COPS' TACTICS WEAK

RCMP spokesman Const. Wayne Oakes says there's a lot of armchair
quarterbacking going on after the shooting deaths of four Mounties in
Mayerthorpe, Alta.

You bet there is. And for good reason. We don't like it when the bad guys
- -- the scumbags, the scuzzos -- get the upper hand and kill police officers.

We didn't like it when the scumbags got the upper hand in the shooting
death of Manitoba RCMP Const. Dennis Strongquill in 2001.

And we don't like it now.

RCMP "spokespeople" didn't like the armchair quarterbacking going on after
the Strongquill shooting, either, such as why Strongquill wasn't wearing
his body armour and why he and his partner didn't have a shotgun in their
cruiser.

Despite that, RCMP subsequently made body armour mandatory for all officers.

And in Manitoba it became mandatory for all RCMP cruiser cars to carry
shotguns. It took Strongquill's death for that to happen. And maybe a
little armchair quarterbacking.

The shootings in Mayerthorpe had nothing to do with grow ops, dope laws or
gun control. They had everything to do with police operations.

Calling for tougher sanctions for grow ops may make for good politics but
it's completely irrelevant in this case. And please spare me the moronic
claims that if we legalized marijuana, we could avoid these types of cop
killings.

What's important in this case is that the RCMP were dealing with a very
dangerous individual who had shot at people before.

James Roszko spent time in prison. He was convicted of sexual assault in
2000. He was a known police hater. And he was known to have weapons.

Roszko was a bad dude. And police have to take great precautions when
dealing with bad dudes, period. It doesn't matter if the guy was running a
grow op or a puppy mill.

What irks me is RCMP spokespeople immediately dismiss the idea that perhaps
not enough precaution was taken in dealing with Roszko. Should these
officers have been sent into the property the way they were -- vulnerable
and open to attack?

Considering the dangerous nature of Roszko, should there not have been
greater care taken in executing a search of his property? Those are fair
questions to ask, to which RCMP spokesman Oakes responded yesterday by
saying: "We have to show people respect."

You show law-abiding citizens respect, not convicted criminals who have a
propensity to shoot at people on their property.

Make no mistake. The villain in this story is James Roszko.

He shot and killed four police officers.

But the RCMP have to take a good look at their operations and determine
whether sending rookie cops into a highly volatile and dangerous situation
without back-up is good policing strategy.

For the RCMP to dismiss out of hand that the execution itself was flawed is
irresponsible. And, quite frankly, a little arrogant.

RCMP officers wear body armour and all Manitoba Mounties carry shotguns in
their vehicles because of the Strongquill shooting.

Hopefully, this week's shootings in Mayerthorpe will change how RCMP
officers execute searches on the properties of known, violent criminals.