The RCMP welcomes today's announcement by the Alberta government of guidelines for the use of Conducted Energy Weapons in Alberta. Based on our preliminary review of the guidelines, we believe they are consistent with current RCMP policy and practices relating to the use of CEWs, following a number of improvements that the RCMP has made over the past year.
Establishing and implementing appropriate CEW standards and policies is critical to maintaining the public's confidence in the use of this important law enforcement tool.
The RCMP is fully committed to providing the highest quality police services under contract to Alberta and our municipal partners in the province. We will continue to work closely with the province, our other contract partners and with others on further enhancements to our CEW policy and practices and improvements more broadly.
As members of Canada's national police force, our officers are at work in every province and territory and we are the provincial and territorial police in eight provinces and the three territories. We are committed to providing services in a manner that responds to local conditions and requirements and the RCMP must also strive to ensure an appropriate level of consistency across the Force and across the country.
Common training and standards allow us to meet our unique obligations and to deploy officers from across the country to respond to special operational demands and emergencies. This includes, for example, our work in support of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Consistent and appropriate national standards contribute to the quality of our services and the safety of our officers who work in a wide variety of circumstances and conditions across Canada.
We do not believe that a patchwork or a multitude of CEW standards are practical or desirable. This is particularly true for the RCMP but also applies to other police forces. We are therefore committed to working with all jurisdictions, Public Safety Canada and our policing partners to establish consistent national CEW standards.
The new guidelines announced by the province of Alberta as well as other recent initiatives, including those of British Columbia, will significantly advance this important work.
Cpl. Wayne A. Oakes
Media Relations Officer
"K" Division
Media and Communications Services
Phone: 780 - 412 - 5260
