The provincial government and the RCMP are in the midst of negotiating a contract that would renew the national police force's commitment to police B.C., including Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.
The contract renewal is significant.
The RCMP have policed B.C. since 1950, when the B.C. Provincial Police were disbanded, and have done so with overall efficiency. The RCMP are recognized worldwide and the force has a well-deserved reputation.
But the last few years have not been good ones for the RCMP, particularly in B.C. By far its worst public relations disaster, perhaps in its entire history, was the Taser-related death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport, followed by a subsequent attempt to shift the blame to the innocent and confused Polish immigrant.
This death was the subject of a public inquiry headed by retired judge Thomas Braidwood and its findings do not cover the RCMP in glory.
There have been other controversies involving the RCMP. One was the death of Ian Bush in the RCMP detachment in Houston. Another recent one involves Surrey RCMP Const. David Clarke, who has been charged with 15 weapons- and drug-related offences.
A significant number of people question whether the RCMP should even be considered again as the provincial police force in B.C. They say the RCMP is slow to deal with rogue officers, even after they have been found guilty of criminal offences. They also say it is overly bureaucratic, that local detachments take far too much direction from Ottawa, and the RCMP does not work well with municipal police departments.
All these points have some validity. But the RCMP is working on resolving many of them. People such as Fraser McRae, the officer in charge of the Surrey RCMP detachment, are well aware of the criticism and are doing all they can to change things from within.
The many specialized units, such as the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, are a key development. IHIT has been quite successful, in my opinion. Would there be any charges in the notorious Surrey Six slayings without it?
The co-operation between the RCMP and most municipal forces seems to be improving, although there are still some challenges in working with the Vancouver Police Department, as was shown in the VPD report on the missing women investigation that resulted in murder convictions for Port Coquitlam serial killer Robert Pickton.
The most serious charge against the RCMP that remains unaddressed is its glacial approach to dealing with bad officers. The RCMP Act needs to be changed by the federal government to ensure internal justice comes swiftly. At present, it gives far too many breaks to RCMP members who have been convicted of crimes or otherwise disqualified for duty.
Most Canadians trust the police but in B.C., that trust has been abused by a few people. If B.C. is to renew the policing contract, it should only do so with a signed commitment from the federal government that the RCMP Act be updated.
Frank Bucholtz is editor of The Langley Times, a Black Press sister paper of The Tri-City News.
