RCMP TO GO BEYOND 'JUST THE FACTS'

The RCMP says it is trying to provide more context and not "just the
facts" when it gives crime information to the public.

"Our policy does not include providing less information," said
Corporal Tom Seaman, a spokesman for the RCMP in British Columbia.
"It includes providing better information."

Cpl. Seaman was responding to an internal RCMP review by its
communications section, which was obtained by the Vancouver Sun. The
review reportedly suggests that the RCMP provide less information to
the news media, so there are fewer crime-based stories and less
chance of creating an irrational fear of crime among the public.

The report is nearly 18 months old, Cpl. Seaman explained.

"Things have changed since then. Instead of just the facts, we are
trying to be more proactive" in the information that is made public
by the RCMP, he said. "We are making sure the public knows what we are doing."

The RCMP report also calls for a review of its policy that requires
media relations officers to respond to all news inquiries. The policy
has not been changed, said Cpl. Seaman, who noted that he answered
nearly 30 reporters' calls yesterday, about whether the RCMP intends
to provide less crime information.

Although the RCMP is prompt in responding to media questions about
alleged crimes by members of the public, it has not followed the same
policy in a case of alleged wrongdoing by one of its officers.

There still has been no detailed information released about the death
of Ian Bush, who was shot and killed by an RCMP officer while in
custody last October in the northern B.C. community of Houston. The
police report of its investigation into that shooting, is now in the
hands of the Crown, which will decide whether charges will be laid.

Vancouver police said yesterday that it attempts to provide
information to the media on a regular basis, so residents will know
whether a crime has been committed in their neighbourhood. The media
might package this information "in a way that is reassuring to the
public, or they may package it in a way that is alarming to the
public," said Constable Howard Chow, a Vancouver police spokesman.

Information is held back however, "if it has to do with investigative
reasons," Constable Chow said.

Raymond Corrado, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University,
said it is well established that the fear of crime is much greater
than the actual threat to the public. What is needed, however, is not
less public information, but more depth in the way crime information
is released and reported, he said.

"It presents the RCMP and the VPD in a positive light when they are
willing to explain things," Prof. Corrado said. "I think police would
want to provide more information to reassure the public that they are
on top of the problem."

Stranger-on-stranger crime is rare, Mr. Corrado said, yet those
incidents are usually highlighted by news media, instead of the
causes of "social disorganization" in certain neighbourhoods, that
results in higher crime rates in such areas.