RCMP should not investigate own
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Updated: August 12, 2009 4:38 PM
The RCMP's approach to investigating its own members is "flawed and inconsistent," a police watchdog concluded Tuesday.
Paul Kennedy, chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, said the RCMP has solid policies on how criminal investigations should be undertaken, but no mandatory requirements for the handling of criminal investigations of its own members.
"As the seriousness of an alleged offence by a member increases, the discretion for the RCMP to respond as it deems appropriate must be removed and be replaced by mandatory requirements."
Among the recommendations in the commission's 312-page report, is for all investigations involving death should be referred to an external police force or provincial criminal investigation body.
The death of Robert Dziekanski at the hands of four Richmond Mounties at Vancouver International Airport in 2007 sparked a heated debate over internal investigations.
- by Matthew Hoekstra
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