APEC – Commission Interim Report
There were several complaints that RCMP officers at various times either did not display name tags or refused to identify themselves to members of the public.
Several of the police officers involved in these complaints were members of the Vancouver Police Department and with respect to those officers, this Commission is without jurisdiction.
I am satisfied that the RCMP officers who prepared front line members for their APEC duties as well as the RCMP members who performed those duties appreciated the requirement and the importance of identification. Most contact by protesters with police was with Quick Response Team members. S/Sgt. Stewart, as part of his responsibility for the performance of those teams, gave the following evidence on this issue which I accept:
Q: All right. I want to ask you a bit about the dress and equipment of the group, because one of the issues that's before this Commission, is that some personnel did not have name badges, which would have enabled them to be identified. You're aware of that issue?
A: Yes, I am.
Q: Was that a situation that--that you concerned yourself with?
A: I was very concerned from the outset that the Members of the QRTs, as we were always within the public eye, were properly dressed and turned out as per the RCMP uniform and dress manual. Therefore I expected all Members to wear their name tags on their uniforms and patrol jackets, and that was in fact, included as part of our joining instructions. The instructions sent to the Members, telling them what items of kit and clothing to bring with them to Vancouver.
Q: Right, now did you take steps to ensure that there was compliance with those instructions?
A: Actually, at the outset we found that, as typical when people pack to travel for a journey, they forget things, and that a number of our Members had forgotten their name tags. We made arrangements and had name tags produced at the Pacific Centre Mall, and they were required to be worn on a daily basis, and the Members were checked for them throughout the day.
Cst. Bracewell was one of the Quick Response Team leaders. He said that S/Sgt. Stewart's direction to the team leaders was consistent with what I have just quoted from S/Sgt. Stewart's evidence. Cst. Bracewell said:
Dress and deportment once in uniform for the QRTs was of paramount importance. We were advised that name tags were to be worn on shirts and jackets at all times. And that name tags were obtained for Members, prior to deploying if they were deficient in one or both name tags. Name tags had to be worn and had to be clearly visible.
Cst. Bracewell said he constantly checked to see that members of his Quick Response Team were properly dressed and wearing name tags.
Throughout the day, Cst. Sean Powell was assigned security duties along the fence line in the vicinity of Gate 3. He explained his understanding of the instructions pursuant to which he was performing his duties:
My understanding is that we are--we are instructed to wear name tags and repeat our names when asked. No doubt about that. But, if somebody is yelling and screaming at me or being belligerent, I feel no obligation to answer questions from that type of individual.
In my opinion, this qualification to the requirement is a reasonable one. There were also reasons why identification was not always visible. For instance, some officers on November 25 wore rainproof attire, which could not be punctured with clips or pins if the rain-proofing was to be effective. In those instances, name tags worn on the jacket or shirt would not be visible but an officer who was asked to identify himself or herself would be expected to respond as Cst. Powell indicated.
Protesters often did not distinguish between RCMP officers and VPD officers who performed the same duties at the same time and location. Some members of the VPD Bike Unit, which formed part of the Quick Response Teams, were without their name tags because they were new in the service and their identification tags had not arrived by the time of the APEC conference.
Complaints about lack of identification did surface from time to time during the presentation of evidence but the issue was not addressed in closing submissions other than by Commission Counsel as they objectively reviewed the evidence on the matter. Having considered that submission and the evidence on the issue, I find no inappropriate conduct on the part of any RCMP officers. Nor does any Charter issue arise out of these complaints.
I believe officers were aware of the responsibility to wear identification and to respond to appropriate requests for identification. They complied substantially with that requirement. Any failure to do so, I believe, can be explained either by reasons referred to above, or by physical contact between police and protesters that could have resulted in name tags being temporarily dislocated.