RCMP Complaints Commissioner Calls on RCMP To Act
By 250 News
Friday, December 11, 2009 09:50 AM
Prince George, B.C. - For the second time in a week, the Commissioner for Complaints Against the RCMP has issued a scathing report on the activities of the RCMP.
This morning, Paul Kennedy released his report on the investigation into the RCMP use of a taser on a 15 year old female in a juvenile detention Centre in the Northwest Territories in March of 2007.
The RCMP responded to the centre to help deal with a juvenile female. When the Constable arrived on scene, there were five youth officers present, three of whom had hands-on control of the 15 year old. The female in question was lying face down with her hands cuffed behind her back. She was refusing to go to segregation. The Constable warned that if she didn’t obey the order, she would be tasered. The Constable eventually deployed the Taser for a full 5 second cycle.
Commissioner Paul Kennedy has found the Constable deployed the taser when it was unreasonable to do so and that the Constable was not certified to deploy a taser as her qualifications had expired.
The mother of the tasered teen filed a complaint and Kennedy has found the RCMP’s handling of the complaint was deficient in its management, timeliness and the adequacy of the investigation such that it leads to a strong perception of bias.
While Kennedy made 14 recommendations in this case, stressed a hope that the RCMP would act on the recommendations.
"The RCMP has reached a crossroads in its development as a policing agency," said CPC Chair Paul E. Kennedy. "How it responds to the challenges to its reputation as a world-renowned agency will be determined not by statements confirming an understanding that these challenges exist but by embracing a philosophy of change and by making a concerted effort to implement that philosophy."
Earlier this week, Paul Kennedy released his report on the Dziekanski case. In that report he dismissed the statements of the four officers who were directly involved in the tasering of the Polish immigrant at the Vancouver Airport, and raised questions about the manner in which the immediate investigation was conducted.
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Posted by: MrPG on December 11 2009 1:45 PM
Where was the threat?
Good for Paul Kennedy, we need his replacement to be of the same calibre, but I suppose the replacement will be 'hand picked' to follow the party line.
metalman.