August 2007, Halifax Chronicle-Herald Wednesday during a visit to Halifax, a city that's seen a handful of violent crimes in recent months. The minister of public safety said the seven programs that will receive funding in Atlantic Canada will address antisocial behaviour in inner‑city youth, alcohol abuse in native communities and police awareness of gangs. ''We want to look at families and youth at risk,'' he said at a library in the city's north end, which witnessed a shooting and other violent activities late last month. ''We want to look at the whole question of gang and drug activity.'' The funding comes through the National Crime Prevention Centre and will be directed at about 2,000 young people. Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly said the money is key to steering youth away from criminal activity, despite criticism that it might do little to get guns off the street. The funding announcement came as municipal officials said they would survey about 5,000 residents in the Halifax area on their impressions about the level of violent crime in the city. Meanwhile, Day was also asked when cities across the country might see some of the 2,500 new RCMP officers promised by the federal government more than a year ago. He said it's taking time to consult with provinces to determine where they should go, adding that he expects the guidelines to be rolled out in the fall.
Tues 31 July 2007, Ottawa Citizen Depressed and anxious public servants comprise by far the largest group of federal employees on disability insurance. And their ranks have expanded rapidly since the early 1990s. The information appears in a major federal study of public service compensation that calls for sweeping changes to benefit programs for government workers. The study was posted without fanfare on Treasury Board's website last week. According to the study, about 4.3 per cent of the federal government's 200,000 unionized workers ‑‑ nearly 8,500 in total ‑‑ were on disability in 2002. Though that proportion hasn't changed markedly since the mid‑1990s, the number of public servants citing disabling depression and anxiety nearly doubled to more than 44 per cent in 2002 from 23.7 in 1991. That's far and away the largest trigger for disability claims by federal government workers. Cancer, at 14.2 per cent, is next. The government's 40,000 or so managers and non‑unionized workers make proportionately fewer disability claims than their unionized colleagues. In 2002, just 2.8 per cent were collecting disability insurance. But fully 58 per cent of them cited "mental/nervous" afflictions in 2002, up from 44 per cent in 1992.
Fri 27 July 2007, Canadian Press The Ontario government will spend $26-million to hire an additional 200 police officers, Canadian Press has learned. Premier Dalton McGuinty and Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino will make the announcement Friday at 10 a.m. EDT. Sources say 53 of the new officers will go into the provincial police effort to target illegal guns. In addition, the Ministry of the Attorney General will hire six new prosecutors to better track, investigate and stem the flow of handguns. The money will begin to flow as soon as provincial police can hire and train the new officers. Calls for tougher measures to fight gun violence were renewed after four people were shot and killed in Toronto last weekend. The victims included 11-year-old Ephraim Brown, who was attending a birthday party when he was shot in a shootout between two rival gangs.
Tues 24 July 2007, Canadian Press Prison inmates are getting a present from the state of Florida: playing cards. For detectives looking to solve dozens of cold cases, it's the start of a game of Go Fish that might pay off big. On Tuesday, Florida's nearly 93,000 state inmates started getting one of two decks that between them highlight 104 of the state's most troubling unsolved murder and missing persons cases. "What better way to get them talking than to have cards with the cases on them?" said Special Agent Tommy Ray of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "These are people who have been in there for years. That's the best source of information. There are a couple of high-profile cases I think we'll get solved." Ray helped launch the statewide program after he and colleagues on a cold case squad in Polk County got the idea to produce a similar deck for county inmates there in 2005. They were inspired by the famous most-wanted deck of Saddam Hussein and other fugitives issued to U.S. troops shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The state attorney general's Crime Stoppers Fund is paying the US$75,000 cost of the program - about $68,000 to produce the cards and $7,000 for rewards, an agency spokeswoman said. The Polk County deck was produced with help from the local Crime Stoppers program. On the Net: Florida Cold Case Cards: http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/OSI/Unsolved/cards/Cards.htm
Tues 24 July 2007, News Post Leader, UK A last minute surge in applications has led to 2,500 people applying to join the region's largest police force. A massive 1,400 would-be police officers applied in the final weekend of Northumbria Police's three week recruitment campaign, which ended on July 8. The huge number of people applying at the end of the campaign means the force has almost doubled the number of applications it received compared to a similar three week period last year. Those successful in getting an interview will be put through a series of tests, both physical and mental, with all new recruits working as probationer constables for two years.
Tues 24 July 2007, National Post Editorial - Don Sandberg
Fri 20 July 2007, Edmonton Journal Edmonton police Chief Mike Boyd made the right call this week when he reversed an EPS policy that barred officers from testifying as private consultants in criminal cases for the defence. "There is no ownership of a witness," said Boyd, reversing his department's contention that police officers belong only to the prosecution. It's an important principle to uphold. Many Edmontonians noted this week, a police officer's job is to pursue justice in an independent and unbiased way. That was the principle Joe Slemko, a veteran EPS member and internationally recognized blood-spatter expert, was embracing when he testified at the inquest into Ian Bush's death in police custody. His court appearances have been instrumental in winning the release of two wrongfully convicted men. But he was nailed twice for insubordination for defying the old policy and faces a third internal disciplinary hearing this fall related to a complaint from the RCMP about two cases where he testified. So it is welcome that this policy is out the window. But Boyd is off-base when he suggests that an officer's independent, expert work, outside his EPS duties should be peer reviewed by another EPS member. Independent, expert testimony is something offered at trial for judges and juries to consider. It is their job to weigh the evidence and evaluate the credibility of the source. It should not be censored or vetted by the Edmonton police beforehand.
17 July 2007, Globe and Mail Update The Canadian work force is aging so quickly that there are barely enough young people to replace those about to retire, Statistics Canada reports today in the release of the age and sex portion of the 2006 census. And in 10 years, retirees will likely outnumber newcomers to the work force, Statscan warned. Employers need to figure out ways to keep baby-boomers in the work force, and will increasingly have to focus on keeping older workers' skills up to date, explained lead analyst Laurent Martel. Employers will also need to figure out how to make sure the knowledge accumulated by older workers can be adequately transferred to the next generation, especially as baby boomers near retirement.
Mon 16 July 2007, Le Droit A study by the Fraser Institute says the federal firearms registry missed its target in making Canada more secure. In a 60‑page document prepared by the Vancouver‑based think tank, investigator Gary Mauser says the registry has failed to make Canada safer, according to news reports released today. "As a result of its many failures, particularly its failure to reduce gang violence or stop senseless killings like those at Dawson College and Mayerthorpe, Alberta, the firearms registry has failed to win the trust of either the public or the police," Mauser wrote. The Simon Fraser University professor noted that violent crime and firearms‑ related suicide declined slightly in Canada in recent years, but said "no persuasive link" has been found between the registry and these changes. Mauser said the drop began before the registry was instituted in 1998. "The register has clearly failed," he wrote. "Under these conditions, why should we support it? And why do we have to continue to finance it?" He said Canadian authorities have exaggerated the danger posed by gun owners. Meanwhile, the president of the Coalition for Gun Control rejected the report's conclusions. However, Wendy Cukier said the gun registry did not necessarily have a direct impact on the drop in violence in Canada. "But starting at the period where there is a decline in firearms‑related crimes, other (crimes) remained stable, so we can see a positive impact," she said. "We have to give value to all avenues that appear effective."
Thurs 12 July 2007, New Zealand The police are recruiting more people with convictions as they struggle to meet the Government's promise of 1000 extra frontline officers, the National Party said today.
Sun 8 July 2007, CBC News The top career goal college students wish to reach within three years of graduation is balancing their personal life with work, according to a new survey. Pursuing higher education ranked second, though students are in no rush to return to the books - that goal saw a 10 per cent drop from last year to 36 per cent. This new generation has forced corporate America to adapt its workplace policies, said Claudia Tattanelli of Universum USA, the branding company that conducted the nonscientific survey. "It does not ask for work-life balance, it assumes it," she said. Nearly 30 per cent of students cited contributing to society as a priority, and high ethical standards trumped financial strength as the top characteristic students seek in an employer. For this generation, work is more than just a place to earn a paycheque, it's an environment in which to learn, be mentored and make a difference, Tattanelli said. Nearly 45,000 undergraduate students from 184 schools responded to the online survey.
Mon 9 July 2007, Globe and Mail The federal government's appointment of a non-RCMP official (a "civilian," as the rest of us are known to members of the force) to head the organization signals the most important change in running the service since CSIS took over the analytical part of the national security mandate in the early 1980s. For 120 years, the RCMP Academy in Regina has been training members of the national police force and, for all that time, we have known that, from among the cohort of cadets, there will come, some 30 years down the road, the next generation of the force's senior management. Notwithstanding that interim commissioner Bev Busson argued that the latest commissioner should be found among those now wearing the RCMP uniform, it turns out that the new leader of the force will never have experienced training and socialization with his fellow 18- to 22-year-olds at the Regina Depot. This will not sit well with the majority in a deeply conservative institution like the RCMP. Nothing is more threatening to the members of a total career institution than the prospect that people who have not paid their dues will gain access to the most prestigious and rewarding posts. Such appointments are traditionally regarded as the ultimate compensation for a lifetime of accomplishment - inevitably matched with successful conformity to the shibboleths and taboos of the organizational culture.
Friday 29 June 2007, Edmonton Sun The government is increasing Alberta's Sheriff Highway Patrol by 24, bringing the total to 84 province-wide. Edmonton's sheriff patrol will increase to 19. The new troops should be patrolling the city area by this Canada Day long weekend. Jill McCormick, spokesman for the solicitor general and public security, said the sheriffs will be patrolling the outskirt highways of Edmonton, enforcing the Traffic Safety Act, liquor laws and environmental protection legislation. However, she said Criminal Code offences are still under RCMP or city police jurisdiction. Fred Lindsay, solicitor general and public security minister, said the patrol's presence in and around Alberta communities raises public awareness about safe driving habits on roadways. "We're bolstering the ranks of the sheriffs, not only in time for the long weekend, but also to ensure Albertans drive safely throughout the year." He added the sheriffs' highway duties allow RCMP officers to concentrate on more serious crimes within the communities they serve. McCormick said the added sheriffs are being released before July 1 because long weekends always bring an increase in traffic. The Sheriff Highway Patrol was introduced in September 2006. Since then, it has issued more than 28,000 tickets for traffic violations, attended nearly 200 collisions, taken more than 100 suspected impaired drivers off the road and responded to more than 100 traffic service requests from the public.
Mon 25 June 2007, CNW Fort Erie, ON - RCMP is hiring! Canada's national police service is looking for people from all walks of life interested in a career in policing. We offer a challenging and exciting future to those interested in making a difference in their communities and their country. Attend a career presentation to find out more about becoming a Mountie. Over the course of 90 minutes, a local RCMP member will discuss the opportunities in a policing career, outline the recruiting process step‑by‑step, provide advice and answer questions. There has never been a better time to apply. Due to retirements and increasing demands for police officers across the country, the RCMP plans to train up to 2,000 cadets each year for the next few years. A career with the RCMP offers the chance to have a daily positive impact on the community while enjoying vast opportunities for growth and development in dozens of specialized units and even international postings.
Mon 25 June 2007, Globe and Mail Seasoned professionals are ditching their day jobs and heading for basic training. Recruiters attribute the rise in older recruits in part to the more specialized disciplines - such as lawyers, doctors and computer technicians - required by the Forces and whose training takes time. Few of these older recruits will find themselves in combat units on the front line. The increase is also likely a function of the greater number of Canadians deferring career plans to continue their education beyond high school. But the overwhelming majority of older enlistees, recruiters say, join because of dissatisfaction with their civilian jobs. "There are a lot of people coming through our doors with high levels of education who find they've been missing something on the civilian side," says Sub-Lieutenant Steve Churm, a recruitment officer in Hamilton. "On the professional side, we're seeing a lot of people with law degrees."
Tues 26 June 2007, The Dominion Post New Zealand Aspiring police officers with poor English, reading and writing skills, or who are unfit, could be sent to remedial school before they are accepted for training. Prime Minister Helen Clark has revealed police are considering formal pre-employment programmes, already being tested in Auckland, as they look to recruit more people from ethnic minorities who do not have English as a first language. The programmes could also be used for applicants who have problems with reading, writing and other basic skills as police compete for staff in an increasingly tight labour market. Miss Clark said: "I don't believe standards have dropped, but I do think if you're looking to recruit from a wider cross-section of society you may need to do some extra work and catch up in areas like language skills." Confirmation of a remedial school comes after The Dominion Post lifted the lid on internal police concerns about reduced standards the growth in the number of substandard recruits - including one who had to be taught to write the alphabet. The report came against the backdrop of a drive to recruit 1000 frontline officers.
Written by Senior Sergeant Iain Saunders, a psychologist and senior member of the Royal New Zealand Police College's Recruitment Training Group, the report raises alarm bells about the intelligence of some recruits, claiming standards are dropping so low, public safety and the very future of the police force is at risk. Police tried to block its release, and it took months of wrangling involving the Office of the Ombudsmen before its existence was eventually admitted. The report claims more recruits need remedial help, their marks in their first exam are on average eight points lower, and the college has to increasingly warn districts when they send poor performers their way. Frontline police staff have warned that the standard of recruits has been dropping since the Government's election promise of 1000 more frontline staff by 2009. Police last year launched a $1.6 million advertising campaign to help meet the targets. The force faces extensive recruiting problems, including a tight labour market and low public confidence in police after the commission of inquiry into sexual misconduct and other controversies. In 2005, the New Zealand Police changed the entrance test for the Police College, changing the way they measured cognitive ability. Physical aptitude requirements were also lowered. Recruits have to pass a cognitive test proving they are "low average" intelligence – equal or above the bottom 23 per cent of the population. Saunders said the majority of recruits were an asset to the force, but there is a "growing proportion" who should not have passed. However, police management stand by the quality of officers graduating from the course. "At the end of the day, people enter the college, they go through a process and they graduate. If they don't meet the required standards, they don't graduate, and really that's the nub of the issue."
Wed 20 June 2007, Toronto Star The current and past head of the RCMP's watchdog body publicly complained they do not have enough power to hold the force accountable, and Busson said the force recognizes it may have to accept a more empowered process of outside review. "I believe that the more oversight that the RCMP has, to a level that makes people feel comfortable, we welcome that because we have to maintain the trust that we have of Canadians," said Busson. In the six months since she replaced former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, Busson has overseen a series of damaging revelations of RCMP actions, including a parliamentary probe of the misuse of pension funds, the Air India inquiry and a series of lawsuits launched by its own members who allege harassment by superiors. But Busson, who is days away from being replaced by a new commissioner, again pitched for an insider to be named to lead change from within.
Wed 20 June 2007, Globe and Mail Along with the overdue recognition that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is in serious need of reconstruction and "fresh breezes blowing through," as Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day put it this week, comes the harsher reality that a degree of deconstruction will be required for any changes to be effective. When an enterprise is not grounded in a most profound, objective and enlightened understanding of the entire scope of the police service's activities and actors, organizational review projects will fail. For the RCMP to advance in its evolution, more is needed than a conventional corporate re-tooling. Consultants' reports, internal reviews and task forces fall well short of the massive, systemic and fundamental transformation it needs. But unlike an automotive production plant that may be shut down to retool in order to build a new hybrid vehicle, the RCMP has the monumental challenge of being the operating arm of the law in hundreds of communities across the country. As the federal police service, it leads major investigations, advances a national criminal intelligence network, and facilitates links with other police organizations across the globe. It cannot shut down for a couple of months while management consultants conduct a review process. Of course, transforming the RCMP's organizational culture and substance will still be a monumental undertaking. In her brilliant book, Policing as Though People Matter, Dorothy Guyot noted that changing a police department is like "bending granite," a truth to which anyone who has worked with police organizations can attest. Investigator David Brown may be correct when he stops short of recommending a full-blown inquiry into the beleaguered organization. However, given the idiosyncratic nature of such an institution, the particularly powerful resistance to change that characterizes even the most enlightened senior RCMP officers and the massive complexity of changing an organization that cannot stop to heal itself, there is an opportunity for Mr. Day to enlist a carefully orchestrated cadre of academics, practitioners and competent consultants to "ride along" with the force and conduct a rolling review.
Tues 12 June 2007, Ottawa Citizen The Canadian Forces, squeezed by the Afghanistan conflict, may be forced to cancel half the training courses for regular and reserve soldiers scheduled for this summer in Western Canada. The training squeeze, caused by the unavailability of qualified officers to teach troops, could cause a shortage of reservists in 2009 if Prime Minister Stephen Harper decides to extend the mission past February of that year, according to one reserve officer. "We're still struggling to find trainers, there's no question about that," said Lt.‑Col. Tom Manley, commanding officer of the Calgary Highlanders reserve unit, which has generated a disproportionate number of volunteers for the Afghanistan mission. "And there's a chance we simply may not get everyone trained that could potentially deploy, so we may have to leave some behind (in 2009) because they didn't get the training they needed," he said this week. New Democratic Party defence critic Dawn Black learned of the trainer shortage after receiving a call from a concerned reservist in B.C. "It just shows totally how overstretched our Canadian Forces are in terms of this mission in Afghanistan," said Ms. Black, adding the military's ability to handle security at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler could be jeopardized. A military spokeswoman wouldn't comment on the Olympics issue. "At this point we have not received a formal request for assistance from the RCMP," said Capt. Bonnie Golbeck.
Tues 12 June 2007, Globe and Mail Shortly after the shooting death of Jordan Manners, the 15-year-old Toronto student, eighth-grade students at nearby Oakdale Park Middle School were called to an assembly. The subject: relations with the police. It's a hot issue in that part of town. The community is in an uproar over the shooting and allegations are flying that police have been heavy-handed in their hunt for Jordan's killer. But the group invited by the school to address the students weren't interested in improving relations with the police. They were there to fan the flames. Their message to the 12- and 13-year-olds was simple: Don't trust the cops. They are not your friends. They deserve to be hated and feared, because they are bullying, brutal and racist. For good measure, they handed out an offensive little leaflet called "Survival Tactics: Dealing with Police." Who were these anti-cop propagandists? They were law students from nearby Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. They are volunteers with an outfit called Community and Legal Aid Services Programme, CLASP. Needless to say, the police aren't included in these programs. Even though Toronto's police have made admirable efforts to expand community policing and outreach programs. Some officers spend hours of their own time volunteering with youth groups. And yet the cone of silence remains a tough obstacle to solving crimes and protecting the community from thugs.
May 26, 2007, Los Angeles Times When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa promised to expand the city's police force, he probably didn't mean it like this: A group of city nurses Friday charged that officials upped some of the numbers by accepting recruits with larger waistlines. The controversy stems from a decision by the city Personnel Department to change the standards for police recruits, including a move to raise the maximum body fat allowed for men to 24% from 22%, and for women to 32% from 30%. The standards were relaxed two years ago by city bureaucrats after the mayor pledged to add 1,000 officers to the Los Angeles Police Department. But only in recent months — as recruit classes graduated with some heavy-set rookies — did the controversy balloon. After addressing one recent academy class, the mayor was overheard commenting on the expanded girth of some graduates. "My concern is we are getting police officers through the system who are grossly overweight," said City Councilman Dennis Zine. "I believe it is part of this mad rush for new police officers, but they were replacing quality with quantity."
Le Soleil, Quebec Éditorial - Faites‑vous encore confiance en la Gendarmerie royale du Canada ? Après l'affaire Maher Arar, les allégations de fraude, la direction douteuse de Giuliano Zaccardelli et les récentes révélations sur la tragédie d'Air India, bien des Canadiens répondront par la négative. C'est pourquoi la proposition du bloquiste Serge Ménard de mener une enquête sur la GRC ne doit pas être rejetée du revers de la main. Le lien de confiance doit être rétabli. Il serait totalement illusoire de penser que la nomination d'un nouveau commissaire à la tête de la GRC, au cours des prochains mois, réussira à redonner tout le crédit à la police fédérale. Le malaise semble trop profond. Il est difficile en effet de croire en de simples erreurs de parcours lorsque des gestes d'incompétence ou des accrocs à l'éthique se répètent sur une longue période d'années, et ce, dans différents types de dossiers. Il devient de plus en plus évident que c'est la culture même de l'organisation qu'il faut scruter, analyser et revoir. Pour un gouvernement conservateur obsédé par la sécurité et la droiture, c'est un objectif qu'il devrait s'empresser d'atteindre. Si Stephen Harper ne veut pas d'une enquête publique sur la GRC, il doit indiquer rapidement de quelle façon il s'y prendra pour redonner une crédibilité à cette institution.
Thur 17 May 2007, CNW Scarborough The McGuinty government is helping police better understand hate crimes and identify the causes of such harmful behaviour by investing $50,000 in a training and education package for police officers, Bas Balkissoon, parliamentary assistant to Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter, announced today on behalf of the minister. "Ontario is an enlightened society that will not tolerate expressions of hate and discrimination," Kwinter said. "This investment will help sharpen awareness of this issue among police officers." “Our community is made up of people from many cultures, races, nationalities and religions - all pursuing their dreams of a prosperous life in Ontario," said Balkissoon. "Our success requires that we do everything to rid society of hate and extremism wherever it exists." The McGuinty government is investing $50,000 to develop a training and education package for police officers. The package will create a greater awareness of hate crimes and help police recognize subtle but hateful propaganda and activities. This will supplement the basic hate crimes training that all police officers receive. The new investment is in addition to funding for the provincial Hate Crimes and Extremism Investigative Team that the government has provided since 2003. "This investment will be very helpful to police officers in identifying and dealing with hate and extremism," said team leader Don McKinnon from the London Police Service.
Thurs 17 May 2007, CNW Toronto The Ontario Human Rights Commission was successful in a significant racial profiling case under Ontario's Human Rights Code. The complaint was filed by Ms. Jacqueline Nassiah against the Peel Regional Police Services. The Commission thoroughly investigated the matter finding evidence indicative of racial profiling. Attempts to mediate and settle the case with Peel Police were unsuccessful. In a decision released on May 11, 2007, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has found that a Peel police officer subjected Ms. Nassiah, a Black woman, to a more intensive, suspicious and prolonged investigation because of her race.
Tues 15 May 2007, Ottawa Citizen The Harper government has backed down from a campaign promise to create a foreign intelligence agency, and now plans instead to give CSIS more power to spy on foreign countries. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said yesterday that instead of launching a new agency, the government will amend legislation to strengthen Canada's existing foreign intelligence capacity. "After some months of looking at it, this is the direction that we believe is the best way to go," he told the House of Commons public safety committee. In the 2006 election, the Conservatives promised to create a "Canadian Foreign Intelligence Agency to effectively gather intelligence overseas, independently counter threats before they reach Canada, and increase allied intelligence operations." But the government has since determined that such an agency is not in Canada's "best interests," said Mr. Day. "The cost of that, of course, would be huge. It would be a number of years in process just to get it set up, and it creates the possibility of yet another silo of information storage." The minister did not elaborate on the scope of the new powers that CSIS will receive. Nor did he commit to a timeline for the changes. An expansion of the agency's mandate would require amendments to its governing legislation.
Tues 15 May 2007, Victoria Times Colonist While quick to say the police are doing a good job, some West Shore politicians are expressing concern about the shortage of RCMP officers in their municipalities. Langford council has written to RCMP Supt. Rick Betker urging the six vacancies be filled as soon as possible. Jim Faulkner, officer in charge of West Shore RCMP, said his force, like many other departments across Canada, is struggling to recruit officers and fill jobs. West Shore RCMP has a full complement of 55 officers. Faulkner said the six vacancies are at the "high end" of what's acceptable and a situation that does create some challenges. Faulkner said personal leave and "long‑term issues" are involved in the six vacancies. "Really, on paper, we're surplus. What I say to [Langford councillors] is I'm working as hard as I can with staffing and personnel to backfill those vacancies as soon as possible." Faulkner said the RCMP is also facing the challenge of retaining its most senior members.
Sun 13 May 2007, South Africa News The West Australian police are actively recruiting South African police to settle there permanently. The bait is a starting salary at least three times that paid by the South African Police Service. The biggest problems they'll face are probably break-ins at homes and businesses. A recent advertisement in South African newspapers describes a career in the West Australian police as: "A safe and alternative lifestyle, beautiful surroundings, where contemporary policing standards are maintained." There are also good prospects of promotion in the excellent work environment, under the guidance of a dynamic police management team. The WAP is interested in the policing skills of the South African police. The WAP is targeting serving police officers with three to seven years' experience. The recruiting office already has received about 600 applications from Italy, the Netherlands, America, England, Wales, South Africa and Canada. Voyex could not specify how many were from South Africans. The unemployment figure in Western Australia is less than 3%. That's why WAP has been forced to recruit abroad: "Our economy is strong and there's big competition in the employment sector." There are no former South African police in the WAP, which comprises about 5 000 members. The target is to swell its ranks with 500 foreigners.
Sat 12 May 2007, India News The Delhi Police recruit1,893 new constables. A break-up of the recruits’ educational background gives an interesting backdrop: there are as many as 819 graduates and 68 postgraduates. Certainly not the qualification one associates with the constable down the road. With 2010 Commonwealth Games round the corner, the city’s police force is on a recruiting spree, it seems. Delhi Police Training College (DPTC) principal, Additional CP Virender Singh, said 1,000 women constables are slated to pass out this July. This, against just 150 recruitments last year, preceded by 700 in 2005. So what makes beat policing an exciting beat in this day and age? Family inspiration, say most fresh recruits. “My uncles are in Delhi Police, and I have been inspired since childhood to serve the public,” said Jitender, who won the best all-round recruit award at DPTC, Jharoda Kalan. Jitender, meanwhile, expects advanced and scientific training received at the academy would ready him for the 2010 Games. “We were taught aspects of crowd management techniques, an absolute essential in a city like Delhi. Then, there was training on unarmed combat.” Satbir said the batch was offered courses in English, courteous behavior and computers besides getting regular training. “These courses have prepared us for Commonwealth Games, and to keep abreast of modern trends like cyber-crime,” he said.
Sat 12 May 2007 The testimony of a retired Mountie, who deliberately kept copies of memos he wrote about a highly sensitive file out of fear something may go wrong, reveals a force with a "sick" culture and workforce that doesn't trust its bosses, says a leading management expert. Linda Duxbury, professor at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business who has studied the culture of police and other public‑sector organizations, said employees who keep duplicates of notes, e‑mails, and records are typical of disillusioned workers who have lost "heart" and don't trust their organizations [...] The Commons public accounts committee investigating the RCMP pension fiasco may get a glimpse of that "Teflon" culture today when retired Sgt. Keith Estabrooks, who managed access‑to‑information requests, squares off with Deputy Commissioner Paul Gauvin, the chief financial officer whose involvement he questioned in one of his missing memos. They will be joined at the witness table by Pierre Lavoie, a retired superintendent who oversaw the access‑to‑information branch, and Staff Sgt. Andre Girard. The committee also called former assistant commissioner John Spice, who served as the force's ethics officer. The MPs are expected to question Mr. Gauvin about Mr. Estabrooks' previous testimony that he interfered in the release of a summary of the Ottawa police force's 15‑month investigation into the misuse of the force's insurance and pension funds.
Thurs 10 May 2007, Ottawa Citizen The Mounties' complaints watchdog wants more power to review the force and stop problems before they escalate and "lurch" the force from crisis to crisis. Paul Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, says the force is being dogged by a "conflation" of events that are tarnishing its iconic image, but he doesn't think it is facing full‑blown crisis. "In fact, a crisis is largely based on a perception of a problem, regardless of whether the problem is real or only apparent," he said during a luncheon speech about the RCMP and a crisis in accountability. He said it is unfair to "extrapolate" the wrongdoings of a few individuals or a few cases as indications of systemic problems or a force "rotten to the core." He said the RCMP is a 26,000‑strong force doing everything from municipal policing to national security, fighting organized crime and terrorism, so there are sure to be some problems. The media, however, often exaggerate those problems as being symptomatic of problems across the force.
Wed 9 May 2007, New York Post New York City is slated to build a modern NYPD training academy, but who will sign up to be a trainee? Future recruitment is endangered by an arbitrator's 2005 ruling that the salaries of new officers be dropped dramatically, from $40,658 to $25,100, a nearly 40 percent reduction, setting the NYPD's starting salaries back to July 1985. (The ruling funded a 10.25 percent raise for officers with more seniority.) To keep pace with attrition, the NYPD needs to hire more than 3,000 police officers a year - and retain them. But the new NYPD starting salary is closer to the federal poverty level for a family of five ($22,610) than to the starting salaries of other major police departments. Of 196 municipal police departments, the NYPD is at the bottom in offering recruit pay.
Wed 9 May 2007, BBC The Lancashire Police Federation has also backed the course. Chairman Steve Edwards said the organization had been fully involved in the setting up of the course and considered it to be an ideal way for students to learn about the police. The Foundation Degree in Policing is designed to deliver the National Curriculum for police recruits, and is based around the current Initial Police Learning and Development Programme that all new police recruits have to complete. The course is designed to be studied on a full-time basis, and some modules are completed while students are serving with the Special Constabulary based in Lancashire. Alternative modules are available for those who are not eligible to join the Special Constabulary.
Sun 6 May 2007, New York Post The recruiting crisis that left the NYPD without enough candidates to fill last January's Police Academy class is continuing, officials are conceding for the first time. "We were unable to recruit enough qualified candidates for the current academy class to meet our authorized head count, and we anticipate a similar shortfall for the next class," said police spokesman Paul Browne. That makes it highly unlikely that the department will reach the peak force of 37,838 that Mayor Bloomberg authorized to boost manpower for crime fighting at a time when 1,000 cops are assigned to combat terrorism. Only 1,148 recruits were hired for training in January, 940 short of the goal. "Some left the Police Academy early [from the January class] to take other jobs," explained Browne. "The reason given was financial. I think we'll be short again." The big sticking point remains the $25,100-a-year starting salary imposed by an arbitrator in the last round of contract talks. The latest negotiations with the police union have gone nowhere, and everyone's now waiting for arbitrators to set the new salary schedule.
Thurs 3 May 2007, CNW A gritty new documentary film that combines dramatic footage of arrests with the personal stories of car thieves and their victims will soon be grabbing the attention of high school students across British Columbia. The documentary Stolen Lives, which premiered on May 3 in Vancouver, will begin touring high schools across BC this fall, along with a companion discussion guide designed to get youth thinking and talking about the issue of auto theft and its link to drug use. The film shifts auto crime education away from its traditional focus on victims and onto the perpetrators, the majority of whom began stealing cars as teenagers to feed a drug habit. "This film isn't just about stolen cars. It really is about stolen lives," says executive producer RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields. "I want young people to know that auto theft leads to death, injury, heartache, the loss of one's family and friends, and the loss of one's future. There is no such thing as a simple joyride."[...] Shields worked with Odd Squad Productions to create Stolen Lives, conducting interviews with car thieves and people who lost loved ones in crashes involving stolen vehicles. He also compiled dramatic footage gathered through his work with the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) and its highly successful Bait Car Program.
Tue 1 May 2007, Regina Leader Post The RCMP is coming to a theatre near you. To improve recruiting and reach a larger audience, the RCMP will run advertisements in Western Canadian movie theatres during the month of May. "We want to reach out to a larger audience," said Insp. John Ryan, officer in charge of recruiting for the RCMP's North West region. "A lot of people who would consider the RCMP for a career go to the movies." Starting today, Cineplex and Empire theatres in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will run a 15‑second video clip or still‑frame advertisement for the RCMP before every movie. The ads will feature officers in uniform conducting normal duties and highlight the benefits of an RCMP career. They will end by directing recruits to the RCMP Web site for more information. The advertisements will run on 48 Saskatchewan screens in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. Overall, the ads will cost $37,000 and will play on 247 screens.This cost is relatively low compared to television advertising, says Linda Chysyk, a business professor at the University of Regina. "It's quite inexpensive compared to getting the same coverage on other methods," Chysyk said, though she notes people will see movie advertisements less frequently than those on TV.
Mon 23 April 2007, Ottawa Citizen The RCMP deputy commissioner recently suspended as a result of her alleged role in the ongoing scandal over the Mounties' pension fund insisted on her innocence in a nationally televised interview yesterday and said she believes the truth will eventually exonerate her. "I don't feel I'm going to be the fall person. I feel that, ultimately, the truth will come out and that the facts will be put forward," D/Comm. Barbara George said on CTV's Question Period. D/Comm. George is the only person who has so far faced disciplinary action over the pension scandal. D/Comm. George wasn't among the senior executives fingered in the original complaints in 2003 when insiders first raised red flags about managers using the RCMP pension plan as a slush fund to pay for operations that had nothing to do with pensions. The Commons public accounts committee resumes its hearings into the pension fiasco today with former Liberal ministers Anne McLellan, whose department oversaw the RCMP, and then‑Treasury Board president Reg Alcock. The committee will also be hearing from Deputy Commissioner Paul Gauvin, the RCMP's chief financial officer. The committee has also decided to call two senior Mounties, assistant commissioners Bruce Rogerson and Darrell LaFosse, whose e‑mails are at the centre of the MPs' concerns about Deputy Commissioner George's testimony that she knew nothing about Staff Sgt. Frizzell's removal.
Sun 22 April 2007, Ottawa Citizen Letter - Re: Investigate RCMP 'culture of impunity', April 17. If there is any silver lining in the RCMP pension scandal, it is that it has served as a catalyst for us to look seriously at our national police force's pitiable record of abuses of power and public office. Abuse of power ‑‑ typically, harassment, bullying and intimidation ‑‑ is indeed a common management tool used to maintain acquiescence, stifle individual thought and contribution, and crush anyone who dares dissent from party line. So damaged are personnel relations in the RCMP that members are currently mounting a Charter challenge to be able to unionize, currently forbidden. In this article, Glen McGregor refers to the impunity with which senior officers abuse their power and the ostracism faced by those who speak out about abuses. These problems are not unique to the RCMP and are crippling our federal public service at large. Treasury Board has reported that harassment affects 20 per cent of the workforce. With a civil service that exceeds 300,000 people, the costs are staggering to individuals, families and Canadian taxpayers. But the ultimate reason that nothing changes is that the government has taken deliberate steps to ensure that public servants, including the RCMP, have no effective legal rights to challenge the abuses. Joanna Gualtieri
Monday 23 April 2007, Ottawa Citizen The Ottawa police force is introducing a tough new program, including mandatory seminars, to deal with problems of sexual and personal harassment officers face at work. The program follows survey results showing that more than half of the force's employees who filled out a questionnaire last year said they had been harassed at least once in the last four years by co-workers. Fifty-four per cent of respondents said they'd been harassed personally, and 52 per cent said they had been sexually harassed. By comparison, the latest survey in the federal government showed 21 per cent of employees reporting harassment or discrimination on the job over the past two years. If you include people who have also witnessed harassment or discrimination on the force, seven out of 10 respondents say they have been exposed to the behaviour. Compounding matters is the fact that, according to the survey, only 47 per cent of respondents say they "feel safe in reporting a harassment/discrimination complaint," while 45 per cent said they didn't think the force was working hard to prevent harassment or able to handle harassment properly. In a report on the issue going to the police services board today, Deputy Chief Sue O'Sullivan said she expects the new Respectful Workplace Program to have an effect on these numbers in the future. "The Ottawa Police Service has a positive duty to provide a harassment-free workplace for all members and is committed to the principle that every member, volunteer, student and contractor has the right to be treated fairly and respectfully," she said. To achieve this, police administration is beefing up the force's policy on harassment and discrimination, spelling out clearly what's acceptable and what's not, and appointing someone to run the harassment prevention program. They are streamlining the complaints process, giving senior officials increased responsibility for enforcing the policy and mediating complaints, and creating an internal website with all the information on the policy and procedures, among other things. Also, all staff will have to go through seminars that detail the policy and the Ontario Human Rights Code protections against harassment. The seminars will cover what constitutes harassment and what the potential penalties are for violating the policy. The seminars will be roughly eight hours long, include a mix of lectures and group work, and they will be given by an external workplace harassment expert.
Mon 23 April 2007, Regina Leader-Post Julia Dillabough wants to be on the Edmonton Police Service's most wanted list. The 23-year-old Reginan was one of six people who attended an EPS information session led by Edmonton Constables Eleanor Innes and Terrie Affolder at the SIAST Wascana campus on Saturday night. "I've always wanted to be a police officer so I felt that this would be a good opportunity since they were recruiting in town," she said. "I eventually want to be in the RCMP." Unlike Dillabough, Illya Luberti realized he doesn't want to be a Mountie after working as a summer student with the RCMP. "I don't want to move around so I'm looking for a big city with opportunities," said the 21-year-old. "I knew Edmonton was coming down here so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's a good force with lots of training so it seems like a good place to work." A graduate of the University of Regina's police studies program, Wadee Wilasphaingern applied to the Regina Police Service a year ago."I didn't pass the written test so I'm here to give Edmonton a try," said the 26-year-old. Innes and Affolder were in Saskatoon and Regina this weekend to track down some of the 180 new recruits the force requires this year. On Sunday, interested applicants wrote two exams consecutively over four 1/2 hours. The first exam rates literacy skills while the second test measures memory, logic, math and judgment. Those passing the exams apply to the EPS and progress to Edmonton for a week of further testing including an evaluation of their physical abilities. As soon as they're offered employment and start classes, recruits begin earning the base salary for a first-year constable, which is $47,000 a year, not including shift differential, stat holiday pay or overtime. The salary increases $5,000 every year for the first five years. "A fifth-year constable would make anywhere between $75,000 and $82,000," Innes said. Currently the force has 1,400 members, but it will lose between 200 and 300 officers in the next two to three years because of attrition. In the past, Edmonton hired 100 new officers yearly but that isn't keeping pace with attrition or the growing city's needs, Innes said. The recruiters held an information session in Saskatoon on Friday night and on Saturday morning nine applicants wrote the application exams.While recruiting efforts focused on Saskatchewan this weekend, Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna will be the next stops, Innes said.
Fri 20 April 2007, Calgary Herald More sheriffs patrolling Alberta highways and extra Mounties assigned to troubled First Nations communities top the list of justice and policing highlights in Thursday's provincial budgets. Money for traffic safety will increase $7.5 million to cover costs of more highway sheriffs ‑ up to 84 by July ‑ to patrol for speeders. The Solicitor General and Public Security's budget is growing by $49 million. It will also cover court security, video arraignment, the provincial policing service agreement with RCMP, and more Mounties near reserves. Fourteen additional RCMP officers will be dedicated to six First Nation communities. Absent from the province's plan is any mention of the centralized police academy to be built in Fort Macleod. But Solicitor General Fred Lindsay said work to continue the project is taking place. Ministry of Justice funding is getting a $30 million boost. Also, $1.5 million is earmarked for the new task force aiming to reduce crime.
Mon 16 April 2007, Globe and Mail Not since the RCMP security service scandals of the 1970s has Canada's national police force faced such a crisis of confidence, both internally and with the public. Mountie whistle‑blowers are testifying on Parliament Hill about mismanagement of their pension fund and what they believe to be corruption, cronyism and cover‑up by the force's most senior officers, and a deputy commissioner has been suspended after allegations of perjury before a House of Commons committee. The force's media office also declined to respond to specific allegations of misconduct contained in a series of sworn affidavits by serving and retired Mounties. The affidavits were filed in the past 12 months in Ontario Superior Court in support of a Charter of Rights challenge to laws that keep RCMP members from organizing a union. The statements contain allegations that have not been tested in court. Staff Sergeant Paul Marsh, the force's chief spokesman, said, "It would be inappropriate for us to discuss allegations raised in the affidavits filed to support that application" while the RCMP is still preparing to file its legal response in the court case. But as a general comment, he said in an e‑mail, "the RCMP continues to strive towards a work force of excellence that is inclusive and respectful of all employees and has internal procedures in place to address any issues or complaints in this regard. The RCMP has policies which are reflective of the Government of Canada's commitment to promote a work environment free from harassment and discrimination." It's not the policies that are at issue, many Mounties say. It's the impunity with which senior officers ignore them.
Sat 14 April 2007, Ottawa The federal government appointed Bay Street lawyer David A. Brown yesterday to conduct a quick investigation into the RCMP pension-fund scandal. Mr. Brown, a former chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission, is expected to report by June 15 and to recommend whether a broader investigation is needed into the pension case and "the overall management of the RCMP." Mr. Brown's terms of reference indicate that the government is seriously considering a full-scale commission of inquiry, with extensive subpoena powers, to take a closer look at not just the pension fund, but other recent controversies involving the national police force. The last time the Mounties faced such scrutiny was when a royal commission under David McDonald exposed crime and corruption in the force's security service in the 1970s. The McDonald inquiry lasted four years and resulted in a decision to axe the security service and create a new non-police security agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Fri 13 April 2007, Ottawa Citizen Deputy Commissioner Barbara George, who was suspended as the RCMP's top human resources officer, is asking the Federal Court to quash the "unlawful and invalid" internal and criminal investigations she claims the force started into her conduct. In court documents, Deputy Commissioner George says her testimony at the Commons public accounts committee is protected by parliamentary privilege and can't be used against her in any criminal or civil investigation. She argues the code of conduct and criminal investigations the RCMP initiated into her testimony "breach" that privilege. She is also asking the court to quash her suspension and reinstate her as the force's chief human resources officer. Deputy Commissioner George is facing allegations that she misled the committee about Staff Sgt. Frizzell's removal when she testified she wasn't involved. Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj has since tabled evidence suggesting that Deputy Commissioner George had a hand in his removal. In court documents, Deputy Commissioner George alleges Chief Supt. Robert Paulson improperly began a criminal investigation into allegations that she misled the committee and committed perjury. She argues "misleading" the committee would be a contempt of Parliament and "is punishable only by the House of Commons." According to documents, she will address the committee's concerns about conflicting testimony when she is recalled next week, so the RCMP investigations are "unnecessary and unlawful." RCMP officials refused to discuss whether a criminal investigation was launched because the matter is before the courts. Bruce Carr‑Harris, Deputy Commissioner George's lawyer, couldn't be reached for comment.
Fri 13 April 2007, Vancouver Sun Proposed legislation regulating the rapidly growing private security industry doesn't adequately protect the public against misuse of authority by security guards or force them to be accountable, says a group of public interest organizations. The provincial government has introduced Bill 15 to update the 1981 Private Investigators and Security Agencies Act. It is expected to get third reading later this year. But representatives of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the B.C. Human Rights Coalition and the Pivot Legal Society said Thursday the legislation has serious flaws. They also say it does not provide the kind of regulation necessary for an industry that, by the time of the 2010 Winter Olympics, will employ 10 times the number of security guards as regular police officers.
Friday 13 April 2007, Red Deer Several retired Central Alberta police officers are interested in the idea of returning part‑time under a RCMP plan to boost staffing. Ed Cole, who retired a few years ago after 22 years on the job, said the idea has merit because it would give new officers a chance to learn from experienced Mounties. "I think it's a great idea and perhaps overdue," Cole said on Thursday. Retired member Rob Zanussi said he would be interested if he knew the implications. Duane Fuss, who retired as a sergeant after 26 years with the Prince Albert, Sask., municipal force, said he would be interested. The national RCMP reserve program that is expected to start soon in Alberta would offer relief to such detachments as Red Deer, which has experienced a tremendous population growth in recent years at four to five per cent each year. The program is intended to address short‑term staffing pressures with any RCMP Alberta detachment on a temporary basis. The program was introduced in B.C. two years ago and has started in Manitoba. Cpl. Wayne Oakes of Alberta RCMP headquarters in Edmonton said the program could help alleviate shortages on detachments that routinely have 10 per cent of their members off because of injuries, transfer, maternity or parental leave and sickness. Oakes said hiring hasn't started.
Thurs 12 April 2007, Ottawa Two weeks after promising an independent investigation into the RCMP pension fund scandal, the Conservative government is still unable to say who will head the probe.
Mon 9 April 2007, Winnipeg Manitoba First Nations chiefs laid out a timetable of civil action this spring, leading up to a national day of protest June 29. The aboriginal leaders hope to put a spotlight on aboriginal poverty, while pointing out the money they spend and the resources taken from traditional lands boosts the province's economy, often at First Nations' own expense. "The spotlight is on Manitoba, and, with First Nations across the country watching, the chiefs of Manitoba will take the lead," Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs leader Ron Evans declared Thursday when he outlined a strategy of rallies and meetings leading up to the possibility of rail blockades. On Tuesday, a meeting of the Southern Chiefs Organization ‑‑ which represents half the 63 First Nations in the province ‑‑ will meet to discuss roving rail blockades this summer. Chiefs are prepared to stall development of hydro projects in the north and to bar access to roads and rails across traditional lands if they have to, [Evans] said. Aboriginal leaders are angry with the federal Conservative government over successive budgets that ignore aboriginal issues. They want action on long‑standing treaty obligations to lands and resource sharing.
Sun 8 April 2007, Calgary Sun Retired RCMP officers in Alberta will soon have the opportunity to take back their badges. Following the success of a pilot project in B.C., RCMP in Alberta will be setting up a reserve of retired officers to fill in at times when staffing is stretched, said Cpl. Wayne Oakes. "It's safe to say the program is in the latter stages of planning and development," said Oakes. "This was launched in B.C. as a pilot project and now it's spreading across the force. "Other divisions will now have opportunity to implement lessons learned." Oakes said it will be up to the provincial program to determine where the needs are, but it's expected the reserve officers will fill vacancies created by vacations and maternity leave, along with providing relief during major events and emergency situations across Alberta. "As with pretty much any business today, there will always be times there's a need for extra resources," said Oakes. "This will be an opportunity to have those resources available." Reserve officers would be brought back and paid at the rank of senior constable, said Oakes. Although it's the larger cities in Alberta that tend to keep police busiest, Oakes said the program will not be limited to the major centres. "This will be a province‑wide initiative," he said.
Thur 5 April 2007, USA It's not money keeping Paul Ybarra on the Lockhart police force. "I've always wanted to be a policeman. I feel that I can do right for people," Ybarra said. Ybarra admits, the job has been tough lately. "When you're short personnel there's long hours," he said. Lockhart Police Chief Michael Lummus said his officers are working overtime to compensate for the shortage. It's the only way to ensure 9-1-1 calls are met and the streets are properly patrolled, he said. Currently, the department is down four patrol officers and two investigators. That's a quarter of the team. "Think of how many that would be in Austin. A quarter of their force. You're looking at at least 400," he said. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement director of education and training, Frank Woodall, said Lockhart is not alone. "When you look at the trend across the state there are a lot of agencies saying they are having trouble recruiting. There are several of your larger agencies who are putting ads in larger cities across the state," Woodall said.
Wed 4 April 2007, As today's generation of twentysomethings -- often referred to as Generation Y -- begin to make their way into workplaces, prospective employers and career experts are noting a higher than usual level of parental involvement. They're seeing parents handing out their children's résumés at career fairs, showing up at job interviews, even calling employers to find out why their kid didn't get the job. In other words, they're feeling the effects of "helicopter parenting" -- a relatively new label used to describe baby boomer parents who hover closely and constantly over their Gen Y kids. While there's nothing extraordinary about parents wanting to be involved in their children's lives, experts say many parents of Gen Y kids go the extra mile to be part of their kids' activities and influence the direction of their futures. Now that the Gen Y kids are grown up and ready to work, their helicopter parents are continuing their hovering ways by helping set the course for their offspring's careers, the experts say. Kids are not rebelling against this involvement. In 2004, Kerry Bernes, a psychology associate professor at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta asked 9,500 high school students in Alberta who they turned to for career advice. Parents emerged as the No. 1 source of career advice for this group. A 2006 study of 30,000 university graduate students across Canada uncovered similar results. Graham Donald, president of Brainstorm Consulting, a Toronto research firm that focuses on campus recruitment trends, says his company's study found parents were the second most important influencers in Generation Y career planning, right after friends and acquaintances.
Wed 4 April 2007, Edmonton Journal Alberta RCMP are hoping to pad their ranks by convincing retired Mounties to dust off their hats. The recruits, who must meet the same training and medical requirements as regular officers, would take over parental leaves and special‑event security on a part‑time basis. Staff are still sorting out the details, but hope to start recruiting recently retired officers this summer, said Insp. Rick Grosul. He hopes to start a reserve force of 12 officers posted near Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer. The reserve program was first tried out in 2004 in British Columbia and has grown to about 50 officers there. But a reserve of 50 officers is fewer than RCMP brass initially expected, said Edmonton‑based staff representative Bob Meredith. "Across the country, they don't have near as many people getting into this as they thought they were going to have," he said.
Wed 4 April 2007, National Post It was all an act. The shock and horror displayed by MPs after whistle‑blowers implicated RCMP brass in an alleged pension fund scandal last week was indignation faked for the cameras. Unless they were willfully ignorant, the MPs knew everything months ago. All of them. RCMP whistle‑blowers had been trying since the fall to drop their bombshell on the public record, but the public accounts committee voted repeatedly to keep them off the witness stand and their documents suppressed from the public record. A one‑vote margin of victory on a last‑ditch in‑camera motion finally allowed RCMP officers to spill the beans in public last week to trigger a national ruckus and an independent investigation. Had the vote gone the other way, the code of RCMP silence would have covered Parliament Hill indefinitely. And if you're looking for the most bizarre acts of obstruction and interference, look no further than Conservative MPs, possibly acting under orders from above, who voted as a block to sweep the accusations under the rug. It's incredible and inexplicable why a government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which wraps itself in the uniform of aggressive law and order, would vote repeatedly to deny RCMP officers access to the spotlight when they were willing to risk their careers telling the disquieting truth. "Every colleague I spoke to said, 'Are you sure we want to go there? Remember, this is the RCMP'," says Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj. "At every key point when the committee voted to deal with the issue, they [Conservatives] blocked it or tried to block it."
Fri 30 March 2007, Ottawa A full judicial inquiry into the RCMP pension scandal could take years, yet in the end the government might be forced to go that route, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day acknowledged yesterday under pressure from the political opposition. Mr. Day reiterated his preference for what he describes as a relatively quick and informal investigation by a government appointee, a process that he believes could be wrapped up in 12 weeks. But Mr. Day told the House the minority Conservative government has not ruled out a formal inquiry down the road. "We have not said an absolute no." As Parliament broke yesterday for a two-week break, the government had still not named someone to chair the quick inquiry, saying it takes time for qualified people to clear their calendar of other commitments before they can accept such an appointment.
Fri 30 March 2007,Vancouver Sun The police, one of the Harper government's strongest allies, launched on Wednesday an attack on the Conservatives by publicly lambasting them for failing to deliver on a key election promise to put 2,500 more police officers on the streets. Three national police organizations issued their rebuke in a joint press release, a sign cracks are emerging in the close relationship between the Conservatives and the police, who are frequently at government's side as it promotes its law‑and‑order agenda. "Despite many attempts to move forward on this issue with Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, a formal process has yet to be engaged," the Canadian Police Association, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Association of Police Boards said in their statement. As soon as the police groups delivered their public denouncement, officials in Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office called to set up a meeting, said Tony Cannavino, president of the Canadian Police Association. [...] The attack on Day is an about‑face for the police association, which until now has had nothing but praise for the Conservative government on the law‑and‑order front. [...] Both of the Conservative budgets have been silent on new funding for additional provincial and municipal police officers, despite the government's election promise to negotiate with the provinces to create a new cost‑share program jointly with provincial and municipal governments to hire new officers. [...] In the government's 2006 budget, however, it committed $161 million in new money to the RCMP to do such things as hire 1,000 new Mounties.
Fri 30 March 2007, Ottawa Citizen Recent months have seen high‑profile resignations, scandal, and now a possible pension fraud rocking Parliament Hill. And the images of pepper‑sprayed APEC protesters, Maher Arar, and the departure of former Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli are fresh for many Canadians. But the RCMP's penchant for damaging headlines goes back to the barn‑burnings and break‑ins of the 1970s. The '90s were equally tumultuous. Yet, the Mounties always managed to uphold their traditional image befitting a now 133‑year‑old agency. "The thing (the RCMP) is most adept at is public relations," said Paul Palango, an investigative journalist and author of two books about the Mounties. "It's good at selling itself." But Wednesday's scene on Parliament Hill, where five active RCMP officers and a fired whistleblower testified about internal mismanagement, was unprecedented, Mr. Palango said. "The Mountie code of conduct is you never say bad things about us, and you certainly never say bad things about us wearing your uniform," he said from Chester Basin, N.S.
Fri 30 March 2007, Ottawa Citizen Ottawa - New crime‑prevention passengers will soon be riding OC Transpo buses. The 39 special transit constables ‑ sworn in at a ceremony in Orleans yesterday will provide enhanced safety for riders and more efficient crime prevention, according to transit services director Alain Mercier. The special constables have a college‑level police foundations diploma or a degree in ciminology, and have completed an intensive six‑week course at Algonquin College, designed specifically for their duties. They are given powers beyond bylaw enforcement and can detain people, if necessary, said Mercier. Deputy Police Chief Larry Hill said "it's about everybody working together to create a safe environment in the city. [...] The ceremony was the last step in a process that began in 2002, with the first official review of the process of appointing special constables. [...] "It a very proud moment for us," said retired RCMP Staff Sgt. Eric Weeks, who presented his son, Chris, with the special constable badge during the ceremony."It's exciting for us to see the city progress with the special constable program. It's something that is long overdue," said Weeks.
Thurs 29 March 2007, Globe and Mail A House of Commons committee will consider a motion Thursday to force ex-RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli and other former senior and current RCMP officers to testify after some of their colleagues alleged fraud Wednesday in the management of their pension plans. The explosive allegations came at a public accounts committee meeting hearing testimony about claims that millions of dollars in inappropriate charges were made to the force's pension and insurance plans. "The RCMP has had a small group of managers who through their actions and inactions are responsible for serious breaches in our core values, the RCMP code of conduct and even the Criminal Code," Chief Superintendent Fraser Macaulay told the committee members Wednesday.The committee will hold an emergency meeting Thursday.
Tues 27 March 2007, New Zealand Police are considering major changes to recruit training, such as sending cadets to university and placing would-be officers on the beat before graduation.
Police college superintendent Alistair Beckett said the college had begun a review of basic training, and changes could be made within three years. Several options were under consideration, including tertiary study to hone officers' analytical skills, extending the current 19-week course to 40 weeks and providing recruits with more work experience, including on the beat, than the current one week at a police station in the middle of their studies. New Zealand First MP Ron Mark said a review of police training was "well overdue", but the possibility of compulsory tertiary study "rang alarm bells". "It could turn the police force into a bunch of academics. Often with tertiary education comes greater aspiration to promotion – to become a `seat polisher'. We don't need hundreds more chiefs, we need hundreds more Indians willing to deal with drunken brawls in Auckland or rough and tumble in the badlands of Christchurch," Mark said. National Party police spokesman Chester Borrows, a former policeman with 24 years experience, said he was slightly wary of too much academic study in the police course. A senior Vancouver police officer says the best way to effectively combat street‑level gang violence is to abandon municipal borders and merge Lower Mainland police departments into a regional force. "We [police forces] operate in our own silos," said Supt. Kash Heed. "We need a comprehensive, co‑ordinated, assertive regional suppression strategy. "We've been calling for a regional police force for years." Indeed, current Attorney General Wally Oppal suggested regionalization was worthy of consideration in a report he issued in 1998. Nine years later, Greater Vancouver and Victoria are the only major metropolitan centres in Canada that have not regionalized their police services. Instead, there are 16 police departments between Hope and West Vancouver. The result, says Heed, is that when one department decides to crack down on a particular crime or crime group, as Vancouver has done with the formation of a new anti‑gang violence task force, the people involved simply move their operations to another community where the focus of police is different. [...] The president of the B.C. Federation of Police Officers says merging the departments from Hope to West Vancouver into one or more regional forces "makes sense for every reason." [...] Key stumbling blocks, say Battershill, Heed and others, are municipalities who feel that giving up their local police forces would eliminate their ability to set local crime fighting priorities, a concern that smaller communities might see a drop in police response levels as those levels increase in larger centres, and the highly contentious question about who would be in charge ‑ the RCMP or local cops. The RCMP in this province appear not to favour the regional model.
A senior Vancouver police officer says the best way to effectively combat street‑level gang violence is to abandon municipal borders and merge Lower Mainland police departments into a regional force. "We [police forces] operate in our own silos," said Supt. Kash Heed. "We need a comprehensive, co‑ordinated, assertive regional suppression strategy. "We've been calling for a regional police force for years." Indeed, current Attorney General Wally Oppal suggested regionalization was worthy of consideration in a report he issued in 1998. Nine years later, Greater Vancouver and Victoria are the only major metropolitan centres in Canada that have not regionalized their police services. Instead, there are 16 police departments between Hope and West Vancouver. The result, says Heed, is that when one department decides to crack down on a particular crime or crime group, as Vancouver has done with the formation of a new anti‑gang violence task force, the people involved simply move their operations to another community where the focus of police is different. [...] The president of the B.C. Federation of Police Officers says merging the departments from Hope to West Vancouver into one or more regional forces "makes sense for every reason." [...] Key stumbling blocks, say Battershill, Heed and others, are municipalities who feel that giving up their local police forces would eliminate their ability to set local crime fighting priorities, a concern that smaller communities might see a drop in police response levels as those levels increase in larger centres, and the highly contentious question about who would be in charge ‑ the RCMP or local cops. The RCMP in this province appear not to favour the regional model. Preparations at the $40‑million facility on the edge of the RCMP training depot in Regina have shifted into high gear as workers rush to get ready for the grand opening at the end of May. The old RCMP museum _ a 30‑year‑old unassuming, red‑brick building with about 1,000 square metres of display space _ was already one of the most popular tourist attractions in Regina, drawing between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors annually. The new 6,500‑square‑metre heritage centre _ Huard is careful not to use the word museum _ is a huge step up with nearly twice the amount of exhibit area and a whole host of added features. The building itself is something to behold. Designed by acclaimed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, the swooping mass of glass, steel and Tyndall stone is truly unique in the Regina cityscape. Inside, the exhibits are anchored by a 30‑metre long ''March of the Mounties'' display that runs the entire length of the main hall. It uses various full‑size police vehicles to illustrate the history of the force, from one of the original horse‑drawn canons the Mounties brought west with them to the modern police cruiser they use today. From ''March of the Mounties,'' five different exhibit galleries branch out: ''Maintaining Law and Order in the West''; ''Protecting the North''; ''Serving All of Canada''; ''Cracking the Case''; and ''Call of Duty.'' Drug dealers, sexual predators, human traffickers and white-collar criminals are singled out in yesterday's budget with items the Conservatives can use to argue they remain tough on crime."Canada is admired the world over as a safe, law-abiding society," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in the prepared text of his budget speech to the House of Commons. "We must keep it that way." The budget, which calls for a new national anti-drug strategy, increases spending by $63.8-million over the next two years for programs to fight the production of illegal drugs, prevent their use through awareness campaigns, and provide treatment to addicts.
Ottawa currently spends $385-million a year on similar initiatives. Of the new money, $21.6-million will go to "enhance the capacity" of police, prosecutors and the courts to find and convict drug dealers and the organized crime webs behind them. Another $10-million will pay for a prevention campaign aimed at young people and their parents. Substance abuse programs will get a $32.2-million boost, with some of the money going toward researching treatment for those addicted to crystal methamphetamine. The RCMP will get an annual budget increase of $6-million to "strengthen current activities" to "protect children from sexual exploitation and trafficking." The force will be allowed to hire a "senior expert adviser" to come up with a plan to step up the Mounties' fight against white-collar crime. Two unarmed volunteer police officers were shot dead outside a strip of busy restaurants and bars near New York University on Wednesday night after they bravely followed a gunman who had killed a pizza parlour employee, the mayor said. The gunman was shot and killed later by regular police officers who raced to the scene in lower Manhattan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “Tonight was a horrible night for the New York Police Department and for our city,” he said. The bedlam began around 9 p.m., when the gunman went into a Greenwich Village pizzeria, asked for a menu and then shot an employee 15 times in the back, the mayor said. The two auxiliary officers — civilian volunteers who wear uniforms, are unarmed and help patrol streets — followed the killer briefly before he turned his gun on them. Continuing its efforts to attract more female officers into United Nations policing, the division is organizing a 4-day conference at the UN Training Centre in Italy next week, because despite increases in the number of women in operations worldwide, there are still too few, warns the world body's top police officer. Progress has been made over the last two years in attracting more female officers into the UN Police, including the recent introduction into Liberia of an all-female specialized unit, but while the Peacekeeping Department's (DPKO) Police Adviser Mark Kroeker is full of praise for all his officers worldwide -- both men and women, he says the current figure of just 6 per cent of the force made up of female officers is unacceptable. "I am extremely gratified by the increase in the numbers of women who serve in police components in UN missions. The fact that we have women in police and that they are serving in various leadership positions, and various tactical positions, an entire Formed Police Unit (FPU) for example made up of women in Liberia, this is all encouraging but its way too few," he told the UN News Centre. The 20-23 March workshop in Brindisi, Italy, will bring together around 30 gender experts from both within and outside the UN to further discuss ways to encourage Member States to provide more female officers, as well as come up with operational guidelines for officers in the field. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is promising to pour millions of dollars into hiring police officers and Crown attorneys, as well as a crackdown on gun and Internet crime, when he rolls out his law‑and‑order platform today in Mississauga. Accused repeatedly by Conservatives of being "soft on crime," Dion will fire back this morning with a substantial shopping list of measures Liberals would take to improve public safety. The list, obtained by the Star, includes: More money for provinces to hire municipal police officers. An extra $200 million for the RCMP to hire 400 officers as part of a new "rapid enforcement team" to fight gangs and gun activity, organized crime and drug trafficking. Reverse‑onus bail hearings for people arrested on gun crime, which would require the arrested to justify their release on bail. Tougher laws to protect children from being lured by Internet‑based predators and to make it harder for criminals to commit identity theft. Setting up a fund to help improve security at places of worship for "at‑risk communities." Dion will also offer the Conservatives help from the Liberals in pushing through Parliament the measures for reverse‑onus bail conditions on gun crimes ‑ an offer that he doesn't expect them to accept, because he says the Tories are focused only on tougher sentencing as a way to combat crime. Dion will also accuse the Tories of standing in the way of justice with their controversial approach to the judiciary. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has acknowledged that the judicial‑selection process is being changed to ensure more judges share the Conservatives' approach to law and order. Immigration is fuelling two-thirds of Canada's population growth and will likely become the only source of gains by 2030, according to a national census snapshot released yesterday. Statistics Canada also found the country's population increase was the highest of the G8 industrialized nations between 2001 and 2006. At 31.6 million, the number of Canadians grew by 1.6 million, or 5.4 per cent. The expansion, however, is largely concentrated in a handful of urban areas that attract most of the country's newcomers. The B.C. government’s proposed bill introduced in the legislature Monday and expected to be law by May, will regulate bar bouncers and private bodyguards and will establish a public complaints process to provide more accountability in the public security industry. The industry's booming growth means it is necessary to update the 1981 Private Investigators and Security Agencies Act, he said. More than 12,000 private security employees are currently licensed in B.C. but the proposed changes to the act will bring another 5,500 into the fold, including bouncers, bodyguards, armoured car personnel, the Corps of Commissionaires, and in‑house security guards at hospitals, universities and banks. Bouncers have not been licensed so did not require criminal record checks, Les added. B.C. currently has 12,000 licensed private security employees, including about 9,000 security guards. The remainder are locksmiths, alarm company employees, private investigators and security consultants. The province, by expanding licensing requirements, expects to add another 5,500 licensed security personnel. The legislation will be implemented over a two‑year period because of an anticipated increase in the number of applicants seeking to be licensed. Vic Huard already has his favourite places picked out. One is on the east side of the soon‑to‑open RCMP Heritage Centre ‑ of which Huard is the executive director. It's under the roof, but inside the eye‑catching set of 65‑foot concrete colonnades that support the roof of this striking new building ‑‑ the largest heritage project under development in Canada. "I love that colonnade," Huard told federal Revenue Minister Carol Skelton and MPs Dave Batters, Tom Lukiwski and Andrew Scheer as they toured the centre Monday afternoon, decked out in hardhats and safety glasses. "Just for thinking about stuff, it's great." The other place is inside, in the centre's community room, just off the lobby. It's empty now, but Huard dreams about how it will be filled with visitors, RCMP members, veterans and families. "I think it's going to be such a lively space," he exulted. "Kids coming in, tour groups, heritage fairs." The main entrance will be at the centre's southeast corner. Once inside, visitors will see (looking from left to right) a gift shop, ticket area, main display area, multipurpose community room, a marshalling area for groups, a food services area and a donor recognition wall that the ebullient Huard promises to be "really spectacular." Inside, too, is a 125‑seat theatre ‑ decorated in scarlet, naturally ‑‑ where visitors will see a 27‑minute multimedia production on the force's history. [...] The RCMP Heritage Centre is to open May 23. Seeking to blunt Conservative attacks that he is soft on crime, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion will unveil his own law-and-order script today -- including hundreds of millions of dollars to put thousands more police on Canadian streets. The Opposition Leader, who will announce those measures in a Toronto speech, will also offer support for tougher bail measures, according to an excerpt of his text obtained by The Globe and Mail. Current numbers show just over 20,000 students in local public universities, with community colleges and private institutions adding thousands more. The RCMP in Manitoba are holding a recruiting event aimed specifically at women in Winnipeg this weekend. Officials say they'll be answering questions about physical requirements of the job, family issues, training and career opportunities.
The RCMP is in the midst of the largest recruiting campaign in its history.
The force is looking to fill 2,000 positions across the country. True or false: Seniors are more likely to be victims of violent crimes, purse snatchings and break and enters? According to a new Statistics Canada report released yesterday, the answer is false. "One of the reasons why we release these results is to dispel some of these myths," said Lucie Ogrodnik, a senior analyst with the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. The results of the study were consistent with previous years, she said, adding the only significant change is a positive one. More seniors reported feeling satisfied with their level of safety from crime, up 3 per cent from 1999 to 92 per cent. The data used for analysis is a combination of reported and unreported crimes, Ogrodnik said. Data is provided by 122 police services across the country and the 2004 General Social Survey of 23,000 households. "Seniors were far less likely than their younger counterparts to experience an assault, sexual assault or a robbery," according to the report. Seniors were only one‑quarter as likely to suffer violent crime as individuals aged 55 to 64, and only one‑twentieth as likely as those aged 15 to 24. Legal reforms may be needed to promote co‑operation between CSIS and the RCMP to make sure terrorist suspects can be successfully prosecuted, the head of the Air India inquiry, Justice John Major, said yesterday. He said that federal law could be rewritten to make it easier for intelligence officers to pass along evidence of criminal conspiracies they uncover through wiretaps made for other purposes. At present, CSIS doesn't always share such information with the police because of fears that, if the material becomes part of a criminal case, the spy service will have to disclose everything it knows about a suspect in open court. Major suggested a mechanism could be worked out to allow the public release of only the specific information needed for a prosecution. "You would need some legislative assistance to be able to pick and choose in an appropriate case," the judge interjected during testimony on the subject by Geoffrey O'Brien, a staff lawyer for CSIS. O'Brien replied that it would indeed be a comfort ‑‑ but cautioned that legal difficulties could still arise once a case gets to court. He noted the legal rules for obtaining a wiretap warrant differ markedly between CSIS and the RCMP, with the police required to meet a higher standard for criminal investigation than the spy agency does for monitoring security threats. Ontario's Attorney-General has warned Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that his party's justice policies have "very little substance," are a generation out of date and could be potentially fatal for the party in the next federal election. Michael Bryant, a fellow Liberal, conveyed the warning in a position paper to the federal leadership that has been obtained by The Globe and Mail. Stephen Harper's Conservative government has effectively established a reputation for confronting and combatting gun and gang violence, the paper asserts. In contrast, "Liberals trumpeted a trickle-down social-safety net approach, arguing that a strong anti-poverty social-safety net will address the root causes of crime." However, a "focus on prevention alone does nothing for those families in crime-ridden high rises where illegal guns police the hallways," the paper maintains. Police chiefs and community leaders from across Canada are gathering in Winnipeg for a two‑day conference on public safety. They're working together to build a national strategy for crime prevention, focusing on how to get at‑risk youth off the streets and make our cities safer. Joining us now with more is the president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Jack Ewatski. Good morning to you, sir. EWATSKI: Good morning, Marci. IEN: So, explain that correlation, the correlation between crime and social‑developmental issues, such as self‑esteem, illiteracy, poverty. EWATSKI: Well, Marci, the CACP, you know, we realize that we are in a unique position in our policing profession that we see the criminal justice system from both angles: at the street level, when our officers enforce the law and investigate offences and bring perpetrators to the courts; but we also see it at the other end when people who have served their time, people who have gone through the criminal justice system, have to be reintegrated into our society. Ottawa's new police chief is a straight‑talking communicator and consensus builder who brings a no‑nonsense approach to policing, say those who have worked alongside him in the Durham region and northern Canada. Vernon White, who will be announced as Ottawa's new police chief at a press conference tomorrow, earned the respect of colleagues and politicians alike with his commitment to the community he serves. That commitment to the community seems to have been learned during his 24‑year career with the RCMP. Born in the Cape Breton community of New Waterford, N.S., Chief White joined the RCMP at age 20, working first in Newfoundland and Labrador before being posted to the Northwest Territories. "He's one of those guys that when you're going through the door ... you'd want beside you or behind you," said Al Macintyre, who is now an RCMP assistant commissioner in British Columbia. "It was very clear to us all that we would be calling Vernon 'sir' one day down the road," Assistant Commissioner Macintyre said. After being awarded a Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2003, Chief White left the RCMP in 2005, when he was unanimously selected by the Durham police services board to replace retiring chief Kevin McAlpine. Leaning back in a chair and wearing a black Billabong ball cap, black hoodie and jeans, Jeff Thwaites looks much like any chillin' Whistler snowboarder. But instead of hitting the slopes on a recent Saturday morning, Mr. Thwaites did something he'd never done before: He and a dozen others went to hear what it feels like to first slip on a made-to-measure red serge uniform -- and to first aim a gun at a knife-wielding robber. Mr. Thwaites, 24, responded to half-page ads the RCMP placed recently in local Whistler and Squamish papers, coming to hear the pitch from recruiting officer Constable Darwin Tetreault, who visited the ski resort to drum up interest in careers with the national police force. Over the next three years, the RCMP needs to add 6,000 new recruits, an unprecedented number for the 18,000-member force, Constable Tetreault said. With a mandate from the federal government, the RCMP is ramping up efforts to stem an annual outflow of 500 retiring officers and to boost its numbers in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In addition, the force wants to add members to heighten its international counterterrorism and peacekeeping contingents. An Edmonton man has been chosen to plan what Alberta's future law enforcement students are taught at the province's new police college. Curtis Clarke, who heads Athabasca University's criminal justice program, is developing the curriculum for the $100-million college in Fort MacLeod. Clarke was tapped for the job two years ago, even before then solicitor general Harvey Cenaiko announced the project, but he spoke publicly about his new role for the first time this week. As early as this spring, Clarke hopes to give 25 officers from across Alberta a taste of what the college will offer. No timeline has been set for building the police and peace officer training centre in Fort Macleod. But Clarke's research and curriculum planning helps set the template for what the centre will look like. Beset by persistent controversy that seems to go with the territory of being top cop in this hard‑edged city, Jamie Graham is calling it quits after five years as chief of the Vancouver Police Department. In a surprise announcement yesterday, the former career RCMP officer said that he would not seek another term when his current contract runs out at the end of August. "There is never an ideal time to leave a job like this one . . . but that time for me is 2007," Chief Graham told an overflow throng during a hastily scheduled news conference. "This has been the role of a lifetime for me, and believe it or not, I've loved every moment." Those moments, however, have included numerous headline‑grabbing incidents that, over time, gave the now‑58‑year‑old police chief an exceedingly high profile in the city. None was more talked about than a purported joke by Chief Graham last year that involved leaving a bullet‑riddled police shooting target of a silhouetted human on the desk of city manager Judy Rogers. [...] Mayor Sam Sullivan thought the matter serious enough to ask for a review by the Police Complaint Commissioner, but the commission decided no further action was warranted. Chief Graham apologized for "any confusion" he may have caused with the police target. [...] Chief Graham also faced two RCMP investigations into complicated charges that he accepted a benefit and issued improper charity tax receipts in connection with a police chiefs' convention here. For his part, the police chief asked the RCMP to investigate the actions of Mayor Sam Sullivan who, in the years before he became mayor, gave money to purchase drugs to a pair of addicts. No charges were recommended. Undated- Low numbers of aboriginal applicants seeking a career in law enforcement have sparked the interest of police agencies, resulting in the formation of the Saskatchewan Police Aboriginal Recruitment Committee. "We all collectively realized that we're all after the same candidates and we're all competing against each other," said Cpl. Audra Young, the committee's recruiting strategist. Young hopes if the committee members are able to work together and share their successes they will be able to develop a provincial strategy that works. "(We're) always looking for people who are interested in doing the work in the communities with a good head and a good heart," Young said. The committee comprises the RCMP and the Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Saskatoon and File Hills First Nation police services. Young said the provincial integrated police recruitment strategy is the first of its kind in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada. British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans Sunday to overhaul gun laws after three teenage boys were shot dead in south London this month, prompting a national debate about guns and gangs among youths. The age at which the mandatory five-year sentence for carrying a gun can be imposed should be reduced to 17 from 21, Mr. Blair said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. television. Mr. Blair ordered the gun law review to help police deal with Britain's inner-city gang culture. Mr. Blair said he was also considering other proposals put forward by the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police including giving police new powers to monitor the homes of people suspected of possessing and using firearms. He acknowledged there was a problem, but said gun crime — and violent crime in general — decreased in London in the past year. In England and Wales, the total of 46 homicides involving firearms in 2005-2006 was the lowest since the late 1980s. A United Nations anti‑racism panel wants to know if Canada can ensure that it will avoid repeating the mistakes that led to the U.S. deportation of a Syrian‑born Canadian to Damascus, where he was tortured and imprisoned for nearly a year. The committee _ a panel of 18 independent experts overseeing compliance with the United Nations' 38‑year‑old anti‑racism treaty _ will hear from Canadian officials as part of its quadrennial review Wednesday. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has asked what steps Canada has taken since on new guidelines for information sharing and monitoring of security probes, so that forces ''have clear policies and more training on issues of racial, religious and ethnic profiling.'' Canada, in a 79‑page submission to the committee, said it has undertaken a number of initiatives in recent years to combat racial profiling by police and security forces. It said its anti‑terror measures are not directed against people of any particular religion or ethnic background. The submission was filed with the Geneva‑based committee before Harper's announcement last month that Arar would be compensated C$10.5 million for his deportation and torture, which was due in part to intelligence from Ottawa that Canada now acknowledges was inaccurate. The RCMP have hurriedly pulled a recruiting ad that wound up on the Web site for one of the most notorious street gangs in the United States. The banner advertisement, showing the RCMP logo and a smiling female Mountie inviting young people to join the force, was posted on the Web site of the Los Angeles‑based 18th Street Gang, a violent Latino gang believed responsible for several murders each year in southern California. "We were quite surprised when it was brought to our attention that one of our banners was on this site," said RCMP Sergeant Marty Blais. "Within a matter of an hour or an hour and a half from when we found out we had it removed." The recruiting banners had been booked through the Web hosting firm Lycos and were supposed to appear on sites frequented by youth. "They [Lycos] were strictly told that the banners could only appear on sites that did not contradict the values of the RCMP," he said. Many local companies are doing what they can to further diversity in the workplace, such as participating in the Citizen‑sponsored Career Destinations networking event on February 15th. "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police offers a challenging and exciting career to those interested in making a difference in their communities and their country," says Cst. Kenneth Ishmael of the RCMP. "And to make that difference, we need to recruit people from all backgrounds and from all parts of Canada to better represent the communities we serve." The RCMP is committed to promoting and supporting equity within its employment practices, he says. "The proportion of women, visible minority and Aboriginal regular members within the RCMP has increased steadily in recent years. Representation of each of these groups is projected to continually increase over the next several years." He invites those suitably qualified to "become a police officer with the most recognized police organization in the world." Low pay is forcing more and more NYPD recruits to bail out of the Police Academy before they can graduate, the Daily News has learned. Nearly 7% of the current class quit in the first four weeks, sources told The News. That's about twice the first-month dropout rate of the July 2005 class, the last academy class before a state arbitration panel slashed starting pay from $36,878 to $25,100. "I went in knowing the pay was horrible, but I wanted to make a difference," said former NYPD recruit Kay Nikolopoulos, 33, of Long Island. "Then reality sunk in. I'm not a kid. I just couldn't make it on that check, especially since there's no real hope of the pay getting much better," said Nikolopoulos, who resigned Jan. 18 to return to her family's lucrative food business.
More than half - 57% - of the 95 recruits who have already left the current class said the chief reason they were leaving was because they just couldn't live on a starting cop's salary, sources told The News. I thought the idealism would be enough," said Nikolopoulos. "But the brutal reality is one month's pay in the NYPD was less than I made in a week working in my family's business." NYPD brass say the pay cut derailed their plan to hire 800 additional cops by last month, which would have increased the NYPD head count for the first time in a decade. But the racism appears mild: 43 per cent of Quebecers said they're only "slightly" racist, while 15 percent are "moderately" so. Only one per cent described themselves as "strongly" racist. Commissioned by the TVA television network and the Journal de Montreal, the Leger Marketing poll was completed online during the Christmas holidays and made public Monday. It was carried out in two parts: 1,000 Quebecers generally, and then 1,228 Quebecers according to six ethnic categories. The margin of error for the first part of the poll was 3.1 per cent, 19 times in 20. In the second it was 6.9 percent, 19 times in 20. The poll was quickly criticized for being skewed in favour of racist responses because of the kinds of questions it asked. People were given three ways to describe themselves as racist -- slightly, moderately and strongly -- and only one way to describe themselves as not racist: "not at all." If people had been asked if they're "not very" racist, many would probably have answered that way, because it's more honest than "not at all," critics said. In previous polls, racist attitudes in Quebec hovered around 16 per cent -- the total of the latest poll's top two categories. Including the third category of "slightly" in the total is misleading, said Jack Jedwab, whose Association for Canadian Studies has commissioned its own polling on the issue. Raheel Raza says she's no stranger to racial profiling. The award‑winning Muslim author, media consultant and interfaith advocate said, in the post‑9‑11 era, authorities may profile terrorists as being men with beards who frequent mosques. But Raza said this description would also describe her two sons ‑ neither of whom are terrorists. "I don't want people to think I have a bomb in my basement," she said. In 2001, four‑million Canadians were visible minorities. It is projected that by 2017, one in every five Canadians will fit in the visible‑minority category. Racial profiling and justice for minorities in the post‑9‑11 world was discussed in a Canadian Bar Association forum Saturday afternoon. Over 40 lawyers, law students and interested citizens gathered to hear Raza discuss justice and racial profiling with Prof. Jula Hughes, of the University of New Brunswick's law school, and Randy McKeen, a member of KHJ Radio's news staff. Prof. John McEvoy of UNB's law school chaired the forum. He said it's important to realize that diversity doesn't mean tolerance. It means respect. High school students from across Newfoundland and Labrador came to St. John's to talk to the commanding officer of the RCMP, assistant commissioner Gerry Lynch, who meets yearly with young people during his Commanding Officer's Youth Advisory Committee. Working with young people is one of the RCMP's strategic priorities. This includes addressing the root causes of youth crime, establishing community partnerships, and taking proactive education and prevention measures. Eleven RCMP members chaperoned the 22 youths for two days of meetings and presentations. The students brainstormed collectively to provide input to the commanding officer about issues affecting them. The issues ranged from unwanted sexual touching, to improper ATV/snowmobile use, to substance abuse. Soft‑spoken and petite, RCMP Const. Marie‑Josee Tardif is fiddling with a power point slide show, and it's not clear if she will command this room despite the armoured vest and the pistol strapped to her hip. More than two dozen people are waiting in a suburban boardroom on a frigid sunny afternoon for a recruitment information session. Swivelling in their chairs, they seem disengaged. But when Tardif delivers a no‑nonsense pitch about working for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ‑ a force in the midst of expansion and transformation ‑ they're all ears. She urges them to consider the good (the pay, benefits, multiple career choices) and the bad (tough training, shift work, possible posting to remote or isolated locations).[...] Now, she's got their attention. Even missteps in the past are not necessarily a barrier to employment, she says. What the force is looking for is "people with good character and good qualities. Everybody makes mistakes. What's important is that you learn from them." [...] The top job of chief of the national police force has not yet been filled since former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned Dec. 6. An announcement is expected "shortly" of a search committee for the new commissioner. A privy council spokesperson will only say the process is "underway" and could take a few weeks or up to a couple of months. The prospect of a civilian from within, or a cop from outside, instead of an officer who has come up through the ranks within, has triggered a fierce reaction within the RCMP. Few will go on the record, but on background, sources admit there is huge resistance to a chief coming in from the outside. Former Supreme Court judge Joe Wood's report into the police complaint process in British Columbia is unparalleled in its scope, research and overall thoroughness. Nothing like it before has ever been undertaken in Canada and maybe North America, according to Mr. Wood. And there's no reason to doubt him. He likely researched that fact, too. His report, released here yesterday, is to be applauded for all of the 91 recommendations he makes to improve the complaint process and bolster the public's confidence in the police. Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department is having a hard time recruiting qualified candidates. More than 50 deputies down and with few recruits who can meet its high standards, the Sheriff's Office is pointing outgoing Army men and women toward a law enforcement career in Contra Costa County. Utilizing a marketing campaign, cash incentives and now a partnership with the military, the county Sheriff's Office is among California police and sheriff's departments working overtime to solve their staffing crises as they compete against each other and the private sector. "It is something that's not unique to the Bay Area or the state. This is a national issue," said Livermore police Chief Steve Krull, president of the California Police Chiefs Association. "And it's not particular to an agency's size. Whether they have a force of five or 8,000, the issues remain the same in finding qualified people." There are 15,000 vacancies among the 95,000 budgeted peace officer jobs in California, with thousands more projected in the next five years as baby boomers retire and the state population grows, according to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards & Training, or POST. The fact that the offending officer's story did not jibe with forensic evidence and the testimony of a fellow officer who said she witnessed the incident didn't seem to matter. The police recommended no charges be laid and the Crown agreed. This is another problem with the current system. The Crown and the police work as a team in most cases. In a small city like Prince George, Crown counsel would likely have previously worked with members of the RCMP that conducted the probe into the St. Arnaud shooting.
It was the regional Crown in Prince George that concurred with the RCMP's recommendation that no charges be laid against the officer who shot and killed the unarmed Mr. St. Arnaud.
Personally, I find that arrangement troubling. More sheriffs on Alberta highways should help ease the burden placed on the province's RCMP detachments, Solicitor General Fred Lindsay said. The provincial government launched the sheriff program last year when renamed the Provincial Protection Officer corps and expanded its duties to include traffic enforcement. There are 42 sheriffs conducting traffic enforcement throughout the province, and Lindsay's department is proposing an additional 42 for the coming year. "That frees up the RCMP to do more criminal investigations," Lindsay said. Evaluations of 47 southern Alberta RCMP detachments obtained by the Herald under the Access to Information Act showed many are grappling with staff shortages and high turnover. Shortages, staff turnover, and a high number of inexperienced officers are preventing many southern Alberta RCMP detachments from fully carrying out their duties, according to internal documents obtained by the Calgary Herald. Annual assessments requested under the federal Access to Information Act revealed some detachments are solving fewer cases, others are doing too little traffic enforcement and almost half have no informants in their community. Despite the shortcomings, politicians and community leaders polled by the RCMP had widespread support for the force, and the evaluations noted morale at many detachments remained high. "Members are working like dogs out there," said Insp. Rick Taylor, the officer in charge of eight Calgary‑ area detachments. Provincial budget increases have allowed the RCMP to add more than 200 officers in Alberta during the past two years, but Taylor said the root of the manpower problem isn't strictly financial. Even running at capacity, the RCMP Depot in Regina isn't able to train recruits quickly enough to keep up with demand for new officers and replace ones who leave the force due to retirement or other factors. "We've got communities that are asking for and approving funding for several new positions," Taylor said. Henry Jensen, the first non‑politician to chair the Ottawa police services board since the new city was formed in 2001, is a former deputy commissioner of the RCMP. Since leaving his family farm in southwest Ontario at age 18 and signing up with the national police force, he has been around. During his 37 years with the RCMP, ending with his retirement in 1989, he was a founder of the force's economic crimes unit. He also did a stint in South Africa in the early 1990s, first helping to organize the country's police force, then monitoring the first post‑apartheid democratic elections there in 1994. "It really worked, you know," Mr. Jensen, 73, said of his efforts. "We got the various factions so they would talk to each other and eventually work together. It's amazing what you can do." In a crowded media universe, it can be awfully tough for an organization to get its message heard through the noise. But the Ontario Provincial Police had no such problem, thanks to an affable spokesman named Cam Woolley, who shrewdly enlisted radio and TV stations in his efforts to promote traffic safety and garnered priceless free publicity for the force. Now, new OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino seems determined to toss aside this advantage as he pursues a more aggressive approach to policing the province's highways. The tougher policing is welcome, but there should surely still be room for Sergeant Woolley's wise, sometimes humorous reports from the field. Over the years, the veteran OPP officer became a familiar, friendly voice to tens of thousands of Ontario commuters facing the first hazardous road conditions of winter or heading to and from cottage country. Every long weekend, motorists in the Toronto area could count on two things: a traffic blitz by the OPP aimed at unsafe highway drivers and accounts by Sgt. Woolley, often on his own time, of the peculiar behaviour and lame excuses of those caught in the act. Here's an example: "I think the strangest thing I ever saw was . . . when a man from Newmarket was playing a violin while driving. At first it looked as if he was drunk because of the way the vehicle was travelling all over the road, but he was just practising for a recital as he drove along Highway 400." In an open letter posted on the force's website earlier this month, Commissioner Fantino declared that, from now on, "OPP officers will be unrelenting in their pursuit of aggressive and irresponsible drivers. No more long weekend blitzes, no flavour-of-the-day enforcement, no more humorous stories about those who compromise public safety. Rather, every day, 24/7, OPP officers will be deployed in an all-out effort to put an end to the senseless carnage." Sgt. Woolley, who is so popular he is being courted as a candidate by the provincial Conservatives, says he is happy to cede his public role to the commissioner. But it would be foolish for the no-nonsense Mr. Fantino, a well-known publicity hound, to dispense with such a valuable public-relations asset -- one who has drawn the admiration of professional marketers for getting so much favourable media exposure at no cost. The city's police and the Police Services Board have requested budget increases for 2007 totalling more than $30-million. The bulk of that increase is being sought by Police Chief William Blair, who says that 90 per cent of his budget goes to staff costs and that the increase will allow the city to keep its uniformed police strength at 5,510. In a written submission to the board, Chief Blair said police leaders had striven to keep budget increases "to an absolute minimum." He is seeking a $783.2-million budget, up 4.1-per-cent over 2006. Meanwhile, Police Services Board chair Alok Mukherjee called for an 8.6-per-cent increase in the board's budget, to $1,938,000. Transit police in B.C.'s Lower Mainland will soon add Tasers to their arsenal, which already includes handguns. About 20 of TransLink's security officers will be armed with the electrical‑charged weapons within a couple of months, thanks to a large budget surplus. Insp. Daniel Dureau says 20 Tasers have been purchased and will be in use on the transit system once officers have been trained in their use. Dureau said several officers will train as instructors and then train the other members of the 100‑strong force within a couple of months. The force donned new uniforms, assumed new powers and was armed in late 2005. Dureau says assaults on officers have dropped by 50 per cent since the change. The use of Tasers by police has become an increasingly controversial subject in Canada. Across Canada, at least six people have died after being shocked by Tasers, which fire two barbs attached to a wire that deliver a 50,000‑volt shock on contact for up to five seconds. The weapon is meant to immobilize aggressors by shocking their muscles. Manufacturers of the Taser guns, now used by more than 50 police and correctional services across Canada, say their weapons have never been held directly responsible for a death. Health-care officials across Canada are nursing a grudge over Alberta's attempt to recruit nurses from other provinces. The Calgary Health Region has launched a national newspaper ad campaign to hire 500 registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurse practitioners to help deal with a shortage caused by Alberta's booming economy. "That [boom] in turn has really increased demand on the system," said Susan Cassidy with the Calgary Health Region, who also noted that Alberta schools have failed to turn out enough nursing graduates. The ads say permanent nursing positions in both urban and rural communities are available with "excellent salaries, benefit packages and learning opportunities." The Calgary advertising campaign is the latest blow to a beleaguered nursing force in Saskatchewan, said Rosalee Longmoore, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses. Ms. Longmoore said Saskatchewan hospitals already face a shortage of nurses. She said the government hasn't been able to match packages and bonuses being offered by provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia. A West Vancouver officer with three years of service earns about $70,000 a year. The median price for a detached home in West Vancouver is now about $1.2 million. In comparison, the median in Abbotsford is $370,000. In an interview last week, West Vancouver Police Insp. Bob Fontaine -- who is responsible for recruiting -- acknowledged the cost of living is a problem. Visible-minority immigrants are slower to integrate into Canadian society than their white, European counterparts, and feel less Canadian, suggesting multiculturalism doesn't work as well for non-whites, according to a landmark report. The study, based on an analysis of 2002 Statistics Canada data, found that the children of visible-minority immigrants exhibited a more profound sense of exclusion than their parents. The findings suggest that multiculturalism, Canada's official policy on interethnic relations since 1971, is not working as well for newer immigrants or for their children, who hail largely from China, South Asia and the Caribbean, conclude co-authors Jeffrey Reitz, a University of Toronto sociologist, and Rupa Banerjee, a doctoral candidate. It is also a warning that Canada, long considered a model of integration, won't be forever immune from the kind of social disruption that has plagued Europe, where marginalized immigrant communities have erupted in discontent, with riots in the Paris suburbs in the fall of 2005. The Mounties are looking for more than a few good men and women to suit up in red serge this year. The force is looking to fill 2,000 positions across the country. In Saskatchewan alone, 150 RCMP officers are being hired this year, said recruiting officer Const. Monique Cooper. ''We have troops starting in the academy every week,'' she said. ''Nationally, we've never hired like this before.'' In 2005, the Mounties initiated a recruitment push that included hiring 2,000 officers nationally for the next four years. Cooper said the need for officers is twofold: many members are retiring and recruits are needed to fill new departments such as integrated child exploitation units, which investigate online activity. She also points out that joining the RCMP doesn't mean having to be an officer. The force also hires civilians who are experts in different fields such as forensics, administration and vehicle maintenance. As universities struggle to meet the growing post‑9‑11 demand for courses in security and intelligence, Canada's spy agency has revved up recruiting efforts to fill positions soon to be vacated by retiring baby boomers. ''We're looking for about 70 per cent more intelligence officers,'' said CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion, adding the agency currently employs about 2,400 people across Canada and around the world. ''It's a pretty significant increase and it's due mostly to the upcoming retirement of baby boomers.'' Campion said CSIS stepped up recruitment efforts in the spring with an aggressive advertising campaign, but noted the service has been boosting its ranks since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when it received additional funding from the federal government. According to the CSIS website, there are currently more than 20 positions up for grabs. Any Canadian citizen who has lived in the country for at least 10 years, has a university degree, has the potential to become bilingual (if not already), and can pass the background check required for ''top secret'' security clearance is eligible to become a CSIS intelligence officer.
Winnipeg - Police Chief Jack Ewatski surprised the city Wednesday by announcing his plan to resign after 34 years on the job. But the nine‑year chief denied his impending retirement has anything to do with the James Driskell affair. In a morning meeting, Ewatski surprised Mayor Sam Katz with the news he will no longer be the boss of the Winnipeg Police Service on June 29. His effective retirement date will be Sept. 15, just three days after the 34th anniversary of the day he started walking a beat in 1973. The St. Petersberg Police Department, which has struggled for years to recruit and retain officers, is relaxing education requirements for some applicants. The department will require no college credits from applicants who have two years of law enforcement experience at another agency or three years of honorable military service. The department had required all prospective police officers to have at least 30 college credits to be considered for an opening. "I'm hoping it will just expand our pool," police Chief Chuck Harmon said. "It doesn't mean we'll lower our standards." Harmon said he was relaxing the restrictions partly because of competition from other law enforcement agencies, many of which don't require college credits, and partly because of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Letter - In an opinion article last week ("How to fix the RCMP," Dec. 13), Paul Palango recommends wholesale changes to the RCMP, including the elimination of its contract policing arrangements with provinces. This would be a mistake. Contract policing has many benefits ignored by Mr. Palango, and contrary to his claims, the RCMP enjoys an excellent working relationship with police forces across the country. Mr. Palango suggests that other Canadian police forces find it difficult to work with the RCMP. But our 2006 survey of policing partners proves otherwise. It found that 82 per cent agree with the statement "Our organization highly values the RCMP's contribution to our partnership/collaboration." This is up from 77 per cent in 2003. The RCMP has formed partnerships with other police forces and government agencies to establish units devoted to fighting organized crime, drug production and trafficking, financial crime and criminal activity related to Canada's borders. The global nature and complexity of crime today means we need to co‑operate fully and extend the principles of integration to every police, security and community law enforcement organization in the world. Mr. Palango's article also makes an argument for converting the RCMP into an FBI‑type force. But one of the U.S. 9/11 Commission report's findings clearly stated that the U.S. government had a limited capacity to share information and to communicate effectively between entities such as the CIA, the FBI, the State Department, the military and other agencies involved in homeland security at that time. The commission also recommended the establishment of a specialized and integrated national security work force at the FBI. Mr. Palango also states that the RCMP is an international anomaly because ‑‑ in his own words ‑‑ no democratic or totalitarian country would envision having one "monolithic beast" control its law‑enforcement structure. In fact, a number of countries including Sweden and New Zealand have one police service across their respective countries. He suggests the RCMP got involved in contract policing because the 1929 Depression forced the hands of provincial governments. In part. But the fact is the first provincial contracts were signed in 1905. Our contract‑policing model has a number of advantages for the communities we serve. It gives them access to specialized services such as police dog services, world‑class forensic laboratories and emergency response teams. Contract policing supports the RCMP's federal mandate since uniformed officers can support federal investigators while performing general policing or traffic duties. As a result, some of our most significant drug seizures have been made in the course of what Mr. Palango calls "handing out speeding tickets." In fact, RCMP members working on the front line have had key roles in the arrests of wanted criminals and illegal aliens, along with the discovery of missing and abducted persons. Mr. Palango goes on to recommend that the government of Canada hand back provincial policing responsibilities to the provinces. But the model of policing we have in Canada has been built by the government of Canada and the provinces and territories, working together. It simply reflects the way in which our society has chosen to conduct policing activities. If this changes, the RCMP would adjust to the new environment. Contract policing is a good deal for Canadians. A 2004 Deloitte economic study found at that time that the government of Canada was receiving about $460 million in benefit in return for its investment in contract policing. Twenty‑two separate benefits were identified. Finally, Mr. Palango writes that former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli was not able to secure enough staffing to repair the RCMP's federal policing capabilities. But the RCMP is actively addressing these concerns. We have taken steps to reduce the impacts of both budgetary and staffing pressures on our operations. Between 2002 and 2004, the RCMP conducted a comprehensive review of its federal policing services. The findings have helped us not only identify areas that immediately need resources but also improve the management of our resources. And in its May 2006 budget, the federal government has provided additional funding to the RCMP in many important areas, including our national cadet training facility in Regina. In short, the contributions of the 60,000 members of the law enforcement community working in a collaborative and integrated fashion help make Canada one of the safest places in the world to live.
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