RCMP officers in ceremonial red serge will always carry guns at public events and unarmed auxiliary constables will be better protected in the future. Those are two key changes to be put in place by the national police force following the recent terror-related deaths of two Canadian soldiers, Assistant Commissioner Dan Malo said Friday.
"From now on, when all regular members are in public in red serge, we're going to carry our pistols," Malo said in an interview, noting he will attend a Remembrance Day event in Richmond armed with a gun.
"It's really for me in the event that I'm required to jump to work and protect dignitaries and the public. That's a change in our culture."
Malo, the Lower Mainland District Commander for the RCMP, said past protocol called for officers in red serge to be armed at certain events but not others.
"We might have been armed at parades but not funerals," he said.
Malo said the RCMP is especially concerned about the welfare of the 1,100-plus auxiliaries who support policing efforts throughout B.C. Those constables wear uniforms but don't carry guns and the RCMP wants to ensure they're never far from armed officers.
"We need to rethink things around how we protect anybody who identifies themselves as being connected to law enforcement," Malo said. "How do we protect them and make sure they go home at the end of the day?" He said auxiliaries always operate under the supervision of regular officers but there are times - often at major public events - when there isn't an armed officer nearby.
"We've had auxiliaries man barricades and roadblocks at events like parades, often by themselves," Malo said. "We have to rethink that.
"If that means we have to put a police officer in a uniform in a patrol car next to a number of auxiliaries because of a certain threat, then that's what we're going to do."
But he stressed certain RCMP detachments may not have to do much, if anything, to ensure the safety of their auxiliary constables because of measures already in place.
Malo said the measures might cost "some money" but doubts it will be a lot. "I suspect the amount of money will be very insignificant because it may just involve a redirection of resources for an event," he said.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the auxiliary constable program is "very valuable" to his city and supports whatever measures are needed to ensure those volunteers are safe.
But Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan thinks the RCMP may be overreacting to the events that took the lives of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.
"These aren't the reactions that normal police departments make," he said. "Departments dealing with local issues don't suddenly react to something like that and starting treating everybody differently as a result."
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