Quote:
Originally Posted by gasman
Staffing up in this situation would likely have been a joint decision by the Province/Federal/RCMP. There are a lot of factors that would have been discussed, but primarily the question of
Will additional officers fuel discontent and cause a riot - This in particular would get blowback if it did "Why did the RCMP have to go in when they were still peaceful, they caused this... idiots" (General assumption on twitter reaction, not aimed at anyone here)
Secondly, the province or town will get hit with the bill for extra members, regardless so hard to say if they would push back or not up front.
There is a much different reaction to an active shooter, one is active, the other has potential. Politicians are going to politician, Im saying there are a lot of moving parts on something like this, and to lay blame at the feet of the RCMP is more than likely uninformed.
|
To be clear, when I saw RCMP I don't mean the officers in the field. Nor am I implying that you think that. Just for the sake of clarity, this to me at this point, is an upper management issue.
When the spokesman for the RCMP justifies a lack of arrests and overall control due to inadequate officers, that raises the question "why aren't there adequate officers?" The lack of staffing is the RCMP defense right now.
Which begs the question, why not increase staffing?
Traps are being cut, citizens assaulted, vehicles and buildings burnt.
Perhaps in the beginning increasing presence could have been seen as too much.
At this point it needs to be rectified.
I'm giving benefit of the doubt where I can, but at this point more needs to be done.
If the issue is with the bill, sort it out after peace is restored.
Perhaps the RCMP leadership isn't the one to blame. Perhaps its the federal Attorney General? The Prime Minister? The Premier? The provincial Attorney General? The Mayor of the Town of Digby? The Warden of Digby County?
Ultimately, I don't care who is at fault... fix it.
But I go back to having the RCMP state with 12 officers and a mob of 200 they didn't have the staffing to arrest.
If the RCMP leadership aren't supporting the officers on the front line, then they are failing not only the community, but the brave men and women who honorably wear the uniform.
Sorry. I am trying to not blame the RCMP here, but I'm really struggling to not assign the organization fault (but not assigning 100% of the fault).
No organization is perfect, and in a crisis no one makes perfect decisions. Adding support, professionals who are experts in de-escalation, and mental health experts to support the presumably tense and stressed officers would all be a really good start.
Perhaps blame is a poor word. Fault is also a bad word.
The RCMP are the organization have the potential to step in to help solve the crisis the quickest. Rightly or wrongly the ball fell at their feet. Yes, they can toss it to the next person/group/government, or they can throw the ball home.