There have been many calls, in light of the murders of Chris Worden and Doug Scott, for a mandatory backup policy in the RCMP, a policy that would require members to attend many calls with at least one other member. It is long overdue.
But as a policy for the well being of members it will be empty and hollow unless it is accompanied by a significant increase in resources. In detachments, such as Arctic Bay, that are staffed by only two members it will make members prisoners in the community. For both members will need to be available for service at all times. A member will be unable to leave snowmobiling, or fishing, or hiking; for if they are away it will leave the other member unable to respond to calls for service.
In slightly larger detachments it will mean reduced or degraded service, for often members work shifts by themselves. A detachment will either have to reduce the number of shifts worked, or delay responding to calls while a member who worked another shift is called out. Detachments, even two person detachments which often only schedule one shift (ie. both members work day shifts, or night shifts), are always under pressure to increase the shifts that they are available for the public. Communities, rightly so, want to have a police presence for longer periods during the day. They want to be able to find a member in the office during the day, but they also want a member patrolling the streets at night. But how do you offer those services, keep the members safe while attending calls, and keep them sane by letting them have time off away from a phone and a radio, unless you increase resources.
If the Force, which is bound to operate within the budget the various levels of government set for them, is required to work within existing budgets and implement a mandatory back up policy, the policy will fail and service to the public will be degraded. The cost for standby pay will have to immediately double – members get paid for one hour out of every eight they are on call; if a mandatory back up policy comes into effect (and it should) two members will have to be on call during those hours. During hours when only one member is on shift, another member will have to be on call. If that is done within existing budgets, well the money will have to come from another program within the policing budget. Overtime for call outs will also increase (although I suspect only marginally because many times another member is called out)
Detachments are already under pressure to do more with less. This detachment, a two person detachment, has only one vehicle assigned to it (there are currently two vehicles until the other one gets sold by tender). That might not seem unreasonable until you realize that the members live, literally, on opposite sides of the community from one another, and the member with the truck might have to drive right by the call, to get the other member. If the members have to work opposite shifts that means that one or the other will have to walk across town to get, or drop off the vehicle. And if the vehicle breaks down? This is the Arctic, Canadian Tire is not right around the corner.
Few people realize just what we ask of our police in small isolated communities. You are never away from the phone or the job. Several Commissioners ago, members were told that their time off was "unfettered". Fine words, but how unfettered are my days off if I leave to go camping for the weekend knowing that I’ve left my partner to deal with what ever comes up by his or herself.
Back in less enlightened times (up until about four years ago) we were often left alone in the communities. Relief members were rare, there were several one person detachments (including Kimmirut, where Doug Scott was just killed). When members were out on holidays, or on course, or whatever, you were often on your own ("Come out, I have you surrounded!"). If you were sick, or tired, or worked all night, it didn’t matter, you had to handle it. Sometimes, if you were lucky, people came to your aid, but more often than not you were all there was to respond to whatever was thrown at you. Members are proud people, they want to get the job done with whatever resources they have. And trust me, when back up is a plane ride away, you get very good at exuding confidence in the face of whatever you have to deal with, good at letting people know that no matter what you were going to come out on top. We’ve been doing that since the Force began, one or two men riding in to an armed encampment saying "Alright, everyone behave or I’m telling the Queen" (and I suspect riding away thinking "My f’ng god! What was I thinking about going there alone.").
But it takes its toll. On members health, their mental health, their families health (Leah never slept a wink when I’d get called out, she stayed up and worried herself sick until I walked back in that door).
More has to be done to keep our members safe. After all, if the police aren’t safe, are you? But it can’t just be a policy that says "at least two members will attend all calls of this, this and this nature". It has to come with more resources, more men in the case of small detachments, and larger budgets. What good is your backup if he/she is a blithering idiot from never getting a moment away from the phone, a moment to unwind, a moment with his/her family without wondering if a call is going to interrupt.
Musical Postscript
Once when I was frustrated at being the only Mountie within 200 or
300 kms. I sat down and wrote my own words to a Stan Rogers’ tune, The
Idiot. Here is the opening verse to my version (with apologies to Stan
of course).
THE IDIOT (Northern Detachment version)
I often get called out at night, while sleeping in my bed,
to a do-mes-tic or a drunken fight, or maybe someone’s dead.
So I grab my gun, and I kiss my wife, put on my Mountie clothes.
But I’m by myself and that makes me, an Idiot I suppose.
Comments
8 responses
I’ve run into a few situations over the past few years where a member had planned to head out skidooing or fishing on his off-time but was able to because “something’s come up”. I can’t begin to imagine how frustrating it must be to be on-call 24/7 and not be able to have a life. I recall one community where a young RCMP shopping with his wife and child in the Northern on his “day off” and was assaulted by some local thug. No one intervened and the poor guy was left to fend for himself and search out the other member back at the detachment for backup. He left the community shortly after this incident which was really sad. He was a pretty decent fellow.
Along with the RCMP, the nurses are getting exhausted from the demands of the job and community. My husband is burning out quickly after only 2 and a half years here. Four nights a week he must be at a phone on either first or second call. And that is on top of working his regular week. It is getting to be a bit much. A lot is expected out of these two professions up here.
I was hoping you would write about the situation, Clare. As I was reading your post, I was also thinking of the situation for medical staff in the north which Kara has commented on. It’s not good enough to expect people to fill positions where they don’t have enough fellow officers or medical staff, and also enough down time to rest. I know this is happening in less isolated communities as well (expecting more with less), but these are difficult positions. If you’re going to put people in the field, then you’d better be prepared to do it right. Saying there isn’t enough funding just isn’t an acceptable excuse for nothing doing the right thing.
I live in Phili, which has a homicide rate of over 1 per day. Surprising, but true. My brother in law is involved in Stop the Violence in Toronto. I ask, what violence? Guess statistics are all relative.
In our most recent, widely published shooting, a soon to be retired policeman got shot for walking into a donut shop during an armed robbery. When you put yourself in the shoes of the robber, what was he to do? First, he’s robbing a store, second, he’s got to be prepared to shoot (he’s already made that decision prior to entering the store). I think this young man made a very stupid decision, but also think he panicked. A better decision might have been to aim for the leg instead of the head. Of course, a far better one would have been to realize his monetary rewards from robbing a Dunkin Donuts and moved on. I don’t believe this guy was evil; I do believe he made the wrong split second decision.
Not sure, but I wonder if the violence rate in the north is dependent on access to weapons. If people have access to a gun, they will use it if they get upset. And I wonder what the statistics are, on owning a gun in Nunavut versus the rest of Canada. I imagine, hugh. Something, similar to owning a gun in western PA: everyone has one.
Nurses, must be getting exhausted from the demands of the job and community. But, having worked on the cusp of the north (High Level) I always found the rewards of the job were large. Meeting a mother, who had given birth, six months later, was just a joy.
Love the reference to Stan Rogers. We go out every year and sit on a mountain (hill) in Washington, PA and sing Northwest Passage. Not a house in site. Which I guess in the north would not be as exceptional as it is here.
We are lucky having 4 members here, but Nunavut is so understaffed we pretty much went a year with only 3. Even with that many members my husband is on call 5 days a week. If something really important is going on he still has to go in on his alloted days off. I see him leave sometimes two or three times a night, but I do at least have the comfort in knowing he is always going with another member. That is at least the way it goes in our community. I would worry more about my husband on a drive route down south where back-up is hours away. At least up here I know backup is next door. Hopefully all this activity will just firm this and make sure these guys are going together. It will at least make us family units get a little sleep! 🙂
I wonder… I have participated in several letter-writing campaigns relating to issues in the south. I always got favourable responses from the politicians and policy makers I wrote to. I wonder if letter-writing campaigns would work up here. How would the GN and GC react if they received hundreds of letters on these issues? I try to believe that no action is futile.
If you write the letter, explaining the issues, Clare, I’ll get it out there.
I happened to pick up a copy of MacLeans Magazine and in that issue, there was an article about “whats really killing the Mounties”. Its an interesting piece and I just got a little confuse whom to believe, maybe it was the intent of the writer to confuse me but here is the url: http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20071114_10512_10512&source=srch , hope you can access it. let me know how you understand it, thanks,
Thanks for the link Juanasi. I must have been living in a parallel universe because that’s not the Force that I know and love.
I stopped receiving MacLeans awhile back because I no longer enjoyed it or agreed with its Editorial posturing. Seems like things haven’t changed much. I’m considering a letter but as the article is almost a month old I don’t know if there is any point.