RCMP : Even Wose Than You Thought ! A PARTIAL List of Drunks and Bullies Still on Duty Near You

Thugs.

Last month, the National Post reported that RCMP Corporal John Graham, alleged in a B.C. court to have a "propensity for violence," pleaded guilty to assault in 2002 after kicking a Prince George man described as resisting arrest. The man suffered "broken bones in his face and was .......
But criminal convictions do not always lead to dismissals, and internal RCMP sanctions, if they result at all, can be weak. Serious cases of RCMP misconduct are not unusual, particularly, it seems, in B.C., where court documents outline serious indiscretions and allegations. Reporters have also obtained lists of RCMP adjudication board decisions that describe shocking behaviour and admissions by officers on active duty .

Last month, the National Post reported that RCMP Corporal John Graham, alleged in a B.C. court to have a "propensity for violence," pleaded guilty to assault in 2002 after kicking a Prince George man described as resisting arrest. The man suffered "broken bones in his face and was missing teeth," reads a court judgment. Cpl. Graham acknowledged that he had "panicked and overreacted" when dealing with the man. Yet he remains on active duty in Prince George, where he is alleged to have once deployed a Taser at least 21 times on another person under arrest. That arrest is now the subject of an internal RCMP Code of Conduct review, an investigative process ordered by senior Mounties when it appears there is evidence to support an allegation that a member has violated the RCMP Act. Code of Conduct reviews are conducted by "impartial" RCMP officers, usually drawn from a Professional Standards Unit, says Sergeant Tim Shields, the RCMP's head of strategic communications in B.C. Once the review is concluded and a report is made, another officer must determine whether or not to proceed with an adjudication board hearing, where the offending officer is disciplined. These hearings can either be "formal" or "informal," says Sgt. Shields. A formal adjudication board hearing involves three officers from an outside province. Rarely do they end with a dismissal order against an offending officer. When they do, the officer can appeal. And that can add years to an already lengthy, cumbersome process. Commissioner Elliott thinks this is unacceptable. "There's truth to the adage that justice delayed is justice denied," he told the Journal, adding that improvements to the RCMP Act are on the way to streamline the discipline process. He did not offer any specifics, nor did he consent to an interview on the matter this week. News that Cpl. Graham remains on active duty leaves some people shaking their heads. After reading about Cpl. Graham in this newspaper, a former RCMP staff-sergeant described his feelings: "I just can't understand how the organization would still employ such a member, especially after he was convicted of such a serious criminal offence. If he had been convicted of such an offence prior to applying to join the organization, would they have hired him?... All of this brings me to the conclusion that things are completely out of control."
The former staff-sergeant will not be pleased to learn about Donovan Tait. Getting transferred to Vancouver Island was "like winning the lottery," Const. Tait told a local reporter in 2006. A year earlier, he was convicted in B.C. provincial court of assault causing bodily harm. On duty in North Vancouver, Const. Tait punched a man three times in the head and fractured his jaw on both sides, as the man lay handcuffed in the back of an RCMP vehicle.
Const. Tait "has an issue with temperament," concluded Judge Carol Baird Ellan, noting he was the subject of four previous complaints related to use of force and proper arrest. Judge Baird decided that some of Const. Tait's testimony was self-serving and not credible. With respect to grounds for arrest, "Tait has added facts later in an effort to justify his actions," she wrote in her judgment. He was handed a suspended sentence. Const. Tait was transferred to Sooke, near Victoria. He now works from an RCMP detachment in Campbell River.
A Vancouver constable named Kenrick Whitney became angry when a civilian took a parking spot he wanted. "I lost my cool for that short moment," he admitted in B.C. provincial court. Const. Whitney's assault victim told a more chilling story. "He told me, 'You're f---ing dead,' " he testified in 2003. Const. Whitney chased after the man on foot and knocked him to the ground. "The next thing I knew, I was hit in the face," the victim testified.
Const. Whitney pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to 25 hours of community service. He remained on duty, doing undercover work with the RCMP's drug-enforcement branch. Last year, he was the subject of a Code of Conduct review for another road-rage incident. Const. Whitney had confronted a driver in what the RCMP described as "an unprofessional manner." He swore at the driver and spit on him. Const. Whitney was reprimanded by the RCMP and was docked five days' pay. The stiffest penalty he could have faced under the RCMP Act --besides dismissal or demotion-- was two weeks forfeiture of pay. He remains on active duty in B. C's Lower Mainland.
As for Cpl. Robinson, he will be back in court on his obstruction of justice charge. Whatever the outcome, says Sgt. Shields, he will face an RCMP Code of Conduct review. He remains suspended from duty, with pay.

B.C.'S FINEST CAUGHT IN THE LIMELIGHT
- Constable Milo Kent Ramsey Cited for "disgraceful" conduct by an RCMP adjudication board in 2007 for a series of incidents over a 34-day period, involving impaired driving, shouting obscenities and throwing a rock at a passenger bus. On one occasion he drove his motorhome while intoxicated, hitting seven parked cars and then backing over a homeowner's hedge and striking a carport. His blood-alcohol level was determined to be almost twice the legal limit. He was docked 12 days' pay. He pleaded guilty in court to a related charge of impaired driving. He remains on active duty in B.C.
- Constable Pat Hughson Pleaded guilty to assault after a 2006 incident and received an eight-month conditional discharge. He subsequently received a formal reprimand from the RCMP and was docked 10 days' pay for "disgraceful" conduct for his "intentional, serial abuse of an innocent passersby, without reason." After drinking in a bar, he and Constable Steve Frazer started a fight with a man whom they mistakenly thought had an outstanding arrest warrant. The pair also knocked a man off his bicycle. Const. Hughson was "highly intoxicated" when the abuses occurred, according to the adjudication board. He remains on duty in the Lower Mainland.
- Constable Steve Frazer Docked eight days' pay for his involvement in the same 2006 "intentional, serial abuse" incident. After knocking a man over, Const. Frazer picked up the man's bicycle and threw it. He was intoxicated when the abuses occurred, according to the adjudication board. He was charged with two counts of assault and his case was moved to an alternative-measures program. He remains on duty in the Lower Mainland.
- Constable Kenrick Whitney In 2003 he pleaded guilty to assault after chasing down and slapping a civilian in a dispute over a parking spot. An unrelated November 2008 RCMP adjudication board decision found him guilty of "disgraceful" conduct for confronting a driver "in an unprofessional and discourteous manner" while on duty in 2007. He is alleged to have approached the driver in a menacing fashion and to have spit on him. He was reprimanded and forfeited five days' pay. He remains on active duty in B. C's Lower Mainland.
- Constable Trent Richards Ordered by an RCMP adjudication board to resign in 2008 after admitting to having had sex with women on at least 15 occasions while on duty in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., and for posting on dating websites his profile and a picture of himself in uniform offering "sex with a cop." He appealed the dismissal order and remains suspended with pay pending the appeal's outcome.
Brian Hutchinson, National Post


Many people are reluctant to condemn the the whole RCMP because of a "few" bad apples. Unfortunately, that generous approach fails to account for the fact that there are more than a "few" and worse yet- and this is the key point- the force as an organization is definitely culpable  for the fact that these renegades are not fired. The top level thugs whine that it's hard to fire them. Who in their right minds  believes that? REALITY CHECK ! Who believes a rotten mountie who pulverizes the face of a handcuffed man could successfully appeal being fired? What a load of crap. The murderers at the airport even tried to say "Nyah nyah, we're federal and you can't try us." (It turns out they were right- not in the law- but in the fact that the provincial crown colluded with the RCMP  just as in the Arar case the RCMP culluded with the CIA to not onlydefraud justice, but also break the law.) We need a provincial Police Force with civilian oversight in which we are in complete charge - like the other provinces. We could recruit the half of the RCMP force that's any good and  go from there. I'm sure the decent half of the members would love to dissassociate themselves from the others, and we could watch cream rise to the top, instead of scum.