Terry Halifax & Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 20/01) - The name of an RCMP officer who is being investigated for mishandling evidence and conduct unbecoming a police member is protected by the federal Privacy Act.

The complaint against the officer reportedly came from within the Yellowknife detachment. An internal investigation officially began on July 17.

Members of the RCMP are stifled by the act and can not confirm the officer's identity. "These are only allegations," said Staff Sgt. Tom Raine. "It does not mean there is any substance to them at all."

An RCMP source told Yellowknifer, however, that the member under investigation is not a rank-and-file officer, but a more senior employee working at an administrative level.

The investigation is expected to run into late August or September. Depending on its outcome a formal internal RCMP court process may arise. At that point the RCMP is expected to release the name of the officer to the public.

Defence attorney James Brydon said depending on the circumstances, charges could be laid against the member and this could "create havoc" within the court systems.

Brydon said each case handled by the member could be brought under a cloud of suspicion.

"If there was interference with the continuity of exhibits, previous cases could be re-opened by way of appeal or by application to the department of justice," Brydon said.

He added drug- or weapons-related cases would have the most grounds for dismissal, because evidence is key in conviction.

"There needs to be some sort of assurance that the same thing that was exhibited in the court room is the same thing that brought the charge," he said. "We have to trust that they are what was seized."

The defence has the option of performing its own analysis of drugs by private experts.

"It can be very serious," he added. "If something changes from the time it's seized to the time it's presented in court, it's very serious."

There is a degree of trust among the Crown, defence and the RCMP, and Brydon said if that trust is compromised, the whole system is flawed. "It's a breach of faith within the criminal justice system," he said. "The Crown is depending on it, the defence are depending on it and if there has been some interference on it, that can have a serious effect on that whole trust."