Current RCMP boss William Elliott never stood a chance.  Appointed in the wake of such stellar examples of RCMP integrity as former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, Elliott was brought in to try and save the RCMP from itself.

The very fact that Elliott was not a career cop offended pretty much everyone in the RCMP, but none more than the top echelon of RCMP brass who a) felt they deserved the job, and b) would do pretty much anything to keep their fiefdom intact.

I personally believe it was a brave move for Harper to appoint a civilian to head the RCMP.  To me it said he was serious about trying to solve some of the serious and systemic flaws within the RCMP, a force our nation once could be proud of.

Those days of pride in the RCMP are long gone though, aren’t they?

The murders of Ian Bush and Darren Varley inside RCMP lockups, of Robert Dziekanski at the hands of four RCMP thugs who then refused to allow medical aid to be given, of the killing of Orion Hutchinson by RCMP Corporal Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, one of the four who killed Dziekanski and the man in charge of them all, to the brutal face-kicking by RCMP Constable Geoff Mantler all show us a police force that is out of control.

To hear RCMP brass at the Meyerthorpe inquiry telling us that it’s OUR fault the RCMP is in the shape it’s in is, well, frankly a disgrace.  But it sure shows why Elliott failed at reforming the RCMP.

The RCMP refused to change.

To be told that it’s up to the public to reach out a hand to help the RCMP is the height of hypocrisy and Orwellian mind-bending double-speak.

There is a reason the public refuses to help the RCMP.

There is a reason the public has no faith in the RCMP.

There is a reason the public no longer trusts the RCMP.

That reason? The RCMP.

Not the public.

In the wake of all these killings and brutal beatings at the hands of our so-called national police force, it strikes me as utterly absurd to be told by RCMP brass that we’re the ones who must reach out the hand of friendship.

To the brass at the RCMP, let me spell it out for you.

WE are not the ones who broke trust.

YOU ARE.

You want bridges built between the RCMP and the public?  Then YOU had better be the ones to start building, to start reaching with hands of friendship, not boots of brutality.

PROVE that you deserve our trust, our respect, our friendship and our support.

Because right now you haven’t done that.

Every action you’ve taken so far has been to protect your own, to hide the facts, to lie about what you’ve done, and then blame us for your failings.

It’s garbage.

Instead of hiding behind the Blue Wall and doing everything in your power to undermine men like William Elliott, how about looking squarely in the mirror and taking an honest stock of what you see there.

Maybe then you’ll be able to understand why we, the public, have no faith or trust in you.

It’s not because of anything we’ve done.  It’s because of your own corrupt, contemptible and self-serving actions.

You want to fix the problem?

Put away your bullet-proof vests for ten minutes.

Act like human beings and treat us like human beings too, instead of “The Enemy”, which seems to have become your standard method of interaction with us, the public you’re supposedly here to protect.

You want a place to start?  I’ll make it super easy for you.

Read Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of Policing.

Then practice them.  Daily.

And whoever the next RCMP Commissioner is…  instead of undermining him at every step because he’s daring to shine the light of truth on what’s wrong with the RCMP, take an honest look in the mirror and help him or her fix the problem, instead of sweeping the problems under the rug while crying, “He hurt my feelings!”

You want us to believe there is such a thing, as Deputy Commissioner Raf Souccar whined about on national television, as “the RCMP’s core values of respect and compassion”?

Then you’re going to have to put your money where your mouth is, and SHOW US.

Because the more you try to cover up the antics of a Geoff Mantler by blaming the victim of his brutal assault, all you prove is that you have no respect for the public at all, and even less compassion for the victims of your members’ brutality and abuse.

It won’t be easy, let me be clear about that.

As an organization, the RCMP has spent the past decade or two hiding behind The Blue Wall, covering up the most heinous acts of RCMP members, and then assuring the world you’ve done nothing wrong.

It will take time for you to regain our trust and our respect.

It will NOT happen overnight.

But if you as a police force actually start acting with the “respect and compassion” your deputy chief lays claim to, in time we will start to trust you again.

Respect is EARNED, not blindly given upon demand.

It’s high time you started earning our respect again, instead of demanding it at the hand of a gun, or kick of a boot.

Only then will we, the public, start viewing you in a different light.