Civilian Accountability of the RCMP – Audio Transcript

Announcer: In addition to its national responsibilities, the 20,000 member RCMP provides provincial police services in eight provinces and three territories as well as municipal police services in about 600 First Nations communities and municipalities. It polices major urban centres like Surrey, British Columbia and small remote communities in Canada's north. It investigates everything from organized crime and murder to highway traffic offences like speeding and disputes between neighbours. For the RCMP to be most effective, it needs the support of ordinary citizens. With that in mind, Parliament established the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP. It is the eyes and ears of the public on policing issues. It is an independent body where ordinary citizens can express any concerns they have about the on-duty conduct of RCMP members.

PEK: "People are demanding that the police now be accountable for their actions. They've been given extraordinary powers and increasingly so each year we tend to give them more and more powers in response to changing threats that we perceive in society. For us not to give the citizens a voice in terms of what the police are doing and to provide feedback to the police as to what a citizen's perspective is. They expect us, I think, to examine professionally what the facts are, to bring some valued added, to be neutral, because there are many unfounded complaints just as there may be complaints which, in fact, have substance to them. So, our job is to go and identify is there a problem dealing with an individual member's behaviour or, in some cases, is there a systemic issue which is how the officer is trained because frequently they are just doing as they are trained

Announcer: Help for citizens with concerns about the conduct of a member of the RCMP is only a phone call away.

Receptionist: Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP bonjour. Commission des plaintes du public contre la GRC bonjour.

Announcer: Citizens from across Canada can discuss their concerns with a complaint analyst by phoning the Commission at 1-800-665-6878. Staff at the Surrey, British Columbia office will explain how the complaint process works.

"What we want is we want to be able to be accessible to all Canadians. So, for example someone who is hearing impaired, we have a service so that they can contact us. Aboriginal people or people who recently-arrived Canadians who are not comfortable in either English or French for example, we have a service whereby the caller and the analyst, they're conferenced with an interpreter in the language of the person's choice so that the description of the events or the complaint that they wanna lodge, they're able to describe that in their own language and so nuances aren't lost and the description is given in a way that they're comfortable with."

Announcer: Some complainants want to be heard without triggering a lengthy investigation. Such complaints can be resolved informally usually within a few days. A complaint analyst will contact the detachment and work toward a resolution which is satisfactory for both the complainant and the RCMP.

"We have an opportunity, with the assistance of the RCMP, to use this virtually every day and the RCMP have embraced the process and they spend their time, they will spend their time with an analyst on the phone to determine what the issue is and then how can we resolve it to the citizen's satisfaction."

Announcer: Other complainants prefer to proceed with a formal complaint and investigation.

"What I'll do is I'll get their name and address and their phone number although you can make a complaint anonymously. It's much better if we do have that information and then once I've gotten those particulars, we'll get into the crux of their concerns.

"For example, there may be a domestic dispute or a child custody issue and the caller thinks that they're not being treated fairly in that process or that the police allegations are being made against them that they don't feel are being properly investigated by the police."

"We take that information and we put it into a report, a complaint form. We try to put their narrative in one section but we distil their narrative into their allegations in another section of that report. We'll then send that report to the RCMP."

Announcer: Complainants will receive a written response from the RCMP explaining the results of its investigation and what action, if any, it has taken. If complainants are not satisfied, they can phone the Commission and ask it to conduct a comprehensive review. The RCMP is notified of the review and sends all documents in its possession regarding the complaint to the Commission. As soon as the evidence is properly documented, review analysts conduct a preliminary assessment of the issues.

"The complainant and some friends were at a bar and there was an incident involving a member who was there just on a, on a patrol. The complainant says that he had just said hello to the officer. The officer didn't respond but then apparently reacted by pushing him across the bar. His partner ended up coming to assist and the complainant was tasered a couple of times and arrested."

Question: and the taser, was that used in stun mode in this particular case?"

"Yes, it was."

Announcer: The file is assigned to a review analyst who has expertise in the issues raised by the complainant. The analyst will conduct a detailed examination of the documentation and determine if additional evidence is needed to complete the review.

"Hey Simon."

Simon: Hi. How are you?

"Good. How are you doing?"

Simon: I've got these two cases of excessive force and I thought I'd give you a briefing on them.
"Right. Great."

Simon: They're sort of two, they're in contrast to each other in that this is the first one and the public complaint investigation is extremely thorough.

"OK."

Simon: It's a textbook example of a good investigation and the material is very complete."

"We have to sift through the materials produced as a result of that and look at the decisions made through a lens that we're able to provide some real concrete advice not only to the RCMP but also some feedback to the complainant to be able to ensure that they're heard in an impartial and an unbiased manner.

Simon: Good morning.

"Oh!"

Simon: How are you today?

"Hi Simon."

Simon: I hope you can help me out with this. I have a review that I'm doing right now and the complaint arises from an arrest for obstruction and I'm questioning the lawfulness of the arrest here and I was hoping you would give me a legal opinion.

Announcer: The Commission's research on taser use began with a complaint by an Aboriginal woman who was tasered after she had been handcuffed. It culminated with two comprehensive reports and major recommendations for the Minister of Public Safety.

"One took a very systemic look at 'what are the policies'? What are the other policies that exist out there amongst other police departments and came up with a set of recommendations – 10 to be exact – and the second report was about six months later, where the people that work here went in, worked with the RCMP and mined the data, actually got in to look at the usage reports that the RCMP fills out each time they use this and in some cases the lack of usage reports and really tried to understand how the members are approaching the use of this device. You're really informing the public policy debate."

"So, we're here for the meeting."

"Come on in."

"Sir, further to my message, we're here to discuss a file with you, get your sense of the matter and it has to do with allegations of excessive use of force."

Simon: The complaint arises from an arrest for obstruction and I had some difficulties with the lawfulness of the arrest so I obtained a legal opinion on it and it's right here.

"OK. And maybe what I'd like to do is maybe sit down, read through the opinion and, is there enough, have you got a summary of the facts in there that I can...

Simon: All the facts are in the file for you.

"OK. I can look at that and then maybe we can get together and sort out, based on those, where we go next."

Announcer: All decisions are handed down by the Chair or Vice-Chair. They conduct a final examination of the evidence before providing instructions for the drafting of the decision for their signature.

Announcer: The website not only explains how the complainant review processes work but it also publishes all major decisions and reports issued by the Commission. It details how the Commission is holding the RCMP accountable. It also allows the public to hold the Commission accountable, to determine if the Commission is properly fulfilling its mandate as the eyes and ears of the public on RCMP policing issues in Canada.

"At the end of the day, I cannot think of anything more important that we can do in society because we have to maintain and restore the public's confidence in the police. The police cannot fulfill their function without the support of the public and we all benefit from public safety. Peace and security of Canada depends on this excellent relationship between the public and the police."