Review of the RCMP's Public Complaint Records
Division Reports: 2008
J-New Brunswick
Complaints Received
The Commission received 108 complaint dispositions of which 77% were lodged with the Commission, while 23% were lodged with the RCMP. This is in contrast to 2007, where 62% of the complaints were lodged with the Commission and 38% were lodged with the RCMP.
The Codiac-Codiac District Detachment was identified in 13% of all public complaints related to this Division. In this detachment, 100% of the complaints were lodged with the Commission. Complaints from the Oromocto Municipal Detachment represented 8% of all complaints received from "H" Division. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of these complaints were lodged with the Commission while 22% were lodged with the RCMP.
"J" Division: Number of Complaints Based on the Organization it Was Lodged With
The average number of members named in the complaints for "J" Division was 1.8, with the rank of constable being the most common rank identified in the total complaints (70%). The rank of corporal was represented in 16% of the complaints and sergeant was represented in 10% of the complaints.
"J" Division: Number of Complaints by Member Rank
Allegations
A total of 326 allegations were made against members, which averaged about three (3) allegations per complaint. The three most common allegations were "Neglect of Duty" (28%), "Improper Attitude" (22%) and "Irregularity in Procedure" (21%). Allegations of "Improper Use of Force" dropped from 12% in 2007 to 8% in 2008.
"J" Division: Allegations Breakdown
Allegations were also examined at the detachment level. For the Codiac-Codiac District Detachment, the results indicate that the most common allegations pertained to "Neglect of Duty" (28%), "Irregularity in Procedure" (26%), and "Improper Attitude" (21%). For the Oromocto Detachment, the most common allegations were "Irregularity in Procedure" (61%) and "Improper Attitude" (11%).
For every complaint disposition received, the Commission analyzed the reason and incident details in order to identify issues related to the nature of the complaint. The most common issues that were raised in the complaints for "J" Division were "Attitude" (15%), "Criminal Investigation Quality (RCMP)" (12%), and "Service" (10%). The most common issues identified in complaints received from the Codiac-Codiac District Detachment were "Arrest" (12%), "Attitude" (12%) and "Criminal Investigation Quality" (11%). For the Oromocto Detachment, the most common issues were "Criminal Investigation Quality" (21%) and "Vehicular Incidents" (21%).
Further, the results revealed trends in the issues for each allegation. For the purpose of this analysis, the common issues will be reported for the three most frequently occurring allegations:
- For complaints alleging "Neglect of Duty" the key issues were "Criminal Investigation Quality (RCMP)" (15%), "Service" (12%), and "Attitude" (11%).
- For complaints alleging "Improper Attitude" the key issues were "Attitude" (24%), "Service" (9%), and "Criminal Investigation Quality (RCMP)" (8%).
For complaints alleging "Irregularity in Procedure" the key issues identified were "Service" (14%), "Entry of Premises" (9%), "Policy" (9%), "Child Custody" (9%), and "Youth Interaction with RCMP" (9%).
"J" Division: Commission-Identified Issues
| Issue |
Number of Complaints |
% |
| Aboriginal community |
1 |
0% |
| Abusive Language |
4 |
1% |
| Alcohol or Drugs (not intoxication) |
8 |
2% |
| Arrest |
22 |
6% |
| Attitude |
54 |
15% |
| Care in Custody |
6 |
2% |
| Chemical Irritant |
2 |
1% |
| Child Abuse Response |
4 |
1% |
| Child Custody |
1 |
0% |
| Civil Disputes/No Child |
10 |
3% |
| Conflict of Interest |
4 |
1% |
| Criminal Investigation Quality (RCMP) |
41 |
12% |
| Detention |
10 |
3% |
| Entry of Premises |
8 |
2% |
| Informants/Sources |
2 |
1% |
| Intoxication |
8 |
2% |
| Lethal Weapons |
3 |
1% |
| Lying under Oath |
1 |
0% |
| Medical Care |
5 |
1% |
| Mental Illness |
7 |
2% |
| Non-lethal weapons other than chemical irritants |
2 |
1% |
| Non-spousal, Non-child Assault Response |
6 |
2% |
| Non-spousal, Non-child Sexual Assault Response |
1 |
0% |
| Note-taking Quality |
1 |
0% |
| Police Dogs |
3 |
1% |
| Police Physical Abuse |
15 |
4% |
| Police Pursuit Driving |
2 |
1% |
| Policy |
2 |
1% |
| Property Mishandling |
9 |
3% |
| Public Complaint Process Quality (RCMP) |
6 |
2% |
| Release/Disclosure of Information |
6 |
2% |
| Restraints |
4 |
1% |
| Right to Counsel |
4 |
1% |
| Search |
15 |
4% |
| Seizure |
7 |
2% |
| Service |
37 |
10% |
| Spousal Abuse Response |
3 |
1% |
| Vehicular Incidents |
26 |
7% |
| Youth Interaction With RCMP |
6 |
2% |
| Total |
356 |
|
Disposition of Complaints97
"J" Division: Number of Complaints by Disposition Type
Investigation and Final Report
Of the complaint dispositions the Commission received, 58% were formally investigated and a Final Report issued. These reports made determinations on 225 allegations, the most likely being "Improper Search of Premises" and "Neglect of Duty".
For all types of allegation identified in the complaints, with the exception of "Improper Search of Premises", the overwhelming majority (83-100%) of the RCMP's findings did not support the complainant's allegation(s). "Improper Search of Premises" allegations were found to be supported 67% of the time and unsupported 33% of the time. With respect to serious allegations (in this case "Improper Use of Force") the RCMP supported none of the 18 allegations made.
Informal Resolutions
Accounting for the second most common way to dispose of a complaint, informal resolutions occurred in 21% of the cases and dealt with 59 allegations. The allegation most likely to be subject to an informal resolution was "Improper Use of Force" with 33% of these allegations being informally resolved.
Withdrawals
In 20% of the cases, the complainant withdrew the complaint. In total, 42 allegations were withdrawn, the most likely being "Oppressive Conduct".
Terminations (Notice of Direction)
There were no Notices of Direction provided to the Commission by "J" Division.
Service Standards: Complaint Processing Time98
In 2008, "J" Division, on average, took 115 days to issue any type of disposition once a complaint was lodged. This is in comparison to the RCMP national average of 103 days and represents an increase from 93 days in 2007. The average number of days to issue a disposition was 117 for Commission-lodged complaints as opposed to 109 days for RCMP-lodged complaints.
On average, it took 267 days for a complainant to lodge a complaint. On average, complainants waited 283 days after the incident took place before lodging the original complaint with the Commission, while complaints lodged with the RCMP averaged 215 days after the incident.99
"J" Division: Complaint Timeline Based on the Organization it Was Lodged With
The average number of days for the Commission to receive the complaint disposition from this division was 24 for Commission-lodged complaints as opposed to the 25 days it took for RCMP-lodged complaints. Specific to the Commission-lodged complaints this is an improvement from 2007 when it took, on average, 74 days.
Complaint processing times were also analyzed for complaints from the two most common detachments. On average, the Codiac-Codiac District Detachment took 117 days to issue a disposition once a complaint was lodged. Typically, in these cases, complainants waited 146 after the incident date to lodge the original complaint. For the Oromocto Detachment, it took 97 days for a disposition to be issued while complainants waited 49 days after the incident to lodge a complaint.
Complaint timelines were also determined by disposition type:
- To issue a Final Report it took, on average, 141 days. For these cases, it took, on average, 292 days for a complainant to lodge the original complaint that resulted in this type of disposition.
- To enter into an informal resolution it took, on average, 74 days. For these cases, it took, on average, 243 days for a complainant to lodge the original complaint that resulted in this type of disposition.
- To capture a withdrawal it took, on average, 83 days. For these cases, it generally took 223 days for a complainant to lodge the original complaint that resulted in this type of disposition.
"J" Division: Number of Days to Issue the Disposition by Disposition Type
Complaint timelines were also determined by allegation type. For the three most common types of allegations, timelines are reported:
- Allegations of "Neglect of Duty", on average, took 124 days for a disposition to be issued. Typically, complainants waited 333 days after the incident date to lodge a complaint for this type of allegation.
- Allegations of "Improper Attitude", on average, took 116 days for a disposition to be issued. Complainants, on average, lodged a complaint 302 days after the incident date for this type of allegation.
- Allegations of "Irregularity in Procedure" typically took 137 days for a disposition to be issued once a complaint was lodged. On average, complainants waited 278 days to lodge a complaint for this type of allegation.
It is interesting to note that within "J" Division complaints involving "Irregularity-Evidence" allegations, on average, took the longest time (193 days) to issue dispositions.
97 Within the Disposition of Complaints section, there is a further breakdown to identify in what manner allegations categories have been disposed. For each allegation category, the number of allegations disposed of through each disposition type was divided by the total number of those allegations. These numbers were then compared from one allegation category to the next with the goal of determining which allegation was most likely to be disposed of by a certain disposition type. Therefore, an allegation category was more likely to be disposed of in a certain manner if the percentage disposed of in this way was significantly higher than that of other allegations categories. "Most likely" does not mean most common.
98 By identifying the complaint date and comparing it to the disposition date, the Commission was able to determine how many days it took the RCMP to issue a disposition for each complaint. Similarly, by comparing the complaint date to the date the incident occurred, a timeline can be established to determine how many days elapsed before a complainant lodged a public complaint against the RCMP. With respect to providing the Commission with a disposition, the date of the disposition is compared with the date the document was received at the Commission.
99 While the reasons for this delay is not yet fully understood, some preliminary analysis of the data suggests that complainants wait extended periods of time to lodge complaints because: 1) the complainant may not have immediate access to the public complaint system; 2) the complaint may be historical in that an incident occurred many years (in some cases decades) before a formal complaint is lodged; and 3) alternate ways of resolving the complaint may have been attempted before a formal complaint was lodged.