Haven’t quite come to the same conclusion as the author in the tyee article, that being that the RCMP needs to be disbanded, but certainly there are a number of items within the organization that need to be addressed, as recent and not so recent events have shown.
At any rate, until I can come up with the definitive word on what should or should not happen, here’s an article in the Tyee that should be helpful in providing some debating points for the htmf discussion club…
I for one say shut them down. I’m not saying let’s dive into lawlessness as we all know how well that will work, but I am a strong perponant of regional policeing. How can any organization be so bold and ignorant to make blank policys that affect the entire country. There is no way the suits in Ottawa can know how to run an effective police force in northern BC, or in the Arctic. Tear down the RCMP, and use the funds they would’ve recieved to allow each region to build a force that is designed to the needs of it’s people.
it’s too late for the RCMP to be fixed, there are too many problems, and the force is too fucked up, it can’t be fixed. It has to be dismantled and a new force built based on lessons from them. There is no way Canadians will ever have faith in the RCMP, so more then a name change is needed. You are right about civillian oversight though, as we are who they are supposed to be represented.
Agreed. A public, transparent investigation is a good idea. The public has serious concerns about RCMP conduct. I know I do. Perhaps some good will come from this.
I think some of you are quickly forgetting all the good that the RCMP has done, and how many of their own who have died in the line of service. 220 have died since the police force was created in 1870s according to a CBC article:
I firmly believe that as in all institutions most people within the RCMP are good people. I also can say that I have some concerns with RCMP conduct. This is not a contradiction. I believe that this recent tazer incident illustrates the need to re-address protocols for the handling of agitated people.
Yes, I do think that the RCMP do a very dangerous, important, and valuable job. I’m glad I don’t do it!
However, it is a perfectly reasonable thing for a citizen to question the conduct of the RCMP when a person dies. If you are a RCMP officer public scrutiny goes with the job. Let us not lose sight of the fact that a man died…perhaps needlessly!! The investigation will hopefully shed some light on all of this.
If you look at the whole picture, the RCMP is not realy to blame. The blame is with airport security. Why did the Polish guy was in the secure area for such a long time??? You can not tell me the authority did not notice him. Most of the security persons don’t even speak English properly and then they are keeping our airports secure? Give me a break though.
Let’s not fall into a ‘supporting the troops’ argument here.
Train them properly. Give them more encouragement to think outside the box (that’s gonna be tough)
Weed out the slackers, and the incompetent.
We still need a national police force, but a ‘one size fits all’ approach needs rethinking.
I personally love thetyee.ca but it doesn’t matter if it’s your left or your right knee-jerking, shallow thinking is shallow thinking.
