The RCMP is looking for a few good men, or women..The force was short 1,234 officers for a 6.7% vacancy rate as of June 2022..Among provinces that contract police, British Columbia has the most vacancies at 460. However, its 8% vacancy rate trails that of the Northwest Territories at 11.7%, which is missing 24 officers. Saskatchewan’s 113 vacancies represent an 8.7% rate, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s 35 vacancies equal 7.9%. .Some provinces are close to capacity. Nunavut is fully staffed with 141 officers and Nova Scotia has only four vacancies. This information was tabled by the Trudeau Liberal government in the House of Commons on Jan. 30 following a request from Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk..Former Mountie Larry Comeau, who retired in 2001, said it never used to be this way. .“I used to work on evaluating attrition rates in the RCMP in the 1980s. I was amazed just how steady it was. Most members stayed a minimum of 25 years when they were eligible to get 50% of their pension. Then gradually as married members were hired, the age went from 19-25 for recruits to 27 and higher meaning more members were not serving for 25 years. Therefore, attrition rates escalated,” Comeau said..“At one point [in recent times] recruiters were even re- examining ‘rejected applicants’. Imagine the RCMP that used to have a backlog of applicants because of its storied reputation now having to hire a recruiting firm!”.Movie theatre advertisements are inviting people to apply to the force, but critics say it’s not as proud as it used to be. In June 2020,, soon after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki initially would not acknowledge that the RCMP is “systemically racist,” then embraced the idea..“I did acknowledge that we, like others, have racism in our organization, but I did not say definitively that systemic racism exists in the RCMP. I should have,” Lucki later wrote in a statement..Today, the website “Change at the RCMP” outlines the goals of equity, diversity, and inclusion that now overlap its law enforcement mandate. Comeau said the RCMP doesn’t have the draw like it used to..“This has been a growing problem. Contributing factors have been the internal problems within the RCMP coupled with pay levels below those of most other large Canadian police organizations. Obviously, the class action [sexual harassment] civil suits also sent the wrong message to would-be female applicants. The question of racism within the RCMP is another concerning issue,” Comeau said..“With the problems over the past couple of decades the RCMP is not as attractive as it once was. So that coupled with higher attrition rates, just to replace those leaving, has become a serious problem. Many of those looking for a policing career are looking at provincial and municipal departments which pay better than the RCMP and do not requiring moving.”.Enforcement of public health orders during the pandemic may have also encouraged early retirement or discouraged others from applying to police forces, including the RCMP. The PoliceOnGuard.ca website has an open letter from “concerned law enforcement officers of Alberta” that describes the moral problem they faced..“It’s a tough position for sure. Do they obey the instructions of their superiors to enforce the restrictions? In obeying what are likely to be unlawful orders, do they understand that they may, ultimately, be committing an offence under section 423 of the Criminal Code, and potentially others as well?” the letter asked..“Do they understand that the excuse ‘I was just following orders’ may not end up being an excuse that a court, be it a court of law or a court of ‘public opinion’, will accept as justification for an officer’s actions? Do they go to their respective associations and stand against their superiors, potentially risking their livelihood in the process?".“We won’t offer any answers here, as it falls to each individual law enforcement officer to grapple with their own conscience and make their own decisions.”
