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In a statement, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, shown in this 2011 file photo, said the RCMP have accepted each of the report’s 45 findings, and has implemented 26 of 31 recommendations.Brett Beadle/The Globe and Mail

The RCMP's civilian watchdog has found significant problems in how police in northern B.C. go about their duties, including poor documentation for public-drunkenness arrests and failure to follow procedures for investigations into missing persons.

The report – launched by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) in 2013 after allegations of excessive use of force, rape and mishandling of missing-persons' cases – did not find systemic misconduct by the RCMP.

But it identified multiple concerns that resulted in 45 findings and 31 recommendations, ranging from outlining clear policies for strip searches to keeping better records on the use of force.

With regard to missing persons, the CRCC reviewed a selection of police occurrence reports from 2008 to 2012 and found 46 per cent failed to show the RCMP in the North District "investigated missing persons' cases promptly and thoroughly," the report said.

Over the same period, RCMP members failed to spell out the reason for arresting an intoxicated person in 22.6 per cent of cases, contrary to policy.

The review also found some instances in which the RCMP response differed by ethnicity. In regard to arrests for public intoxication, 79.7 per cent of aboriginal subjects were held in cells and released when sober, compared with 68.6 per cent of Caucasian subjects. And 3.7 per cent of aboriginal subjects who were arrested were taken home, compared with 11.6 per cent of Caucasian subjects, the report said.

Many of the CRCC's findings related to training, supervision and documentation, said Richard Evans, CRCC's senior director of operations.

"If you're doing something as serious as putting someone in jail, you need to write down what your grounds were," Mr. Evans said in a recent interview in Vancouver.

"If you're using force on a person, you need to explain what your grounds were, why you did it, what happened," he added.

The CRCC launched its investigation after several reports – including one in 2013 from Human Rights Watch – flagged serious concerns about police conduct in northern B.C.

In a statement, B.C. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens said the RCMP have accepted each of the report's 45 findings, and has implemented 26 of 31 recommendations, with the remaining five to be implemented by May of this year.

"I am pleased that there were no findings of systemic problems with the RCMP's actions in northern B.C." Deputy Commissioner Callens said in the statement.

"Although gaps were identified, I can confidently say that the RCMP has implemented policy or procedural updates to make the necessary improvements."

The CRCC report "reveals significant failures by the RCMP in northern B.C. to follow the law and even their own policies in a whole range of areas," said Josh Paterson, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association.

"And cutting across all these different areas of police practice, we see a failure just to sufficiently document what they are doing," he added.

That lack of documentation makes it more difficult or impossible for external agencies such as the CRCC or RCMP supervisors to ensure policies are being followed, Mr. Paterson said.

The CRCC investigation focused on six areas: public intoxication, cross-gender police searches, missing persons' reports, domestic violence, use of force and the handling of files involving youth.

As a result of its investigation, the CRCC has opened an office in B.C., in a step designed to boost the commission's profile and position it to respond to public concerns and complaints about RCMP policing, especially in relation to indigenous people.

The existing process sometimes left people feeling their complaints have fallen on deaf ears, especially in remote or indigenous communities.

A local CRCC office is overdue, Mr. Patterson said.

"Report after report has identified ongoing, continuous issues with RCMP conduct and standards," Mr. Patterson said.

"It's unimaginable that the country's largest region for RCMP policing, which is B.C., would not have a complaints body on the ground."

The B.C. RCMP, or E Division, is the largest in the country, with more than 9,500 members. The CRCC report focused exclusively on the North District, which is headquartered in Prince George and has 35 detachments and more than 600 members.

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