How long is the RCMP going to get to run wild?

I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... but when is that anything new? Today I've decided to divert my attention to the RCMP after learning about yet another event that will further taint the RCMP's spiraling reputation. This will more than likely end up with absolutely nothing happening, a slap on the wrist, a wag of the finger? When is the RCMP finally going to have to pay for its numerous mistakes? (To which, there are way to many for me to cover in simply one blog post) How many more people are going to need to be beaten or killed? How many more police officers are going to need to be charged with assault, murder, or worse, (I know, you're thinking what's worse than murder, right?) before major change will be eschewed into a federal organization that has bizarrely managed to steer clear of any kind of major punishment.



Robert Dziekanski's death shed light over various RCMP ineptitude to such a degree that it could not be ignored and those involved will be punished. Tazered five times and restrained despite his obvious screams of pain, he received no medical attention and there was nobody on scene that could even speak his language so he was immediately assumed hostile. Excuse me, what the fuck is that? Is it not the job of a police officer to assess a situation before acting, rather than run in 'guns blazing' as it were. Perhaps Robert would still be alive today if the international airport, heaven forbid, had one staff member on duty that could speak polish and help this man rather than getting the RCMP to act like uniformed thugs.

The mind boggling fact to me is that it has taken them two years of inquiries to decide that the combination of excessive force on the behalf of the RCMP combined with a failure of 'the system' (aka The Airport, although they are maintaining they are not responsible when they arguably deserve more blame than the RCMP...) to guide the visitor to help. The inquiry also lead suggestions that the RCMP by not being answerable to the (provincial) legislature is undemocratic. I don't believe the provincial legislature would do very much to change this, and that's a whole other can of worms I don't want to delve into in my attempt to remain focused. In addition to the inquiries findings. I also find it promising that the RCMP Officers involved in Dziekanski's death will not be spared from being found at fault. The B.C Court of Appeals is still looking in to this matter and although I remain skeptical that the officers will be held accountable, at least there is hope.

The story of Ian Bush is another that caught my eye. Bush, a 22-year-old sawmill worker, was arrested for having an open beer outside a hockey game and giving a false name to police. He was taken without contest to the RCMP detachment and was dead 20 minutes later. The next morning the RCMP had reported to his sister that he had died. They did not even provide a cause of death, citing that "All that we can say is that he is dead." How did he die, you may ask? From a single, close range gun shot wound to the back of his head.

The thing most alarming to me are some of the parts, particularly on the third page of that link. An RCMP Staff Sergeant is quoted as saying "The public doesn't have a right to know anything." Furthermore, the fact that politicians are afraid to stand up against the RCMP for the fear of their careers is alarming. To what depth do the RCMP need to fault before people will seriously consider what a cluster-fuck that they have become? I think the people have EVERY right to know what is happening around them. The Police work for The Government, which is supposed to work for The PEOPLE. Not the other way around!

I think the whole Maher Arar situation is another glaring piece of evidence pointing toward the ineptitude of not just the Canadian but American government as well. If you're not familiar. Arar was detained in New York's JFK International Airport on Sept 26, 2002 and interrogated over links to Al-Qaeda. He was later taken to Syria, and held there for close to a year while being tortured and forced into a false confession. (It's quite proven psychologically that torturing someone would get them to say whatever you want them to say, but Torture is not the discussion here) It was not until the relentless campaign of his wife for his return and the further protest of Canadian human rights organizations that Arar's name was finally cleared in 2006 almost 4 years after his original detaining when the Canadian Government confirmed that the RCMP wrongly told US border officials that Arar was suspected of being a terrorist.

This whole incident forced then commissioner of the RCMP Giuliano Zaccardelli to resign but one of the most mind boggling things out of all of this is the fact that the RCMP officer who led the national security unit that provided false information about Arar to US Authorities was PROMOTED to the rank of Assistant Commissioner. Where is the sense in that? You would think that the officer in charge of providing a faulty report that resulted in the wrongful arrest and torture of a Canadian citizen would be, oh I don't know, fired?

The thing that irks me the most about the RCMP is the fact that, by and large, the RCMP is responsible for policing itself. This is completely undemocratic and unconstitutional. The RCMP does everything in its power to keep its image squeaky clean despite growing evidence to the contrary. This article, which is posted on a ridiculous website, is still a copy of a National Post article where the RCMP Watchdog speaks of how she has no way of knowing if the RCMP is abusing their new anti-terrorism powers. Another article I dug up talks of how the RCMP is uncooperative with the watchdog's inquiries. What good is an external body to monitor RCMP activity if the RCMP can simply IGNORE it?

I feel kind of crazy (if the name of my blog wasn't indication enough...) for even needing to discuss this. It's the rational thought of the average citizen to trust the police force because that's simply the right thing to do. They're there to protect the public and the law, so its only natural to want to trust them. The fact of the matter is however that they are beyond trust, they're beyond the law. If the police don't need to respect the law they are working to uphold than something is wrong. If the police don't need to respect the rights of the citizens that they are sworn to protect, than there is something wrong. The police are so consumed with protecting the prestige of the RCMP that they feel any negative media will taint that. WRONG. Breaking the law for the sake of the prestige of the RCMP will only further taint the RCMP's reputation. I would be willing to bet that if the RCMP showed greater initiative to police itself, punish the corrupt members of its force and strive to (at the very least) appear like the legitimate, respectable federal force that it is supposed to be. THEN people would feel confident about them.

A gut reaction is to suggest that if you don't support police than you're just anti-authority, you don't trust the government, bla bla bla, it's all bullshit. And I'm pretty sure anybody that's read my blog could draw that conclusion but it couldn't be further from the truth. I respect the law. I do not respect the police force and I do not respect the government because they have time and again shown me (and all of Canada) that they are not capable of doing their basic duty. There are great steps that need to be taken by the RCMP and the Government to restore their faith in the people, and it seems for every 'step forward' they may take. They are most assuredly taking two or three steps backwards. The other problem is for every person who may give a damn there are a dozen people who are more content living in their ignorant little bubbles, not giving a shit.

http://www.rcmpwatch.com/ Is an excellent website I've found that has documented not just hundreds, but thousands of instances of RCMP misconduct of various forms. Abuse, cover-up's, corruption, discrimination, harassment, there's pretty much a alphabetical decipherable of the RCMP's outright failure to do their duty in which it is supposed to be done.

http://www.bcrevolution.ca/index.htm Is another website I've found that more focus' on the ineptitude of RCMP in British Columbia (the whole province is a an absolute mess, right down to its crooked Premier Gordon Campbell) Now I have to say this website looks a tad ludicrous and borders a bit on some more conspiratorial elements in some cases but overall its a great resource for the complete facade of the RCMP and especially its representation in B.C.

Until next time my fury meter is entering the red...

PEACE