Complaints into RCMP conduct reveal dangers of being Mountie in the North
Many investigations revealed that complainants had physically assaulted RCMP officers
The dangers of being an RCMP officer in the North are being revealed in an unlikely place: public complaints into the conduct of Mounties.
Complaints made in the last five years to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP about N.W.T. officers were obtained by the CBC through an access to information request. The Commission is an independent oversight body created to investigate public complaints about the RCMP's conduct.
The majority of the complaints filed were for alleged "excessive use of force" by officers, which were most often during an arrest. However, investigations into many of those incidents revealed that RCMP officers had been physically assaulted by the complainants.
In an excessive force complaint investigation in 2014, an intoxicated person punched an officer in the side of the head while the officer was trying to remove the person's shoes prior to putting them in a cell. While the officer was trying to handcuff the person, the individual grabbed the male officer's testicles, squeezed and twisted them. The officer then punched the person to get them to release his testicles. The individual then bit the officer on the leg.
Officers threatened
There were a number of other complaints where it was revealed — through eye witness accounts, dash-cam footage and holding cell video — that the complainants "tried to fight" officers who were arresting them.
One person threw his feces at officers.
The Commission's investigations also found that in several instances RCMP officers and their families were threatened.
One person being apprehended by police told an officer "I'm going to f--king kill you and I'm going to f--king kill your family."
It's not clear how often officers in the N.W.T. are assaulted in the line of duty — CBC's request for an interview with the RCMP went unanswered.
Over the last five years, the Commission has never found that N.W.T. officers used excessive force when arresting an individual.