Chair-Initiated Public Complaint: Police Investigating Police – RCMP Investigations into other RCMP Members in Cases involving Serious Injury or Death

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November 28, 2007

File No. PC-2007-2673

As Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, I am initiating a complaint into the conduct of those unidentified RCMP members who have conducted criminal investigations into the activities of other RCMP members, in cases that involved serious injury or death, which have taken place anywhere in Canada between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2007.

Various members of the public and the media have expressed concern about the propriety of RCMP members investigating other RCMP members, especially in cases of this nature.

I am satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to investigate the conduct of those members of the RCMP who have conducted criminal investigations into the activities of other RCMP members in cases that involved serious injury or death. Accordingly, pursuant to subsection 45.37(1) of the RCMP Act, I am today initiating a complaint into the conduct of the RCMP members involved in such investigations during the time period shown above, specifically:

  1. whether the RCMP members involved in these investigations conducted the investigations free of actual or perceived conflict of interest, whether they responded appropriately and proportionately to the gravity of the incident, whether they responded in a timely fashion and whether their conduct adhered to the standards set out in section 37 of the RCMP Act;
  2. whether these same RCMP members complied with all appropriate policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements for such investigations; and
  3. whether existing RCMP policies, procedures and guidelines are adequate to ensure that fair, effective, thorough and impartial investigations are carried out by RCMP members when investigating fellow RCMP members.

Furthermore, I am instituting a public interest investigation into this complaint, pursuant to subsection 45.43(1) of the RCMP Act.

Police Investigating Police
Public Interest Investigation

Terms of Reference

General Scope

  • The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC) will conduct a public interest investigation into the following Chair-initiated complaint:
    • Complaint into the conduct of those unidentified RCMP members who have conducted criminal investigations into the activities of other RCMP members, in cases that involved serious injury or death, which have taken pla ce anywhere in Canada between April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2007.
  • In conducting its public interest investigation, the CPC will not necessarily examine all such criminal investigations; rather, a sample of cases will be selected from across Canada drawn from the five regions policed by the RCMP.

Standards Against Which Conduct is to be Assessed

1. Whether the RCMP members involved in these investigations conducted the investigations free of actual or perceived conflict of interest, whether they responded appropriately and proportionately to the gravity of the incident, whether they responded in a timely fashion and whether their conduct adhered to the standards set out in section 37 of the RCMP Act.

More specifically:

  • Line management
    • Whether any actual or perceived conflict of interest.
    • Appropriateness of management structure and reporting relationships.
  • Appropriate level of response
    • Whether RCMP investigative team response to the incident was appropriate and proportionate to the gravity of the incident.
    • Whether qualified investigators have been assigned.
  • Timeliness of the response
    • Whether members of the RCMP investigative team responded in a timely fashion to the incident.
  • Conduct
    • Whether the conduct of members of the RCMP investigative team during the course of the investigation was consistent with section 37 of the RCMP Act.

2. Whether these same RCMP members complied with all appropriate policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements for such investigations.

3. Whether existing RCMP policies, procedures and guidelines are adequate to ensure that fair, effective, thorough and impartial investigations are carried out by RCMP members when investigating fellow RCMP members.

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