Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth had to defend himself in the B.C. Legislature last week against accusations that the province has put a “gag order” in place for the RCMP in this province.
“I do not direct the RCMP on what they say,” Farnworth said. “I have never directed the RCMP on what they say.”
Farnworth is telling the truth here. And that’s part of the problem.
The province has long had a hands-off policy when it comes to police communications. This has left B.C. – whose citizens are policed by hundreds of RCMP detachments and civic police forces, ranging from a handful to hundreds of officers – with a wild patchwork when it comes to police transparency.
Each RCMP detachment or specialized unit in B.C. is left to craft its own communications policy. Senior officers can set the level of transparency, and decide how much or how little they want to engage with the public and the press.
This means that some detachments are quite transparent, sharing as much about cases under investigation as they can, while obviously holding back information that could imperil privacy of victims, or damage an investigation’s chances of success.
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Others choose to clam up. They release little to no information about crimes in the community, they refuse to talk about internal matters.
Some specialized units at the provincial E Division HQ in Surrey, for example, refuse to say how many officer vacancies they have, treating it as a secret. Other units, operating out of the same building, are much more open.
A quarter century ago, this would have been primarily an issue of giving out information through the media, but modern police services have the option of using their own websites, social media, and in-person outreach as well.
Farnworth says he doesn’t direct RCMP communications, but perhaps he should start.
These rules would benefit reporters, obviously. But reporters have no special rights – we are just members of the public.
An increase in transparency would extend to anyone who had a question about RCMP operations in B.C., and so would provide a benefit to activists, academics, and citizen journalists as well. Transparency, in the end, benefits the police by increasing trust.
– M.C.