AG says RNC should do better at managing inventories, employee training
Denise Hanrahan says no evidence of theft or fraud in police force books
Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general says she expected the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to do a better job managing its inventories and employee training, which she found deficient in a recent report.
Denise Hanrahan delivered on Tuesday a performance audit of the police force, which looked at the period of April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2024.
"I think the challenge for me is that the RNC, from my point of view, is a rules-based organization. They pride themselves on procedure, on evidence gathering, on process," she told reporters.
"I would have expected more thoroughness with respect to these two particular areas."
While she said the RNC complied in some areas, she found them lacking in others, noting she found the force failed to comply with their own policies and procedures.
There were discrepancies across the province and a lack of inventory access, which Hanrahan said "is concerning because many RNC inventory items are highly sensitive and potentially dangerous if not managed properly.
"What we found could indicate there is an increased risk of loss, theft or unauthorized access to various forms of inventories, which could further impact operational readiness and cost effectiveness," she said.
The report noted lock combinations for the shared use of force equipment in the Corner Brook region gun room hadn't been changed in years.
Hanrahan said the RNC couldn't provide her office with a comprehensive, up-to-date training list, nor could they provide training documentation or evidence of effective monitoring.
She also found a lack of compliance when it came to mandatory training and almost every employee was missing at least one mandatory training course. Overall, the RNC didn't know which mandatory training courses were required for which officers.
"When it did know, it was challenged to show the training had been completed or that centralized monitoring to ensure credentials were maintained, for example, was happening adequately," Hanrahan said.
The report said jewellery that had been confiscated by police was not found in the property control centre, even though it was reported there. Money, totalling $2,810, had also been removed.
Hanrahan said there was no indication of theft or fraud in the audit.
In her report, Hanrahan's office found in a sample of 32 officers, two had been issued firearms but there was no evidence they'd completed the annual re-certification training.
She said there were cases where the RNC were confident training had happened but they couldn't back it up with a paper copy.
Work ongoing
Hanrahan made seven recommendations in her report for the RNC to improve its inventory management and security policies, which police have accepted. She said her office will follow up in two years.
RNC Chief Pat Roche told CBC News the work has already started, and that he hopes it won't require the full two years to implement them all.
For example, he said, a new civilian position has been created in Corner Brook to look after inventory systems for the region, which includes monitoring an electronic inventory management system introduced in December, 2023.
"The report deals with business practices and how we've been keeping track of [them]. So what we need to do with our training division is to bring in a system to track training that we own," Roche said. "And we're looking into that."
Roche specifically spoke of the two officers who had been issued firearms without re-certification, named in Hanrahan's report. He said the non-front-line officers had their certification expire in December, 2023 but were re-certified in January, 2024.
However, Roche stressed that officers not being re-certified in a certain task doesn't mean they can't do their jobs effectively.
"Re-certification doesn't mean you're not qualified, it just means you haven't been re-certified. And we take every step to make sure officers are re-certified in a timely manner," he said.
"Any officer, and the public, need to be aware of that. The officers patrolling and working in the northeast Avalon, and every jurisdiction that we police, are very qualified."
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With files from Peter Cowan