Globe Editorial, 30/11/07, Empathy for the constable
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Globe Editorial, RCMP REPORT, Empathy for the constable, November 30, 2007
A country accustomed to kicking the RCMP for its many recent sins should also be prepared to accept a credible defence of Mountie behaviour. This is what RCMP complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy provided with his detailed report yesterday on the bizarre death of 22-year-old Ian Bush at the hands of a rookie officer in Houston, B.C., and on the investigation that followed.
Constable Paul Koester deserves the empathy of Canadians. The young officer was doing his job with integrity when he arrested Mr. Bush on a minor charge, and suddenly found himself being choked from behind, and expecting to die. Other officers and ambulance workers who saw Constable Koester shortly after he shot Mr. Bush in the head in self-defence say he was devastated, sobbing, an emotional wreck. All this Mr. Kennedy sets out persuasively, explaining what the evidence was and why he gave some pieces of evidence more weight than others.
Mr. Kennedy had access to the complete RCMP investigative file, and he is persuasive in explaining that the RCMP's probe of the killing was impartial, even exemplary, in spite of some early errors. (For instance, one officer who collected some evidence from the scene also let Constable Koester sleep at his home the night of the killing.) He is less persuasive when he too easily accepts that, by and large, the investigation had the necessary appearance of impartiality. But he offers well-earned criticism of the police for staying mum during the investigation of such an extraordinary case.
Of concern is that William Elliott, the new head of the RCMP, appears reluctant to accept the need for a modern approach to addressing the public through the media. Mr. Kennedy urges the Mounties to make publicly available, in cases of police shootings, an outline of the investigative steps to be taken and the expected timeline for each step. In his written response to Mr. Kennedy's report, Mr. Elliott chose not to specifically address this recommendation.
The media did not create the cloud over the head of Constable Koester, or the larger cloud over the RCMP. It was the RCMP's own clumsy response ("the public doesn't have a right to know anything," as the Mountie spokesman put it) that did that. Incredibly, the Mounties gave the officer a promotion long before the investigation into the shooting was complete. RCMP arrogance causes the public distrust to grow.
But a country that gives the Mounties their well-deserved licks should also have empathy for the officers who risk their lives when they don the crimson uniform. On the evidence of Mr. Kennedy's report, Constable Koester is entitled to respect, and a fresh start.
A country accustomed to kicking the RCMP for its many recent sins should also be prepared to accept a credible defence of Mountie behaviour. This is what RCMP complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy provided with his detailed report yesterday on the bizarre death of 22-year-old Ian Bush at the hands of a rookie officer in Houston, B.C., and on the investigation that followed.
Constable Paul Koester deserves the empathy of Canadians. The young officer was doing his job with integrity when he arrested Mr. Bush on a minor charge, and suddenly found himself being choked from behind, and expecting to die. Other officers and ambulance workers who saw Constable Koester shortly after he shot Mr. Bush in the head in self-defence say he was devastated, sobbing, an emotional wreck. All this Mr. Kennedy sets out persuasively, explaining what the evidence was and why he gave some pieces of evidence more weight than others.
Mr. Kennedy had access to the complete RCMP investigative file, and he is persuasive in explaining that the RCMP's probe of the killing was impartial, even exemplary, in spite of some early errors. (For instance, one officer who collected some evidence from the scene also let Constable Koester sleep at his home the night of the killing.) He is less persuasive when he too easily accepts that, by and large, the investigation had the necessary appearance of impartiality. But he offers well-earned criticism of the police for staying mum during the investigation of such an extraordinary case.
Of concern is that William Elliott, the new head of the RCMP, appears reluctant to accept the need for a modern approach to addressing the public through the media. Mr. Kennedy urges the Mounties to make publicly available, in cases of police shootings, an outline of the investigative steps to be taken and the expected timeline for each step. In his written response to Mr. Kennedy's report, Mr. Elliott chose not to specifically address this recommendation.
The media did not create the cloud over the head of Constable Koester, or the larger cloud over the RCMP. It was the RCMP's own clumsy response ("the public doesn't have a right to know anything," as the Mountie spokesman put it) that did that. Incredibly, the Mounties gave the officer a promotion long before the investigation into the shooting was complete. RCMP arrogance causes the public distrust to grow.
But a country that gives the Mounties their well-deserved licks should also have empathy for the officers who risk their lives when they don the crimson uniform. On the evidence of Mr. Kennedy's report, Constable Koester is entitled to respect, and a fresh start.
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