Report spotlights bad RCMP conduct

Mounties who drove cruisers drunk, surfed porn on RCMP computers and “deliberately” deleted portions of a document for a major criminal case were some of the 51 disciplinary cases outlined in an annual report.

Of the 89 cases brought to the RCMP Adjudicative Services Branch between April 2011 and March 2012, 24 cases were closed by officer resignations and 14 cases were withdrawn.

The RCMP declined to say what led to the resignations of 15 officers in those 24 cases and suggested the Star file an Access to Information request for the details.

Of the 51 cases that were heard, one staff sergeant was fired for theft, and a constable was asked to resign for neglect of duty.

There were 13 cases of abuse of authority, harassment or inappropriate comments, touching or relationships.

The findings, released in April, precede Bill C-42, which would give the RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson more power in disciplinary cases. The bill is currently in the Senate. New Democrat MP and public safety critic Randall Garrison points to a “cultural problem” that he said was not addressed in the bill.

“There’s obviously some kind of cultural problem in the RCMP on the question of harassment,” Garrison said. “And if you do more training at the front end, then you’re going to reduce the incidents of this happening.”

Discipline for drunk driving, on or off the job, and criminal assault was capped at 10 days of docked pay.

A sergeant who deliberately deleted part of documents in a criminal case lost three days’ pay.

Inappropriate sexual advances to a subordinate cost a sergeant five days’ pay. And lying in a department security investigation cost a staff sergeant five days’ pay. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Julie Gagnon said there are no specific guidelines for the amount of discipline imposed on Mounties.

“There are no guidelines per se,” Gagnon said. “Consistent with other police and professional tribunals, the appropriate sanction is determined by a discipline board after considering a range of principles and factors.”

In the report’s conclusion, the report says there’s not enough funding to keep up with current demands and raised expectations from Paulson.

An additional 128 cases remained open at the end of the report’s term. The findings argue that the percentage of disciplined Mounties falls below the 10-year average of 0.26 per cent of the force.