"The Mounties always get their man!"

Mounties .... Royal Canadian Mounted Police

When still with my former spouse I had called the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.), when they attended our residence they spoke to former spouse first, did not ask me appropriate questions or record any information I shared with them. They did not advise me of resources such as the women’s refuge in a nearby community, even though I told them how I had left several times before and had to come back because I had nowhere else to go – they knew I was from Australia and had no family here.

After I had moved out and someone was trying to get into my new residence in the middle of the night R.C.M.P. dispatch did not contact local police, but told me they had and that no one was answering. After contacting local police the next day, the tape recording of my phone call was examined and they were surprised to find that (a) I did have the conversation that I had related to them and got no assistance and (b) the dispatch office had lied to me and not bothered trying to contact local police, instead they just put me on hold and answered other calls. The police officer in charge of dispatch for the province contacted me. We came to an agreement that he would have all his dispatch phone operators read some information I had and listen to a recording of a CBC radio documentary that talked about domestic abuse and the opportunity for police to reduce its incidence by prompt and appropriate responses. Later when I asked him for a letter or some documentation of this he told me he “couldn’t possibly do that.”

I felt there was a lack of care or concern when files with financial documents disappeared from my new residence. I felt there was a lack of care or concern when someone was looking in my bathroom window early in the morning and ran away and drove off in a car that had been parked several houses away. I felt there was a lack of care and concern when my house was broken into. I felt there was a lack of care and concern when I asked them to record that I had felt threatened by my former spouse’s comment about Colin Thatcher (Canadian politician who was found guilty of murdering his former spouse) being a "great guy" – they told me that my former spouse was entitled to his own opinion.

When I went to see the local sergeant to discuss my concerns about the above experiences he was not available to discuss his officers actions – he just wanted to know what I had done to "provoke" my spouse!

After I moved from that community I had help filing a complaint with the R.C.M.P. The result of this complaint was that they decided some officers had not acted appropriately and would be disciplined - but they could not tell me who was to be disciplined, what they would be disciplined for or what form the discipline would take.

Later I was contacted by an R.C.M.P. officer who suggested that seeing I was able to clearly articulate my experience, make constructive suggestions for change and had many resources, would I please come to the R.C.M.P. training centre and help with their training for responses to domestic violence calls?

For logistical reasons I had to graciously decline this opportunity.

For information regarding the opportunities for protective intervention by police officers see:
Domestic Violence Handbook for Police and Crown Prosecuters in Alberta www.solgen.gov.ab.ca/publications/default.aspx?id=4373
Australian Domestic Violence & Family Violence Clearinghouse Discussion Paper www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/issuespaper3.pdf

It's encouraging to read about succesful intervention projects!

Take care ... take heart .... Merinda