Royal Canadian Mounted Police:

Crisis AnalysisPresentation Prepared By:

Jennalee Hughes

Background of the RCMP

• RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is the Canadian National Police.

• Agency of the Ministry of Public Safety in Canada.

• Provides total police servicing to all Canadians.

• Three territories, eight provinces (excluding Ontario & Quebec)

Background of the RCMP

• They serve more than 190 municipalities, 184 aboriginal communities, and three international airports.

• Under the authority of the RCMP Act.

• The act is headed by the commissioner, who is under the direction of the Minister of Public Safety of Canada. • They have control and management of the force.

The Force

• The force is divided into 15 different divisions.

• Each division is managed by a Commanding Officer.

• Approximately 29,235 members of the force.

The Crisis

• Janet Merlo, former RCMP officer claims she endured 20 years of sexual harassment from male co-workers.

• Sexual pranks, lewd jokes, etc.

• Filed a formal complaint, but, the police investigate themselves and claim there is not a sufficient amount of evidence or witnesses.

The Crisis

• Merlo filed a lawsuit against the RCMP.

• Supervisors neglected to do anything to help Merlo.

• Breached duty to properly supervise their employees.

• Failed to implement adequate policies that would keep harassment & gender-based discrimination out of the workplace.

RCMP’s Response

• RCMP responded to the harassment allegations.

• RCMP Commissioner, Bob Paulson, vowed to transform the RCMP.

• "Accountability and leadership will be areas of focus for me and my team as we go forward.”

RCMP’s Response

• "These allegations do not represent the force that I joined and this condition cannot stand. I will sort this out in a way that Canadians can have trust and faith in the RCMP and just as importantly, that employees of the RCMP can thrive in a healthy, productive and harassment-free environment.”

Media Response

• CBC News – biggest news outlet in Canada

• Covered crisis efficiently and thoroughly

• Seemed to be neutral on the information they reported to the public.

• CBC didn’t place blame on RCMP, but they simply reported facts of the harassment claims.

Stakeholder Response

• Citizens of Canada

• Lost trust in the RCMP

• Complained on social media and discussion forums.

• They don’t think the RCMP did enough; simply reviewing the incidents and investigating does not suffice.

• Stakeholders think more action should have been taken; RCMP should have punished those who harassed their female co-workers.

Recommendations for RCMP

• More action needed.

• Better Crisis Management Plan.

• Should have responded with statements about taking action and punishing those who were the “harassers” and show more concern for the women who were harassed.

• Training classes to educate officers on harassment.

• Enact policies that will protect female officers.

THANK YOU!