Mounties Face Crisis, No Solution in Sight
Pic via: RCMP Twitter
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is facing a crisis. A significant shortage of RCMP officers is raising concerns about their safety and the safety of the communities they protect.
According to CTV News, more than 12 percent of positions are unfilled. RCMP members are worried about the number of vacancies.
The lack of front-line officers is leading to stress, burnout and even to departures for other police forces, these members say.
“The HR crisis is the number one thing affecting our organization and there’s no overnight fix to it,” said Brian Sauvé, who serves as national executive co-chair for the National Police Federation. It is the organization that looks likeliest to become the union for the RCMP.But Suave believes it is going to be years before this situation is fully reconciled.
“We are overworked, we’re fatigued, we’re exhausted, and I haven’t seen any reason to be optimistic that it’s getting better,” Cpl. James Smith said. “In my 10 years of service… our workloads have just been going up and up and up.”
He has referred to the situation as a “recipe for disaster.”
“I’m seeing members with two and three years service showing signs of advanced fatigue and exhaustion,” Smith said.
The government claims they are working on it, with a plan that includes increasing RCMP pay (the first increase in three years), reviewing reports on harassment within the RCMP and passing legislation to let Mounties form a union.
It’s not just member staffing that’s plaguing the force. Mounties also say it takes months to get kit like new pants or utility belts (the RCMP says it has approved a plan to address the backorders). Radios don’t always work in the more remote parts of the country where they patrol. And dispatching and statistics-keeping have also slowed due to staffing shortages.
The Mounties have made some changes to their application and recruiting process over the last few years. The application process is faster and more flexible, with broader entrance criteria. They will continue to make changes necessary to keep the RCMP afloat.
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
no shit they are in crisis, they make it super hard for people to enroll, the hiring process is super lengthy and absurdly complicated. Cancel the useless entry exam, hire people based on overall experience, get them to pass a face to face interview then a physical with security clearance and that’s it.
I am here hire me.