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The bright scarlet uniform. The distinctive Stetson hat with its wide, flat brim. The officer riding a beautiful black stallion as he patrols the frontier.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is more than just a police force 鈥� it鈥檚 a pillar of Canada鈥檚 history and national identity, recognized around the world as distinctly and proudly Canadian. With that pride, though, comes a profound disappointment when it lets us down.
Dalhousie sociology professor Chris Murphy has studied policing and the RCMP for more than 30 years. Paul McKenna, currently enrolled in the Interdisciplinary PhD program, brings with him extensive experience as a policy advisor to police organizations across the country. So when a convergence of damning incidents 鈥� the Maher Arar scandal and pension fund mismanagement 鈥� led the federal government to establish a government task force on reforming the RCMP, it commissioned a comprehensive report from the Dalhousie researchers.
鈥淚 believe that some of the work that we do as academics should attempt to transfer our academic knowledge and ideas into a public environment where it can have some influence, hopefully for the better,鈥� says Dr. Murphy. 鈥淲e wanted to contribute to the debate and work towards informing public policy, which I think is part of the obligation of social scientists.鈥�
Dr. Murphy and Mr. McKenna鈥檚 report, Rethinking Police Governance, Culture & Management, argues there are significant failures and limitations in the culture and management structure of the RCMP that have prevented the force from adequately keeping pace with its changing mandate. This culture is no accident 鈥� it comes from a rich historical military policing tradition and brings with it many functional elements 鈥� but its inherent conservatism has prevented sustained change from taking hold in the rank and file of the organization.
Mr. McKenna explains the mandate of today鈥檚 RCMP has changed dramatically, even within the past few years. 鈥淭he RCMP has taken on security roles, international roles, and it is a police force operating at federal, provincial, municipal and international levels,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n that sense, it has become larger and increasingly more complex.鈥�
To move into a more flexible, modern policing institution Murphy and McKenna recommend a number of significant changes, including the development of a new secular management culture more reflective of the management skills, values and experience required by the broad complex policing task and functions preformed by today鈥檚 RCMP. They also target more specific strategies such as increased university education, broadening senior management experience through lateral entry, the creation of an elite officer corps, more social internal and academic research and development and a new organizational structure to manage the different kinds of policing done by the RCMP.
The Task Force鈥檚 own report, released last month, and aptly entitled Rebuilding the Trust, recommends top-level changes to the RCMP bureaucracy that the Dalhousie researchers hope will start the process of modernizing Canada鈥檚 national police force.
The Public Safety Minister and the RCMP have yet to respond to the Task Force鈥檚 recommendations, and everyone involved recognizes that change won鈥檛 be easy 鈥� in their report, Dr. Murphy and Mr. McKenna refer to the RCMP as 鈥渁 proverbial super-tanker that takes miles to turn around.鈥� But they believe that current events present an ideal opportunity for reform.
鈥淲ithin the membership of the RCMP, they want fundamental change,鈥� says Mr. McKenna. 鈥淭here is a clear indication at the upper levels in senior management that they want change. There is a public desire for change and there is a governmental or political desire for change. That鈥檚 a pretty important coalescence of motivating factors.鈥�
Dr. Murphy agrees. 鈥淲hat Canadians want is that image to be real,鈥� he says of the RCMP鈥檚 symbolic status. 鈥淭hey want (the RCMP) to be the best and brightest, to be the police force that they鈥檝e always thought it was, and maybe are starting to have some doubts about. I think it鈥檚 within the reach of the organization to achieve change 鈥� these problems are not beyond repair and not beyond reform.鈥�