Editor’s Opinion: As Chief Darren Blaney told Cortes Currents after the shooting of Jared Lowndes in Campbell River in 2021, 6 months training is not sufficient to equip the RCMP with intense situations. “There is a lot of emphasis on physical training and physical fitness, but not policing with social problems and mental health issues. Escalation and racial bias are not really examined during the training period.”
In Lowndes case, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) determined that the RCMP actions were not justified. Chief Civilian Director Ronald J. MacDonald, KC, stated that reasonable grounds exist to believe that three officers (a dogmaster, and the two officers who gunned Lowndes down when he defended himself against the attacking animal) may have committed offences in relation to various uses of force.
By Lubna El Elaimy, Burnaby Beacon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In late March, the RCMP announced the start of its race-based data collection pilot in Burnaby. Since the beginning of April, Burnaby RCMP has been collecting information about the interactions RCMP members have with racialized people.
The pilot project comes after two years of research and discussions with communities throughout Canada. With over 50% of Burnaby residents born outside of Canada and no ethnic majority, Burnaby was selected as one of five Canadian cities to join the project in its first year.
