"once they realized the three were members of the force, came back to North District to consult with superiors about what to do next"

WTF difference does it make if they are members? They were caught red handed breaking the law. This is what I was talking about before about being above the law and having a god complex. There should be an immediate escalation of charges just because they have a position of authority and the RCMP as a whole has a moral duty to be transparent (they are in this) and to be beyond reproach (which they have not in any incident involving a member). There has been a lot of noise made about improving the public image of the RCMP, and when these sort of incidents occur, it takes away any gains. Their bikes should be confiscated immediately.

I am not calling for their dismissal, but something public like cross walk safety or all next year giving safe driving presentations to high schools.

It's been said before, but some people are thicker than others... They are entitled to the same rights and due process as any Canadian Citizen.

I'm sure they will do some form of community service for this... but it doesn't matter. Whatever the punishment is, it will not be enough for some people.

Likely, the officers involved in charging were unsure how to proceed (whether criminally, or otherwise) and rightly consulted their superiors. This can also happen with a civilian. I have seen many investigations involving civilians, that lasted a year or longer and the only result was a single traffic ticket.

Their behaviour likely did not warrant proceeding criminally, and from what I have read, it appears to be that way.

If there had been an accident, or injuries, or property damage, or impairment involved, it would have been different.

I like the fact that superiors were consulted, and the fact that it was run by Crown Counsel. They sought legal opinions on the matter, consulting the law books, instead of going to see the paint store for 5 gallons of white wash.

They let the law books, case law, make the decision for them.

Let's see what Joe Public gets for this, and they can have the same. That's how it SHOULD be done.

There are police officers with impaired driving convictions, charging people with impaired driving.

It's not about being the local clergy, it's about upholding the law and doing their job, and suffering the same consequences if they break it.

It's about impartiality, integrity, equity, fairness, blind justice.

It's not about perfection. If it were, then where would they find almost 20,000 perfect, flawless people to staff the RCMP ?

Would anyone else, doing the same thing, have escaped getting a ticket? How stupid does the RCMP think the general public is?

I don't know of anyone who has been caught speeding, driving erratically or refusing to stop for a cop that has not gotten the minimum of a ticket, and usually a lot more!

MrPG:
As private citizens they would have the same civil rights as anyone else. However, they are not private citizens and more than that there is culture in any Police force to protect their own. This must stop as it goes towards the public's view of the RCMP. This is just another stellar example of the potential for abuse that has been noted just about every time a police officer is involved in something untoward.

If they are not able to hold themselves out as shining examples of citizenry, then they are no more than vigilante. The RCMP history is based on a foundation of exemplary behavior and ethics. Contemporary forces do not exhibit that foundation.

Good points thereasonableman. Agreed that this is not a criminal matter. It is a traffic matter, and more than that it is a public image issue. With the litany of events over the last many years, one would think they would like to back up their expressed desire to cleanup their public image. This event does not quite do that. Still too much of protecting their own. Kudos to the officers that proceeded with charges and taking the right steps. The crown chickened out of the decision, that is another matter entirely.

I see opportunity here. Assign them to foot patrol in the downtown area and lets see if the old fashioned approach to policing (Cops on the beat)shows any improvement in the crime stats.

Are you blind willow? The three have been served with Violation tickets of
excessive speeding
drive without due care and consideration
failing to stop for police.

Look it up: at least a thousand dollars each. This is not including what they may be fined by the rcmp internal code of conduct system.

You and Loki should give it a rest.

"If it were, then where would they find almost 20,000 perfect, flawless people to staff the RCMP ?"

The same place as the Church finds priests?

"However, they are not private citizens and more than that there is culture in any Police force to protect their own."

This is where you and I clearly differ. You seem to think there's a god-complex culture out there (which is presumably a bad thing) and you yourself see them as being more than private citizens. You can't have it both ways.

I think willowynde means a ticket on the spot.

I know that I have never been in a situation where the police scratch their heads as to what they should be ticketing me for and tell me to keep on driving and watch for something that might come in the mail. Does this actually happen?

Who does it happen to? Special people like doctors rushing to a hospital, mayors rushing to meetings, police, janitors late for night shift, MLAs trying to catch a ferry?

So, if I keep on driving when a police car is pursuing me or someone in front of me, I do not have to stop? and if I don't, I don't get a ticket on the spot?

Surely a ticket could have been given for excessive speeding to start with. There is nothing I am aware of that states that once a ticket is issued, that other tickets cannot follow.

Actually I can have it both ways, it's called a menage et trois.

Thanks Loki for reminding me once again why I should pretty much ignore your posts.

could not resist being flippant for a moment

in any case, the god complex and protecting their own is related and reinforcing. If you give someone absolute power and the force needed to ensure that power (guns and legislation), they actually believe that they are all powerful. As someone so eloquently stated, they are as human as any one else. We must remember the maxim that absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you live with intense risk daily and you have the ability to strike back at any one with impunity, you will experience a change in mentality. That is a given. My point has always only been that being they uphold and enforce the law, any charges incurred should be more stringent than the average Joe.

just for the record, if I got an inpaired driving conviction, or was convicted of a more serious offence i would run the risk of losing my professioinal designation.
Are some of you trying to tell me that there are not 20,000 canadians out there who have no serious offences (criminal or otherwise) to their name? Honestly, i understand trying to win an arguement but are some of you suggesting a cop should consider to be a cop when he has a drunk driving offence under his belt? How about two? Maybe he should be allowed to go on with a vehicular homicide too.
Is there so much crime reported out there that we just assume that we all have the right to get busted for something serious a few times without consequences? The offences in question here are not career breakers in my view, unless the trio were actually trying to flee to avoid the ticket (ie they knew there was a traffic cop after them and failed to stop). If the latter can be proved then hell yeah, they need more than a driving suspension, they need sanctions at work. Enforcing the law requires that the populace on the whole has respect for it. If even the cops give each other the finger then why shouldnt we all just do whatever we can get away with.
There is a lot of fantasy going on in this discussion. You doubt me? Try doing what they did and see if you have to wait for the RCMP to decide whether to thro the book at you.

So if I understand this correctly, if I'm racing around on the highway with three of my buddies (doing AT LEAST 140 km/h), driving without care for the safety of others and I run away from a pursuing police officer only to get caught down the road, I can expect to be told to go on my way and the cops will catch up with me once they figure out what to do? LMAO.

Forgive me for thinking you are nuts if you believe this is how it would play out for "average joe".

So what's this about when they realized later that they were cops, then they went to their superior for advice. What a crock!

Does anyone really believe that they didn't inform their brothers at the time who they were?
Of course they did. They always do when caught in radar to avoid a ticket. Don't forget these were "bikers", maybe tied in with organized crime. If they didn't know who they were it would have been handled totally differently.

The problem here is that the first officer radioed for help stopping them. Once it was in the system it had to be followed up.

Then they went to their superiors to find out what to do. Of course any other joe would be ticketed, maybe taken in for a drug and alcohol test, most likely even handcuffed and taken away for "processing".

"The inspector says while the three were not issued tickets when they were pulled over on Highway 16 east bound at the McBride Timber Road in mid May, that is not an unusual occurrence." I would like to know who has ever been pulled over for any infraction and was not issued a ticket? I think they would not have been issued a ticket unless someone let the cat out of the bag. Then the RCMP had to issue these tickets. I would almost bet that not being issued a ticket at the time of the infraction would have been quietly sweep under the carpet.

Boy! I bet those RCMP officers feel kinda silly right now. Sure hope this has been a lesson to them. And for all other Mounties, too.

"My point has always only been that being they uphold and enforce the law, any charges incurred should be more stringent than the average Joe."

That is only considered when they have misused their authority to commit an offence.

"Surely a ticket could have been given for excessive speeding to start with."

Thereby committing you to proceeding under the MVA instead of the CCC.

"There is nothing I am aware of that states that once a ticket is issued, that other tickets cannot follow."

The thing of the matter is that the charging officer likely considered that their behaviour possibly bordered on criminal and sought advice whether the 3 should be charged criminally. This is evident by the fact that they sent the investigation to Crown Counsel for their review. Crown Counsel does not review traffic offences in the course of their duties, only criminal offences.

The nuts and bolts are that everybody had a look at it, everybody gave their opinion, and the result is that the above MVA charges were deemed most appropriate under the circumstances and proceeded with, likely at the direction of brass.

I cannot disagree with that decision, from what I have read.

Whether anybody tried to initially hide it or not, I couldn't say. It was appropriate to delay the decision whether to proceed criminally or not, and consult. If they had decided to proceed criminally, then the 3 would have received Appearance Notices after the fact.

I feel that this was an unusual situation, and that the staff involved wished to handle it as appropriately as possible.

I agree with my2bits,once the first officer used the radio the cat was out of the bag. After consulting with top brass they realized it could not be covered up. For anyone that dosen't agree with that, just look at past practice.

The cops goy themselves into this mess with everyone always looking at them with suspicion.

This whole affair is bull s#@! The RCMP are trying to create good press ("Look at us, we treat our members the same as you ordinary people") I think it is a smokescreen, to deflect attention away from the over zealous use of conductive energy weapons (Tasers)
metalman.

Ever get the feeling that no matter how the RCMP would have handled this, people would still find fault with it? I sure do.

True true, damned if you do and damned if you don't. It happened, it was investigated and now it rests to see what happens next with the members who were at fault.

When those 3 members rode away from the roadside on their bikes, after being stopped, they knew full well that there was going to be follow up action taken. It was impossible not to happen.

The first car roadioed ahead....now the dispatcher knows, the call taker knows, every car on the road knows, the watch commander knows, the Officer In Charge will soon know, everyone with a scanner knows, all of the radio communication is recorded on tape,.....how does that avail them of the opportunity for a cover up ?

Just about every type of media reporter/investigator monitors the police radio frequencies.

How about praising them when they act appropriately so that we can chirp when they don't.