231339
232884
Letters  

In defence of the RCMP

An RCMP friend once said to me "nobody likes me till they need me "  Get hit by another vehicle in a traffic accident and who do you call; the RCMP.  Your kid's bike gets stolen who do you call, the RCMP. Your house or car gets broken into and who do you call, the RCMP.

On to more serious stuff, you've been sexually or physically assaulted. You call the RCMP. They are our best friend when we need them.

Lately there have been a few incidences where quite possibly excess force was used to subdue a person. Sadly force is required sometimes. But  what we dont know are any of the preceding facts or factors. We don't really know what was going on inside this young student's room when RCMP arrived. Did she resist?

Why didn't she just go along with the police? The RCMP are trained to subdue and typically have a very short negotiation period in these cases. But typically they aim for the path of least resistance. They don't want to have to use a hands on approach. They can get hurt too. I've seen it happen at my workplace. 

I work in the Emergency Room. We rely on the RCMP to assist us with unruly patients. To assist with the transfer of patients deemed too violent for regular Nursing and our security staff to handle. We rely on them too often.

I read about and have seen  the protests to "defund the police." I think the police need more funding, they have a hard time doing their job now.  Ever wonder why speeders seem to be everywhere in our lovely city.

It's because the RCMP are busy dealing with more important issues like your safety, your house that was broken into, the  "rampant drug issues "this city faces. It's a huge issue. Less drug problems, fewer break-ins, fewer overdoses, less physical  violence. 

I also agree that extra police/mental health workers are needed. Mental health issues / drug issues are a big problem in Kelowna. They occupy about 8 percent of all KGH ER visits. Being able to deal with issues safely at a patient's home is always a better idea than having them brought to the ER . 

The police need our support. They have an extremely tough job to do. Defund the police I think not, they have a tough enough time doing their job now.

David Wood 
 



More Letters to the editor



227089
RECENT STORIES


Castanet Classifieds

227090


The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author. Castanet does not in any way warrant the information presented.


Visit our discussion forum
for these and other issues.


Previous Stories

228921
227490


223892