Review of the RCMP's Public Complaint Records
Division Reports: 2008
The Territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
Complaints Received
As in 2007, the Commission isolated the complaint numbers for Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories as there is a continued concern that there has been an under-representation of actual public complaint numbers. Further, for 2008, the Commission noticed that informal resolutions have increased over the statistics of 2007 and that withdrawal of complaints is significantly higher that the 2008 Force-wide average. Public complaints lodged in the Territories which are actually subject to an investigation and Final Report is well below the Force average and the 2008 numbers show a decrease compared to those reported in 2007. The Commission has serious concerns with respect to the administration of the RCMP public complaint process within the Territories.63
The Commission has received 58 complaint dispositions from Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories combined related to complaints lodged in 2008. Of the 58 complaints received from the Territories, 37 (64%) were lodged with the Commission and 21 (36%) were lodged with the RCMP.
The Territories: Number of Complaints Based on the Organization it Was Lodged With
The number of complaint dispositions was further examined at the divisional level. The division identified most often in the complaint dispositions was "M" Division (50%), followed by "V" Division (28%) and "G" Division (22%). Of the 29 complaints received from "M" Division, 13 were lodged with the RCMP, while 16 were lodged with the Commission; of the 16 complaints received from "V" Division, 11 were lodged with the Commission and five (5) were lodged with the RCMP; and of the 13 complaints received from "G" Division, ten (10) were lodged with the Commission and three (3) were lodged with the RCMP.
The Territories: Number of Complaints by Division
The average number of members named in the complaints for the Territories was 1.5, with the rank of constable (74%) and corporal (14%) represented most often in the complaints.
The Territories: Number of Complaints by Member Rank
Allegations
A total of 153 allegations were made against members in the Territories, which averaged about 2.6 allegations per complaint. The most common allegations were "Neglect of Duty" (15%), "Improper Attitude" (14%) and "Improper Use of Force" and "Oppressive Conduct" (14% each). This is in contrast to 2007, when the most common allegation was "Improper Use of Force", followed by "Improper Attitude" and "Oppressive Conduct".
The Territories: Allegations Breakdown
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 the Territories were "Attitude" (16%), "Service" (11%) and "Arrest" (10%).
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 most frequently occurring allegations:
- The main issues that arose for "Neglect of Duty" were "Service" (17%) and "Criminal Investigation Quality" (14%).
- For allegations of "Improper Attitude" the key issues were "Attitude" (33%) and "Criminal Investigation Quality" and "Service" both at 9%.
- The main issues that arose from "Improper Use of Force" were "Arrest" (12%) and "Police Physical Abuse" (11%).
- The main issues identified in complaints dealing with allegations of "Oppressive Conduct" included "Service" (12%) and "Seizure" (10%).
The Territories: Commission-Identified Issues
| Issue |
Number of Allegations |
% |
| Aboriginal Community |
1 |
1% |
| Abusive Language |
1 |
1% |
| Alcohol or Drugs (not intoxication) |
4 |
2% |
| Arrest |
17 |
10% |
| Attitude |
28 |
16% |
| Care in Custody |
4 |
2% |
| Chemical Irritant |
2 |
1% |
| Child Abuse Response |
3 |
2% |
| Child Custody |
1 |
1% |
| Civil Disputes/No Child |
2 |
1% |
| Criminal Investigation Quality (RCMP) |
12 |
7% |
| Detention |
9 |
5% |
| Entry of Premises |
3 |
2% |
| Intoxication |
9 |
5% |
| Lethal Weapons |
2 |
1% |
| Medical Care |
5 |
3% |
| Mental Illness |
2 |
1% |
| Non-lethal weapons other than chemical irritants |
2 |
1% |
| Non-spousal, Non-child Assault Response |
2 |
1% |
| Non-spousal, Non-child Sexual Assault Response |
1 |
1% |
| Note-taking Quality |
1 |
1% |
| Police Physical Abuse |
10 |
6% |
| Police Pursuit Driving |
1 |
1% |
| Policy |
1 |
1% |
| Property Mishandling |
3 |
2% |
| Public Complaint Process Quality (RCMP) |
1 |
1% |
| Release/Disclosure of Information |
1 |
1% |
| Restraints |
1 |
1% |
| Right to Counsel |
2 |
1% |
| Search |
4 |
2% |
| Seizure |
3 |
2% |
| Service |
18 |
11% |
| Spousal Abuse Response |
3 |
2% |
| Vehicular Incidents |
9 |
5% |
| Youth Interaction With RCMP |
3 |
2% |
| Total |
171 |
|
Disposition of Complaints64
The Territories: Number of Complaints by Disposition Type
Investigation and Final Report
Of the complaint dispositions the Commission received from the Territories, 18 (31%) were formally investigated and a Final Report was issued; below the Force-wide average of 43% and a decrease from 40% in 2007. These reports made determinations on 44 allegations. The allegations most likely to be disposed of in this manner were "Improper Persons/Vehicles Search" and "Improper Use of Force".
Overall, the RCMP's findings did not support the allegations with 80% of all allegations found unsupported. More specifically, while looking at each allegation separately, the RCMP's findings did not support the allegations between 67% and 100% of the time. The only exception is with regards to allegations of "Irregularity in Procedure" where the findings supported the allegation 80% of the time. For all allegations of "Improper Use of Force" and "Improper Use of Firearm" the RCMP did not support the allegations 100% of the time. With respect to allegations of "Statutory Offence", "V" Division supported two (2) out of six (6) allegations (33%).
Informal Resolutions
Informal resolutions occurred in 33% of the cases, slightly lower than the Force-wide average of 34% and an increase from 28% in 2007. Of the 27 allegations addressed, the allegations that were most likely to be subject to an informal resolution were "Improper Attitude" and "Oppressive Conduct".
Withdrawals
In 26% of the dispositions received from the Territories, the complainant withdrew the complaint, significantly higher than the Force-wide average of 16% but a decrease from 28% in 2007. A total of 23 allegations were disposed of in this manner, with allegations of "Improper Attitude" and "Neglect of Duty" being most likely to be withdrawn.
In all of the divisions in the Territories the percentage of dispositions that resulted in withdrawals was significantly higher than the Force-wide percentage; by at least ten (10) percentage points. This is a concern for the Commission, as there is evidence to suggest that public complaints are being improperly withdrawn and that informal resolutions are being erroneously captured as withdrawals on Forms 4110.
Terminations (Notice of Direction)65
In 2008, in 10% of the dispositions received from the Territories, a Notice of Direction was issued which addressed 59 allegations. Allegations that were most likely to be subject to termination paragraphs included "Improper Search of Premises", "Improper Persons/Vehicles Search", and "Irregularity in Procedure". The grounds for termination most often invoked were paragraph (c).
Service Standards: Complaint Processing Time66
On average, it took 76 days to issue a disposition once the complaint was lodged. This is in comparison to the RCMP national average of 103 days and a decrease from 99 days in 2007. The average number of days to issue a complaint disposition was 76 for Commission-lodged complaints, the same number of days for RCMP-lodged complaints.
It typically took complainants in this division 306 days to lodge a complaint following the incident date. On average, complainants waited 172 days after the incident took place before lodging a complaint with the Commission, while complaints lodged with the RCMP averaged 54367 days after the incident.
The Territories: Complaint Timeline Based on the Organization the Complaint Was Lodged With
The average number of days for the Commission to receive the complaint disposition from the territories was 45 for Commission-lodged complaints as opposed to the 48 days for RCMP-lodged complaints. This is a significant improvement over 2007, where the numbers of days were 148 and 76 respectively.
Complaint timelines were also determined by disposition type:
- It took, on average, 115 days to issue a Final Report. For these cases, 661 days, on average, elapsed before a complainant lodged the original complaint.
- It took, on average, 67 days to issue a Notice of Direction. On average, 540 days elapsed before a complainant lodged the complaint in these cases.
- On average, it took 51 days to complete a withdrawal. On average, 45 days elapsed before a complainant lodged a complaint that was disposed of in this manner.
- On average it took 62 days to enter into an informal resolution. It took 102 days, on average, before a complainant lodged a complaint that was disposed of in this manner.
The Territories: Number of Days to Issue the Disposition by Disposition Type
Complaint timelines were also determined by allegation type for the three most common allegations.
- For allegations of "Neglect of Duty", it took, on average, 107 days to issue a disposition. It took, on average, a complainant 204 days after the incident date to file a complaint for this type of allegation.
- For allegations of "Improper Attitude", it took, on average, 45 days to issue a disposition. It took, on average, a complainant 105 days following the incident date to lodge a complaint for this type of allegation.
- For allegations of "Improper Use of Force", it took, on average, 92 days to issue a disposition. It took, on average, a complainant 15 days following the incident date to lodge a complaint for this type of allegation.
- For allegations of "Oppressive Conduct", it took, on average, 112 days to issue a disposition. It took, on average, a complainant 343 days after the incident date to lodge a complaint for this type of allegation.
63 The Commission has noted over a number of years ongoing concerns with the RCMP's policing in the North; of great concern is the manner in which use of force is utilized by members within the Territories, as well as the resolution of complaints concerning the use of force. These and other issues of concern have been expanded upon in the Commission's RCMP Use of the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) Interim Report, RCMP Use of the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) Final Report, RCMP Use of the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW): January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008 Special Report, as well as various Chair-Initiated Complaints stemming from incidents in Inuvik and Whitehorse and the recent Police Investigating the Police Chair-Initiated Public Interest Investigation. Further, the Commission has serious concerns with respect to the administration of the RCMP public complaint process within the Territories.
64 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.
65 The RCMP may decide to terminate a complaint under three strict grounds provided for in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection 45.36(5) of the RCMP Act. These paragraphs are:
- the complaint is one that could more appropriately be dealt with, initially or completely, according to a procedure provided under any other Act of Parliament;
- the complaint is trivial, frivolous, vexatious or made in bad faith; and
- having regard to all the circumstances, investigation or further investigation is not necessary or reasonably practicable.
66 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.
67 The range for this average was 0 to 10,311 days. One case related to an incident from 1980 which contributed to the average being skewed. While the reasons for this delay are 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