For several years now, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been under pressure to better arm its front-line officers. Although he did not specify how many of them were trained in the use of rifles in each Canadian detachment, he confirmed that 78% were.
A superior of RCMP approved the establishment of the rifle program in 2011, recommended by an expert following the 2005 tragedy in Mayerthorpe, Alberta.
Actual implementation was stalled then, primarily due to financial constraints and certain training requirements.
In the 2014 shootings in Moncton, New Brunswick, police RCMP who lost his life had no rifle. Two of the injured were also absent.
An independent review of the events is then recommended RCMP to act immediately to expedite the distribution of patrol carbines.
Portapique
Six years later, 22 people died in the Portapique shooting.
One of the victims, Heidi Stevenson, died in an attempt to kill the shooter. He was not trained in rifle handling, like other agents at the site intervened on April 18 and 19, 2020.
In this moment RCMP there were approximately 5,700 rifles spread across the country and 8,700 front-line officers were trained.
In December 2020, the RCMP is updating its national program to ensure more police receive their rifle training.
The target of RCMP is to train 65% of its frontline workforce before March 2022.
On April 1, 2022, the RCMP in Nova Scotia it was confirmed that 72% of front-line officers in the province had received rifle training.
Shortage and rural areas
According to specialist on security, intelligence and defense issues, Christian Leuprecht, the lack of manpower within the mounted police partly explains this rationalization of training and equipment.
He added that police officers in rural areas are more often at risk of being injured or killed in the line of duty.
Your reinforcements may be very far away, unlike in municipal areas which are only minutes awayhe said.
However, Christian Leuprecht suggests that it is not surprising that the detachments RCMP the farthest of the shooting ranges at present is the one with very few officers trained in handling rifles.
How many of the largest detachments of RCMP there are shooting ranges in their basement, not everyone has. Police working in detachments without one have to drive a lot of time to gain access.
The movements that eliminate detachments of a fewer agents when workers are thin, refers to Christian Leuprecht.
Furthermore, the RCMP plans to train at least 80% of its staff by 2025.
With information from Haley Ryan ng CBC
Source: Radio-Canada
