Dear Editor:
Generally speaking, I don't trust the RCMP anymore - and that's a shame because there are very good individual people in this organization.
The latest scandal of a high-ranking Edmonton RCMP officer who exhibited a pattern of inappropriate behaviour over several years - including exposing his penis to a civilian employee, having sex in a polygraph room and drinking alcohol at work -and who has been transferred to B.C., no less, just burns my britches.
As Postmedia News reported May 23: "Donald Ray was suspended for 10 days without pay, given a formal reprimand, and demoted one rank from staff sergeant after an anonymous tip sparked an internal RCMP investigation and disciplinary proceedings. At the time of the tip, Ray was the officer in charge of the polygraph unit at the RCMP's Behavioural Sciences Unit."
Yup, Donald Ray gets to keep his job, despite all of the "tough" talk from Chief Supt. Marlin Degrand and Ray's "disturbing pattern of activity."
Degrand stated that: "Dismissal was one of the options that the adjudication board considered. I'm not here to substitute my personal beliefs or thoughts or just speculate as to their thought process on that, but the adjudication board considered all of the aggravating as well as mitigating circumstances and in this case, they deemed that this member would receive the highest form of sanction short of dismissal."
Royal Canadian Mounted bull****, I say. Smacks of cowardice and good-oldboyism and brings to mind the Catholic Church and Scouts Canada. People in the regular world might just lose their job had they behaved as Mr. Ray has.
When is the RCMP going to get it!? (Yes, I meant to yell.) All I want to see is accountability and transparency.
Send a message to your employees, RCMP: Behaviour like this will result in dismissal.
Show John Q. Public that you are doing something about the pervasive, perverted culture that you seem to foster and perhaps you might just regain some of that lost trust.
Brian Dombroski North Vancouver
