The new commander of the Kelowna RCMP is coming into a detachment which has seen a lot of public scrutiny as of late.
Lawsuits, controversies and even criminal charges against officers have plagued the detachment over the past couple of years as local Mounties have faced allegations of excessive force, sexual assault and more.
Their new boss, Supt. Kara Triance, said she has high expectations for her officers going forward.
Triance began her role as the commander of the Kelowna Regional Detachment, which oversees Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland and Lake Country, last week. She said good police conduct is of the utmost importance.
sa国际传媒淲e can not afford to get it wrong,sa国际传媒� said Triance in a Tuesday, Nov. 3 interview with the Capital News. sa国际传媒淏ecause with every wrong we have (to do) a lot of right to undo that.sa国际传媒�
In the past year, the Kelowna RCMP has dealt with community backlash over its high number of sexual assault reports deemed sa国际传媒榰nfoundedsa国际传媒�, highly publicized incidents showing alleged excessive force used by officers, all as at least two Mounties sa国际传媒� one whosa国际传媒檚 currently suspended and one former sa国际传媒� make their way through court on criminal charges and others face civil lawsuits.
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Those high-profile incidents that the detachment is currently dealing with have presented some sa国际传媒渄eeply concerning issues,sa国际传媒� Triance said. She hopes to maintain a more transparent relationship with both the media and public, saying she will provide this as those matters progress, but mentioned such issues can get sa国际传媒渧ery complex.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭he totality of what wesa国际传媒檙e dealing with includes a review of each one of those incidents: A look at the supervision; the leadership sa国际传媒� right from the lowest level of a non-commissioned officer to my position sa国际传媒� (with which) we manage our employees.sa国际传媒�
She said the question essentially boils down to this: sa国际传媒淎t what point did we fail to uphold to (our) objectives and wherein that system did we break down?sa国际传媒�
While acknowledging the concerns of the public, Triance said overall, the officers at the detachment are doing good police work.
sa国际传媒淭here are people who are very proud to do their work and they take their jobs very seriously.sa国际传媒�
Noting the detachmentsa国际传媒檚 struggles in recent years with sexual assault reports, Triance said shesa国际传媒檚 looking forward to working with Kelownasa国际传媒檚 four-officer sexual assault unit, which was introduced in March. She helped build similar teams in Whistler and Squamish when she headed the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 Sea-to-Sky detachment.
sa国际传媒淭hose dedicated officers, with the unique skill set that they bring, to be able to provide services to survivors of sexual assault and to investigate very complex and serious files, are an incredible asset to those detachments.sa国际传媒�
With almost 200 police officers under her command, Triance hopes to improve the culture within the detachment, stressing the need for strong values, conduct, professionalism, respect and integrity.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 not that we go out and do the job, itsa国际传媒檚 how we do the job. For me, that starts with an internal look and investment in my employees.sa国际传媒�
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Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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