A power unto itself

It seems the RCMP in British Columbia have slipped the leash. Six months ago, a well-liked local 22-year old, Ian Bush, was shot dead in an RCMP station in the small town of Houston. The young man had been drinking a beer in the parking lot of the local hockey arena and when confronted by Constable Paul Koester gave him a false name. He was then frisked and arrested for obstructing an investigation. Twenty minutes later, after a fight in the detachment interview room, he was shot in the back of the head.

The RCMP admit an investigation has been completed, yet neither the family nor the public know the results and no action has been taken. Constable Koester is apparently still working in another detachment. As to the force's policies regarding the handling of suspects, spokesman Constable John Ward stated, "The public doesn't have a right to know anything."

The MP for the area, Nathan Cullen, has made enquiries on behalf of the family but has gotten nowhere. Asking where Constable Koester was now working, he was essentially told it was none of his business. So a community somewhere in BC may have a killer among them, a killer in a position of authority and carrying a gun, but in the eyes of the RCMP it's none of their business.

Apparently BC has a thorough and transparent police complaints process; however the RCMP, even though they are paid by the provincial government, refuse to be part of it. Indeed, the province's attorney-general admits they have "no real jurisdiction" over the force.

Regarding the RCMP motto Maintiens Le Droit (defending the law), in BC one might be tempted to ask, defending it for whom?