I do believe that having a valid drivers license is a condition of employment for RCMP.

Book 'em, Dano!

I know it was just an err on judgement, but man, i bet they wish that it was not blown out of proportion like this.

I think the owners of Opinion 250 should be dropping this news, to do them a favour.

Yeah lets keep the public from knowing just what kind of police officers are working in Prince George.Lets not hold these people too a higher standard."He spoke" does not speak for me!

We cannot have officers with guns making an error in judgment at any time.

See Robert Dziekanski and the fallout from that.

Every time an officer gets away with an infraction, it reinforces the god complex. It is no wonder they consider themselves above the law.

This kind of the story just gives the resident cop-haters more reason to keep on hatin'. By the looks of it, Loki didn't even read the story.

Wow they might get punished,unbelivable. Now if they had murdered someone,no problem.

I believe that all persons should be treated equally, including the RCMP. On my drive home the other evening, I was parallel to an RCMP vehicle at a red light. I was able to stop before the solid line in front of the crosswalk but noticed that the officer beside me stopped well into the crosswalk. Now the right thing to do would be to back up but that never occured (there was room to do so). I guess some officers feel this does not apply to them...perhaps if it was the other way around I would have been a candidate for a ticket.....

This whole thing could have been avoided had a taser been involved. For whatever reason when a taser is involved no one seems to care.

With no video of the incident it would have never made the news.


So THAT'S the real reason why they have the taser.

If they can't follow the law, how do we expect them to enforce it?

These guys should be fired from the RCMP.

Now if they would have shot a guy in the head for drinking beer at a hockey game......no problem.

I knew the press would milk this for all they were worth

I am amazed at how the reprinting of a news release from the RCMP is being tagged as the media blowing things out of proportion.

Plain and simple. Off duty RCMP were speeding. When signaled by an on duty RCMP officer to pull over they didn't and accelerated away. When finally caught and pulled over they were disciplined.

They screwed up and now they pay the price. Not much spin to be had there.

I think this is worth milking, i really do. I have been caught speeding, no problem. I have never, nor do i believe i ever will, flee from arrest. This isnt just a little error in judgement. These guys flouted the law. I hate reading about people who escape justice by forcing the cops to back off for safety reasons. It doesnt matter what the original offence was, its the fleeing that gets me.
I would expect acriminal record if i fled like that. I dont find it comforting to find out that i would just get a driving suspension. Big deal. No wonder people do it.

Just to point out, failing to stop for police is a provincial statute, as is causing a pursuit by police. This is the main reason all police in BC have put into effect a NO PURSUIT policy as most pursuits by police start with traffic code violations. For a driving offense to be raised to a criminal offense the police have to show intent to continue the original offense, for speeding the speeds have to be high enough and continuous to be upgraded to dangerous driving which is a criminal code offense. As the off duty officers in question did stop for the second officer there can be little to prove enough to go to a criminal charge. As the Superintendant of Motor Vehicles Office deemed the speeds in question were high enough that office suspended the drivers licenses of those involved. It is possible that the fact the accused were police officers may have played into the suspensions as well. As to firing the officers involved then this level of punishment should be leveled at anyone whom MUST have a valid drivers license to do their jobs. A person with a class 4 or higher drivers license is considered a PROFESSIONAL DRIVER just for having the higher class license, so they too should be held to a higher standard than everyone else. Probably no support for that as these are just poor working stiffs eh!
And where does the comments on tasers and such come from this story anyways.

He spoke ... MrPG ... BCRacer

Now there are the people I wish to compliment. They know how the world should work and how it does work in some parts of it. An elite police force who can do as they wish without consequence. Answerable to no one. Especially not to the public who think that elite force is there to serve them and protect them. How naiive can the public get?

Moosinator, people who are classed as professional drivers DO lose their jobs if they lose their licenses. That's a no brainer, how can a driver do his job if he can't drive? DUH!!

What surprises me is that they were charged at all. They speed all the time, it's one of the perks of the job.

Wow, my "spin-detector" didn't even go off while reading that story.

Is it really possible that the situation was actually handled appropriately ?

I strongly doubt that the SMV considers whether they are officers are not, they likely followed similar case history. It is not their job to discipline cops, just drivers (whatever the drivers may do for a living).

Once upon a time, me and junior were headed off to Hooterville to see the air show. (That's how far back this story goes.) Any how this m/c RCMP officer guy pulls up behind my vehicle, so I purposely abided by the speed limit. Minutes later he passed me and disappeared down the highway. Being me, I stepped on the gas to see where he was going. Wouldn't ya know it. Here he was behind 5 or 6 cars way down the highway also obviously going the speed limit. (Great minds think alike) You'll never guess what he did. He passed those six vehicles and disappeared again. Who'd a thunk it, eh? And that folks, is a lasting impression on me when it comes to the fuzz in similar circumstances. I can't help it. It's kinda like etched in stone.

The three must have been going faster than a police cruiser can go. Can a cruiser go faster than 200km/h?

But they weren't very smart because they must have known that they were going to be pulled over by police a very short time later.

It's standard procedure. And that is precisely what happened. Now they have to eat humble pie.

Actually, since no one got hurt let's move on to other news.

In Australia the cops tasered a guy who was coming at them while sniffing gasoline and he caught fire! Flames were shooting out of his face and he suffered burns over 20% of his body!

The Aussies sure know how to handle trouble makers!

Gus wrote:

"Now there are the people I wish to compliment. They know how the world should work and how it does work in some parts of it. An elite police force who can do as they wish without consequence. Answerable to no one. Especially not to the public who think that elite force is there to serve them and protect them. How naiive can the public get?"

I say it's a good thing we live in a country like Canada and can freely criticise them as most people always seem to do.

The police here are very good compared to many parts of the world. Are they perfect? No, but who is? I mean, besides all the 'resident experts' around here.

"The police here are very good compared to many parts of the world"

Organizations and the people they employ need to be compared to a standard called best practices, not countries that have organizations that display worst practices.

There is something called ethics, which our society has lost rack of.

When police speed excessively enough to have their license pulled, the same as the cabinet minister did that was responsible for ICBC, they break the law to an extent beyond tolerance for members of the police force. When they flee from a police car with flashing lights on, the go even further than that.

There are certain organizations and members of the organizations that need to be beyond reproach. The RCMP, more than any other police force in Canada, is such an organization.

The question I have is why is this happening? The entire force needs a clean up or needs to be reduced to a manageable size as a national force with similar duties to the FBI. Cities and provinces should have their own police forces. I believe there would be a saving to be had.

If members of a PG police were caught in the same type of situation, I think it would be much easier to deal with. Too much bureaucracy to pay for in this case.

Hats off to the members who stopped the speeders and proceeded with charges. It would have been easier to let fellow officers go I am sure, rather than suffer the cold shoulder from other members in the force. Nice to see someone taking their job seriously.

diplomat - they do not call off a chase once the cruiser is maxed out...

So the city is down 3 cops - probably all from the same watch which presumably means while they get paid to work desk jobs - the city is paying overtime to fill in their positions to cover the areas these 3 should be covering....

RCMP, Firefighters, Paramedics, Jail Guards, Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Judges, Bankers, Businessmen, Businesswomen, what is really the difference? Just different occupations. Everyone is equal and nobody is perfect.

So, why is it that we expect perfection from the RCMP? They are imperfect people like the rest of us. When they mess up, there should be consequences, just like the rest of us.

How about getting everyone off the pedestals and treating them like they should be treated? The same as everyone else. They were on their own time and doing their own thing. And they got caught, the same as you or I.

Would you feel better if we just shot them?

I disagree. The police, like judges are representatives of a higher office. They represent law and order and as such must be lawful and orderly themselves. Law and order rely on the cooperation and respect of the public in order to function. If the cops can break the law, and judges too, then why should you or I follow it? SOmeone has to set the standard. Who else is there? I also think it is important that the people enforcing the law are folks who actually believe in it. I dont want cops and judges who are just putting in time and punching the clock any more than i want my doctor to do so.
I think you will find that there are other professions whose members risk losing their membership if they are convicted of a criminal offence. Come to think of it, how many jobs out there require that their employees be bondable? Looking at it that way i dont think it is unreasonable to expect cops to obey the law. It is either that or stop lecturing folks on dangerous driving (especially when giving out a ticket).

"RCMP, Firefighters, Paramedics, Jail Guards, Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Judges, Bankers, Businessmen, Businesswomen, what is really the difference"

The difference is that the RCMP (and ANY other government or public organization) is there to serve EVERYONE in Canada and in order for that organization to be effective, people have to have faith in their ability to carry out their duties in an appropriate manner. The integrity of the organization and its' employees cannot be compromised, otherwise the whole thing starts to fall apart.

It would be no different that Customs Agents getting busted for smuggling, Tax Authorities getting busted for cheating on their taxes, Judges presiding over cases involving people they know, health care workers stealing narcotics from a hospital, Prison Guards giving prisoners contraband, Conservation Officers getting caught poaching, etc.

Any of these people would be in serious trouble if they wound up doing any of these things, possibly even including termination of employment or being brought up on criminal charges. The reason is because their acts are in extreme conflict to the duties they are expected to uphold. Not dealing with the actions in a decisive manner eventually erodes public confidence in the institution in such a manner that it sends a message that anyone can break the law to the same extent. In short, it takes the teeth out of the law and undermines our entire system.

Now obviously there is a range of "infractions", ranging from minor to serious, that could occur to anyone holding a position of a public nature. If these guys were just caught doing 70 at the top of Peden Hill, I'd have a much different view than what they were caught for.

What they did get caught for is something that ANYONE should have the book thrown at them for and the fact that they are cops DOES in my eye make it that much worse. They have to set a higher standard just by the very nature of their profession. Not doing so contributes in a significant way to the problems we are seeing with the RCMP in recent times. All you have to do is look at public opinion polls of the force to see the proof. People are losing respect for the RCMP and with that comes a belief that they don't have to abide by the rules that they are expected to uphold.

chester: The reason we cannot treat them the same as everyone else is because they are not the same and they know it.

Chester there were three of them choosing to break the law at the same time. Three that new they were doing wrong. I believe this proves a serious problem with the RCMP. I ask why did it take so long for this to be made public. I don't know if it was public earlier. Maybe charges were only brought forward after realizing to many people were involved for a cover up. Would there even have been a chase if these three were recognized in the beginning. All these doubts surface because of recent RCMP conduct.

I have no problem with the law breakers being punished be they of any race, creed, religion or profession.
But if it involves the police it seems the story gets reported over and over and over again.

report it. sure. then let it die like all the other stories.

The problem is that the media seems to focus on the bad isolated incidents, which causes people on here rub their hands with glee.

The constables in this story were clearly in the wrong and should be punished, no question.

But how about some balance from the media and hearing the 'good news' stories every once in a while? Oh yeah, people don't want to hear about that.

123 doctors had an abosultely excellent past month in their practices. Waiting times were reduced once more and fewer patients required additional treatment after the initial visit.

During an exit interview with several patients, the comments ranged from "treatment was good as normal" to "my doctor seems to be improving with every visit I have with him. We are lucky to have such good doctors in this community."

One doctor was reprimanded by the BC Medical Association and another had his license suspended for 6 months due to improprieties with a patient.

Is that the sort of reporting you are looking for MrPG?

Thanks for proving my point, gus.

I think this story should get the mileage that it is getting for several reasons, but mostly because this is a story of INTEGRITY.

This is the type of action that restores the integrity of the RCMP and I am glad to see this situation was handled appropriately and above reproach.

Now that is professional in all regards.
The 3 officers involved will by no means soon forget their transgressions. They are still salvageable as contributing officers.

This story is not about "damn all the cops". This story is about 3 officers that got severely reprimanded for breaking traffic laws.
This story is about the RCMP taking ownership of the situation and handling it in the prescribed manner, as opposed to burying it in the backyard.
This story is about the RCMP restoring integrity to policing.

Remember that, in addition to the suspension, reassignments, traffic fines, and public embarrassment, they still have an internal disciplinary hearing to deal with.

These guys were treated fairly and equitably. This situation was handled most judiciously.

"Opinion 250 has been told one of the officers involved was slated to transfer to the lower mainland, but once the new post heard about this incident, refused to accept the constable."

So, for one member, there is even an additional consequence.
He likely wanted to go to Vancouver for career enhancement. All the highly specialized and elite units are based there, and there is a wealth of training and experience to be had.

The new posting could have easily turned a blind eye, and we would not know.
Instead, they said thanks but no thanks.

That's called integrity.