I found your editorial cartoon from April 28 inferring the RCMP are not consummate professionals very offensive and it is obvious the editor and/or his cartoon cohort are lost in another world.
While the headline indicated the RCMP is having a credibility crisis, I find that very misleading as well. Many studies have indicated there is strong support for the Force and I would say the majority of the members are hard-working, dedicated officers and they play an important part in keeping our communities somewhat safer.
Can you tell me how many parents do their part? Can you tell me how many journalists willingly help reduce crime? Who do you call in a time of crisis? There are no doubt some incidents in the past that leave people wondering what has happened to the Force. Perhaps they merely look at what has transpired over the past many years with respect to their recruiting, the need to follow government quotas, judicial and court decisions that are asinine, the Charter of Rights that favours criminals over society, and the inability to get rid of those persons who are in policing for the wrong reason and/or playing the systems available to them.
There are also a myriad of circumstances that have affected the Force’s ability/inability to manage its human resources effectively and no one really cares about the problems they are encountering. To suggest the members are not credible, not trustworthy nor above reproach is blasphemous and in bad taste — particularly when we live in a community that is policed by the RCMP. From what I read in the Gazette it appears there has always been open dialogue between the paper and police and this cartoon does nothing to support that continuation.
I suggest that perhaps some of the journalists or persons who promote this hypocrisy make the effort to walk in their shoes and make just one arrest. This is one time where I say ‘shame on you,’ Mr. Editor.
A.I. Smith, St. Albert
