Abolish the RCCP, Part 2

Is it true that the government will reissue the $50 bill depicting all the mounties on the back riding side-saddle?

"Is it true that the government will reissue the $50 bill depicting all the mounties on the back riding side-saddle?
Posted by: Mike in White Rock at November 9, 2012 9:50 AM "

Nope. I heard it was Broke Back.

Time to disband the killer-elite

Hear hear. Keep the RCMP as a ceremonial tulip patrol on parliament hill, get a real federal police force, and disengage from providing services to the provinces. Do you see the FBI handing the Superbowl trophy to the winning team? Exactly. Glorifying RCMP as national symbol severely reduces accountability.

The problem according to my local detachment commander is that the pay rate for the RCMP has slipped to the point where 50 other police forces in Canada have better pay rates than the Mounties. Big city police forces are literally outbidding for new recruits and the recruit doesn't have to move across the country or be out here in farm country (too far from Tim Hortons?)F Division, the RCMP national training centre is only going to train two intakes of recruits this year (2 X 48 I believe)which doesn't come close to replacing the annual member retirements.

Re Hawkeye's comment about the pay rate, I just checked the RCMP's webpage about their pay schedule. For Constables, entry level annual salary after graduating from training is $48,946, with a raise to $63,595 after 6 months. At 1 year, a raise to $69,000. At 2 yrs, a raise to $74,406. At 3 yrs a raise to $79,308. Plus benefits, of course. There's a link at that page to a Pay Schedule for other ranks, which shows that this Constable pay will be increased over the next two years. Also, the pay for higher ranks seems pretty generous. Unless those 50 other PDs are getting even better pay...

Here's my opinion on what is really going on here: Canadians constantly press our legislators to pass more and more laws mandating seat belt use, prohibiting cell phone use while driving, regulating firearms, enforcing unrealistically low speed limits, and so on. Why would anyone be surprised that this has a major impact on the workload of cops? It's not so much a question of under-staffing as it is of overloading police forces with the task of chasing all manner of faux criminals for acts that shouldn't be crimes in the first place. Police are increasingly seen as nothing but tax collectors for civic and provincial governments. That's not what they ought to be doing.

The RNWMP was a good idea back when the West was wild and the Queen needed to be represented by a paramilitary force, but the West was tamed a long time ago. Today the RCMP are generalists in a specialist's world, and I wonder if today they actually live up to the propaganda we have always heard,"the best police force in the world". Compared to what?

Change the RCMP mandate to an FBI-type of national force,with all the other policing duties carried out by Provincial forces.

Anyone here been stopped in one of the RCMP's Soviet Union style roadblocks that they throw up way out in the middle of nowhere repeatedly?

I've been stopped and asked for ID several times in the last ten years on the way up to my hunting area,near Prince George. They always ask to see my driver's licence,and sometimes ask if I'm carrying any guns.

At first I assumed that there had been a crime committed locally,and they were looking for a suspect,but one Constable said when I asked what was going on,"just routine,sir".

Maybe it's "routine" in the old East Block,but it shouldn't be routine in an allegedly free Country.

Policing in the rest of country is just as convoluted. Here in Ontario we have the OPP. We also have city county and municiple police forces. Some places use OPP as contract police others get police services without paying the extra bill to the province. Some relatively poor town are forced to pay for contract policing and other more prosperous towns are not. One town I will not name used to have its own very small police dept. They got rid of them sometime in the past, don't know when or why and are now in a position where the OPP keeps increasing the bill that they have to pay to the point they can't afford it any more. Not only can they not afford it, they don't get any real service for the money. I understand that at one point they told the province that they would hire a security guard service instead of the OPP because it would cost them a lot less and they would actually have boots on the ground.

The system has grown and evolved over the years, but not in any particularly rational manner. It would be wise for all levels of government to get together and study the issue and design a new system from the ground up. As someone who doesn't particularly trust the police I believe we need some sort of decentralized model where no particular force can get too big.

If the RCMP is to small to do what it is supposed to do, they need more money. If people winge that it takes money out of healthcare/welfare/education, too bad. Law and order and national security is the fundamental job of the state. Every other thing is a nice to have if there are resources left over.

Since crime trends are downwards methinks the police forces should be trimmed. (Rob Ford said he was going to do that but then had a change of heart.)

Contrarian viewpoint invited.

Policed by the RCMP. All they care about is chicken crap and they measure success by how many law abiding citizens they can turn into criminals. Too many of the laws have nothing to do with criminality and the RCMP love goose stepping on Joe Public. I am the victim of a lot of crime and out of a dozen or so times I've call the RCMP for break and enter, theft, etc., I get the feeling they didn't average an hour per crime investigating. You tell the thick constables who robbed you and it takes them 2 weeks to arrest them. Guess what? - no stolen goods recovered. The RCMP are an national embarrassment.

But Scar,they look so spiffy in the Musical Ride! ;-)

A buddy had his truck stolena few years back. He,of course,called the RCMP and they took all information.

When he called back a few days later to see how the investigation was going,he happened to have a tired veteran Cop answer his call.

The Officer told him they "don't even look" for stolen cars,and said he should call all his friends and ask them to keep an eye out for his truck.

I was told a similar story by a farmer who had his tractor stolen.

They respond quickly and decisively for certain easy crimes though. I phoned in a drunk on the road and they nabbed him in minutes. Easy peasy. Call in a property crime and you'd be lucky to get an officer arrive... ever.

Sadly, I don't trust the RCMP, at least in Alberta and BC.

Remember Pat Nixon? Dragged and handcuffed in front of his kids for shooting horses. Or so said the drug rehab wanting the $25,000 reward.

Remember Dzinksky or whatever, the polish guy in YYC airport?

Plus the cops involved was with a hit and run.

Ottawa isn't any better, hard to toe the line when your superiors are in it for the money and prestige.

Oh ya Maintain the Right in french. What right?

"Maintain the right" is a common mistranslation, johnbrooks. It means "enforce the law", or "uphold the law".

"maintain the right' is a mistranslation. It means "enforce the law", or maybe "uphold the law".

Sorry for the double post. It told me it had rejected the first post.