Retired RCMP officer calls for public inquiry in Moncton shooting
Terry McKee has been critical of the RCMP's handling of incident that took the lives of three RCMP officers
Retired RCMP officer Terry McKee is still calling for an inquiry to be held in the June 2014 shooting deaths of three RCMP officers and wounding of two others in Moncton.
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Before his retirement in 2013, McKee supervised two of the RCMP officers who were killed, and he has been critical of the RCMP's handling of the incident.
"I think we're all aware the labour code charges have named, on the information, the RCMP as the defendant," said McKee, in reference to the four charges laid against the national force alleging it had violated the health and safety provisions of the Canada Labour Code in connection with the shootings.
"To me, being a cop all my life, I was always responsible to investigate to find the individual or individuals that were responsible and, in this particular case, I see no difference," said McKee.
"There were individuals that made fatal decisions not to roll out the carbines in a timely fashion especially after Mayerthorpe and locally here," he said.
The charges include failing to provide officers with the appropriate use of force equipment and training. A plea will be entered on the charges April 7 at a pre-trial conference.
McKee was responding to the RCMP's one year update on the status of the 64 recommendations from the MacNeil Report.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson had asked Alphonse MacNeil, retired assistant commissioner, to examine the RCMP's response to the incident.
Constables Douglas Larche, Dave Ross and Fabrice Gevaudan were killed by Justin Bourque. Constables Éric Stéphane J. Dubois and Marie Darlene Goguen were wounded.
Credit for carbine roll-out
Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown confirmed to CBC there is now a carbine in every RCMP patrol car in New Brunswick.
McKee said he did give credit where credit was due when it came to the roll-out of the carbines.
"They have started the roll-out, they're training, 25 per cent of the force has been trained. But to me, it's something that should have been said years ago, not just in 2016," said McKee.
"Unfortunately, since the Mayerthorpe incident and other incidents where members were shot and killed, it took Moncton, unfortunately, to really put the pressure on to get these things out."
McKee was also critical of what he sees as inadequate staffing levels, something he said was an issue when he was a frontline supervisor.
"The numbers are extremely low," said McKee, adding he believed there were only eight RCMP officers working the night Justin Bourque went on his shooting rampage.
Staffing not part of recommendations
However, Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown said while McKee was entitled to his opinion about staffing, it was not a recommendation from the MacNeil report and not based on policing in today's environment.
"Minimum standards, what good does it do having a police officer on every corner? Today, the environment today is having a police officer on the right corner," he said.
Brown said there was a study conducted to assess the adequacy of policing for the region and the results will be implemented by the district superintendent.
"There are times when the frontline needs are greater than other areas. But a police officer is a police officer, a number of police officers on the streets don't all have to be dedicated to one particular area," insisted Brown.
Brown said he is confident all of the province, including the Codiac region, has experienced RCMP officers doing their jobs.
Resources adequate
"I'm confident we do have the right resources," said Brown, adding resources are moved around based on priorities and needs.
"There is not a bottomless pit of of money to pour into everything. People in jobs like mine have to ensure we do what we can with what we have."
Brown said there has been a lot learned from the June 2014 tragedy.
"That's not the norm, those murders, that shooting on that particular evening was absolutely impossible for any police organization,whether it be the RCMP or any city police force to be able adequately resource for an incident of that magnitude. You can't even think along those lines," Brown said.
"There is an associated risk that comes with this job, we know it."