Mountie Not Told Key Info During Vehicle Stop

Officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say that neither a veteran officer or a dispatcher will be disciplined for an incident that allowed a convicted sex offender to drive away with a kidnapped girl after a car stop because an officer failed to receive key information about the driver’s criminal history. The 10 year-old girl had been kidnapped earlier from a shopping mall, and the suspect dropped her off unharmed at a fast food restaurant shortly after the police car stop. In a somewhat confusing account, RCMP officials said the 25-year veteran officer did request a records check of the driver, and the radio dispatcher did properly run the man’s name. The man’s conviction and sex offender status were displayed to the dispatcher during the records check, officials said, and were relayed to the officer via radio and his in-car laptop. However, the officer said he did not hear the “special interest to police” (SIP) portion of the radio broadcast, and the SIP information wasn’t “flagged high priority” when sent to the laptop, officials said. Had the officer know of the SIP status, he might have investigated further and detained the driver, officials said. Read more about the incident here.