RCMP and Accountability

In a recent Ubyssey article (volume 90, number 5), photographer Jorge Amigo describes being assaulted and threatened with arrest by RCMP outside of a fraternity party. Hopefully Jorge got a badge number and the settlement will pay for his grad school (criminal charges against the officer would be nice, but will never happen in this country) but my experiences today in trying to contact the RCMP in order to write this article raise some troubling concerns.


I figured the best way to approach an article on the RCMP would be to first look at the issue from their perspective. In the 'States, it is fairly standard practice for law enforcement to take journalists (and curious citizens) on a ride along. You spend several hours riding shotgun in a squad car, talking to the officer and seeing how he or she goes about the daily routines. In my experience, police enjoy doing this sort of thing. When my high school newspaper approached our local police department following a series of controversial incidents, they happily accommodated us. From their perspective, the chance to positively interact with members of the community and get their side of the story heard was well worth the while. From our perspective, we got a good story as well as increased the accountability of the local police department - they're less likely to shoot minorities in the back when there's a 17 year old watching.

With this in mind, I figured it would be a win-win situation if I scheduled a ride along with the University RCMP detachment. I gave them a call and was told, "oh sorry, we don't do that anymore." I then asked if I could schedule an interview with someone to discuss current issues facing the RCMP and was told I would have to talk to the RCMP's national media centre. After a bit of searching, I found that number, called it, and ended up with voice mail.

What concerns me about this incident is that the RCMP (not just the Campus Detachment but the organization as a whole) seems completely unconcerned with maintaining good relations with the community. By ensuring that the only possible contact a citizen can have with the RCMP is a negative one, they only help to polarize the "us vs. them" dichotomy that has become so prevalent at UBC these days. In order for this to change, the RCMP needs to adopt a more open policy towards community based policing.