A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer walks in the foyer of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on January 29, 2010.CHRIS WATTIE
Every Mountie on street patrol should have a security camera installed on his or her uniform, according to a group of Liberal senators who today released a position paper on the future of the RCMP.
"I think the benefits will outweigh the costs," Senator Colin Kenny, the paper's lead author, said in an interview. He added that technology now exists that could make the devices - that would document just about everything a cop does - relatively cheap and ubiquitous.
While it's common for some police forces to place videocameras on dashboards of squad cars, installing cameras on individual officers is an exceedingly rare step. The hope of the move would be to help police gather evidence, while insulating them against allegations of wrongful arrest. The videocameras would also document any police missteps.
The 102-page report, Toward a Red Serge Revival, was made public in Ottawa this morning by Liberal members of the Senate security committee. The prorogation of Parliament halted work on an earlier draft paper, on which the committee had so far failed to reach a consensus.
Vancouver's police department has mused about installing cameras on officers within the next few years, but has yet to launch a pilot project. The San Jose Police Department claims to be the first major North American jurisdiciton to pioneer the use of cameras for individual police officers.
In a pilot program starting last December, 18 police officers began wearing earpieces rigged with video capabilities that turn on when officers encounter members of the public. So far, the test run is a success, Jermaine Thomas of the San Jose police said. "The officers state that people are acting differently because they know they are on camera," he said.
Officer Thomas said the police cameras are an initiative of Taser International, Inc. - the same company whose electric stun guns have figured in a number of prisoner-death controversies. "They approached our chief and our chief signed onto it," he said.
One Mountie expressed skepticism about the workability of the videocamera proposal. "There would have to be a lot of legislation before we start taping people 24 hours a day," said Staff Sergeant Scott Warren, a member of the RCMP staff relations program.
He said the personal cameras would raise a host of issues for cops, including exposing them to criticism that the cameras routinely breach privacy laws or improperly obtain evidence from inside private spaces. The cameras would also make it all but impossible for street cops to recruit confidential sources, he said.
By and large, Staff Sgt. Warren said, the Mountie rank and file would be split on the measure. "You'd have a mix. Some would say 'Tape me, go ahead,' " he said.
But other Mounties would say, " 'No way what's the point? You don't trust me.' "
The Mounties have come under criticism for overzealous use of tasers, including the fatal altercation with Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver Airport in 2007 and a 15-year-old handcuffed girl in Yellowknife that same year.
"RCMP marked vehicles and uniformed officers should be equipped with miniature cameras that would enhance transparency for both officers and citizens from false accusations of improper behaviour," the report reads.
In general, the Liberal senators suggest that the Mounties must be better funded, better educated and more disciplined if they are to escape future controversies.
"The image of the Red Serge has been sullied over the past decade," they write. "Investigations into the RCMP's workings have demonstrated that it is in serious need of repair. The repair work has begun. But major challenges remain."
Today's RCMP report amounts to an end run around the Tories and a parting shot from the Liberal-dominated committee that had put federal security bodies under a critical microscope for much of the past decade.
When the Senate resumes sitting, the Conservatives are likely to take charge of committees for the first time in years because of new appointments by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The senators highlight a litany of ingrained problems within Canada's 30,000-member, $4-billion-a-year federal police force. And they offer what they hope amounts to constructive criticism.
One key recommendation - which echoes several similar reports - is oversight. Simply put, the Liberal senators believe the Mounties aren't held to account to the exacting standards that they need to be.
They recommend better civilian oversight from an outside-the-force commission that has full power to subpoena RCMP documents and search through RCMP databases. The senators also recommend that the same watchdog body that oversees CSIS scrutinize the Mounties' terrorism investigations.
For more typical investigations, the senators suggest that RCMP patrol cars be equipped with dashboard cameras, a practice commonplace in many jurisdictions.
Conservative Senator Pamela Wallin, who sits on the security committee, was not impressed with the findings of her Liberal colleagues, including Sen. Kenny.
"I can only call it grandstanding or concern about losing his bullypulpit," she said, suggesting the position paper may breach Parliamentary procedures. She said the Mounties have lately made strides in creating a more diverse and disciplined force.
Diversity is another theme of the report. Only 20 per cent of RCMP officers are women and just 6 per cent are visible minorities, the senators point out, arguing Canada's national police force has a long way to go before it properly reflects an increasingly multicultural country.
The report recommends that bonuses for senior RCMP commanders be contingent on who they hire, so as to meet "higher diversity targets within their area of command."
Money is likely to be become an issue for the Mounties in age of increased federal austerity. The senators point out that the RCMP budget has increased from $1.3-billion to $4.3-billion over the past 22 years but they argue that's still not enough.
New laws and Charter protections are increasing police workloads, the senators say, meaning taxpayers need to shell out for an expanded force. "The bottom line is that, as we have been arguing for years, the RCMP needs at least 5,000 additional officers and arguably as many as 7,000."
To improve leadership, the senators urge the RCMP to recruit more university graduates and encourage police commanders to go back to school to better understand the complicated legal environment they operate in.
The senators note their assessment draws on Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor's report on the Maher Arar affair and David Brown's investigation into the RCMP's pension-fund scandal. They also credit the many reports written by Paul Kennedy, the career civil servant who had served as the chair of the RCMP civilian-complaints commission until the Conservatives opted not to renew his last year.
"When a person of Mr. Kennedy's stature and experience - a person obviously committed to restoring public trust in the RCMP through reasonable oversight and review - is excluded from reform discussions … don't you have to worry?" the Liberal senators write.