I WAS TOO QUICK TO BLAME DEATHS ON DRUGS, RCMP CHIEF ADMITS

Zaccardelli Says He Condemned Grow-Ops Without Knowing Full Story of
Ill-Fated Raid on Farm

Canada's top police officer said yesterday that he was too quick to
condemn a marijuana grow operation as the root cause in the deaths of
four Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers last week.

RCMP Commissioner Guiliano Zaccardelli said in an interview that his
condemnation of grow-ops just hours after the shootings may have been
inappropriate because police and politicians did not have full details
of the particular case and the background of the killer.

Commissioner Zaccardelli and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, his
political boss as the minister of public safety and emergency
preparedness, spoke of the scourge of marijuana grow operations within
hours of the killings and the need for tougher penalties for those who
operate them.

"I gave what I believed was the best information I had knowing full
well that at that time I didn't have all the information," a contrite
Commissioner Zaccardelli said. "Clearly, there's a lot of things in
there that, in hindsight, we will have to look at in a different
perspective."

Police in Mayerthorpe, Alta., first attended James Roszko's home last
Wednesday with a court order to seize stolen auto parts. While there,
they discovered what a search warrant said were 20 "mature" marijuana
plants, "several pots containing dirt with stems coming out of them
numbering close to 100," and a smell "consistent of a marijuana grow
operation." They returned the next day -- the day of the killings --
with a warrant to search for the drug outfit and seized 280 plants,
$8,000 worth of growing equipment and a generator worth $30,000, the
Edmonton Journal reported.

But now it appears the murders were the work of a deranged man with a
long criminal history and a grudge against police, and not that of a
gangster protecting his cash crop.

"None of these are simple issues. This requires some reflection and
discussion," Commissioner Zaccardelli said. "Let's honour the memory
of these four fallen police officers and help their families get
through it, and then we need to carry on the debate after this."

Commissioner Zaccardelli's comments followed statements in the House
of Commons yesterday by all four political parties commemorating the
deaths of constables Peter Schiemann, 25, Anthony Gordon, 28, Brock
Myrol, 29, and Lionide Johnston, 32.

Opposition parties declined out of respect for the four dead officers
to use yesterday's question period to probe the initial reactions of
Commissioner Zaccardelli and Ms. McLellan.

Last Thursday night, Ms. McLellan said the officers "were killed in an
operation involving, as far as we know at this point, an illegal grow
operation."

She went on to speak of the great danger grow-ops pose to police
officers, their frequent links to organized crime, and the need for
stronger penalties for those who run them. All are positions she has
held consistently for a long time.

Ms. McLellan would not discuss Commissioner Zaccardelli's comments
yesterday.

"The first thing that happened was that everybody acted based on a
lack of information," said Randy White, a tough-on-crime Conservative
MP from British Columbia. "Yeah, they did react, but based on
information they didn't have."

Prime Minister Paul Martin, Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, Ms. McLellan
and Commissioner Zaccardelli will travel to Edmonton on Thursday for a
national memorial service. Following that, Commissioner Zaccardelli
said, he will be making a "more extensive" public statement on the
killings.

All four political parties spoke yesterday in the House of Commons in
honour of the four dead officers.

Ms. McLellan, an MP from Edmonton Centre, southeast of where the
killings took place, said she was personally shaken by the incident
because it occurred in her home province.

"These four officers served their community," she said, "but they were
also part of their community."

There were hints that Ms. McLellan and the country's national police
force could come under heavy scrutiny in coming days.

"All Canadians are asking why. Those answers will have to wait for
another day," said NDP leader Jack Layton.

"The time is coming to understand the implications of their deaths and
the public policy involved," said Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

Politically, it appears the federal gun registry could bear the brunt
of the fallout in the days to come. Mr. Roszko had a long criminal
record and should not have had access to weapons.

There have also been questions raised about the level of training and
preparation given to the officers guarding Mr. Roszko's property.

A bill to reform laws governing use and cultivation of marijuana is
currently under parliamentary review. It would increase penalties for
those who grow the drug, but proposed decriminalizing possession of
small amounts.