Regional rollout of carbines raised concerns about 'two-tiered system,' RCMP trial hears
Force facing 4 Canada Labour Code charges in relation to shooting deaths of 3 Moncton Mounties, wounding of 2
The divisional approach the RCMP used to roll out carbine rifles to front-line officers across the country raised internal concerns about a "two-tiered system," the national police force's Labour Code trial in Moncton heard Tuesday.
The RCMP is charged in connection with the shooting deaths of three Moncton Mounties and wounding of two others during Justin Bourque's shooting rampage on June 4, 2014.
The police force is accused of failing to provide members with appropriate use-of-force equipment and training for responding to an active threat or active shooting event and failing to ensure the health and safety of every person employed by the force.
About 300 RCMP officers were trained on using carbines by the day of the deadly Moncton shootings, but none of them were in New Brunswick, the courtroom heard.
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A carbine is a semi-automatic, short-barrelled rifle that has a longer and more accurate range than a pistol or shotgun.
Crown prosecutor Paul Adams presented an internal memo in court Tuesday that flagged potential concerns with the divisional rollout and creating a "two-tiered system."
"How is it the RCMP can justify equipping some of its members and not others?" Adams asked the defence's witness, Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr.
Butterworth-Carr worked on the carbine project for about a year, starting in April 2012, and was responsible for ensuring it progressed in a timely fashion.
"Was it purely budgetary?" Adams asked.
Butterworth-Carr, who is now the commanding officer of the British Columbia division, testified it was up to each division how many carbines they wanted to order, based on the threats their region faced, as well as money.
The funding had to be reconciled with provincial and municipal partners, she said. The RCMP's policing contracts stipulate there has to be "meaningful engagement" with all partners before decisions like purchasing carbines are made, she said.
Senior managers like yourself, I would have thought, have responsibility to ensure safety of front-line members. Yet ou were prepared to sit back and let divisions decide what they could afford on their own?- Paul Adams, Crown prosecutor
New racks for cars were also a big part of the project because the carbines had to be secured.
And changes to the soft body armour were being considered to enable officers to carry magazines needed for carbines, she added.
Adams, raising his voice, questioned what budgets and financials have to do with the risks faced by officers.
"Senior managers like yourself, I would have thought, have responsibility to ensure safety of front-line members," he said to Butterworth-Carr during cross-examination. "Yet you were prepared to sit back and let divisions decide what they could afford on their own?"
Province ordered 22 carbines for 700 officers
New Brunswick's J-Division requested 22 carbines in 2012, and an additional 12 carbines for each of the following four years, the courtroom heard.
Adams questioned whether 70 carbines for more than 700 members in the province was doing enough to ensure the safety of all members.
He argued the way the project was handled allowed for very inconsistent numbers across divisions.
Butterworth-Carr agreed but said it was based on affordability. She noted the initial request for the entire force was only for about 550 carbines.
Bourque was carrying a semi-automatic rifle, and the RCMP officers who responded were armed with their duty pistols.
Some previous witnesses have suggested being better armed could have prevented some of the deaths.
Const. Eric Dubois, one of the wounded officers, testified he felt like the "hunted" that night. With a better weapon, Dubois said, he has no doubt he would have brought Bourque down.
Against better weapons, Const. Mathieu Daigle testified, Bourque could have killed one officer but not three.
No authority to step in
During a testy exchange Tuesday, Adams suggested Butterworth-Carr should have stepped in as a senior officer and told the provinces they needed to order more carbines, and that the force would have found the money.
Butterworth-Carr said she didn't have that authority. Adams argued she was the most senior officer on the project.
"If not you, then who?" he asked.
The prosecutor also raised another internal memo, mentioned earlier in the trial, that advised "the continuation of the status quo [with respect to weaponry and training] is unacceptable."
The document, written between December 2011 and August 2012, outlining the costs of acquiring carbine rifles for front-line officers, stated the RCMP has a duty to protect members under Canada's Labour Code.
Butterworth-Carr said she was not aware of the document. Adams said her name was on it.
0.1% of calls are use of force incidents
The court also heard Tuesday from Assistant Commissioner Joseph Peter Byron Boucher, who was director general of criminal operations and was involved in the carbine project.
He said the RCMP has an average of 2,800 use of force incidents per year. That's 0.1 per cent of all incidents, he said.
Of those, 2,200 involve use of guns by police, and an average of six suspects being killed, said Byron Boucher.
During cross-examination, Adams cited a report that found frontline RCMP officers are more likely to be killed by gunfire in the line of duty than any other police force in Canada.
Ten of 11 officers killed in the line of duty since 2010 were killed by long guns, it found.
Adams asked if Byron Boucher was aware of the report. He said he was. It was commissioned by the RCMP, he said.
Bourque is serving five life sentences with no chance of parole for 75 years after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
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With files from Gabrielle Fahmy