Pot-Smoking Mountie Can't Smoke In Uniform, RCMP Says

[Fancy]

whether or not his smoking helped i could not guess, but if he killed himself, i would suggest he was bullied to death.

interesting the police feel that they should respond to one of their own in distress by bringing multiple charges against him.

would they have been so harsh if it were steroids he was using?

He pleaded guilty to the charges.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

knowing how the 'system' works, he plead guilty to 3 charges so the other 3 would get dropped.

he would not have been 'guilty' if the police did not bully him.

[Fancy]

knowing how the 'system' works, he plead guilty to 3 charges so the other 3 would get dropped.

he would not have been 'guilty' if the police did not bully him.

He assaulted the police.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

Ron Francis's lawyer makes plea for PTSD help after Mountie's suicide
T.J. Burke wants to help 1st responders dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder
CBC News Posted: Oct 07, 2014 11:37 AM

Cpl. Ron Francis's lifelong friend and lawyer is making a plea for help for police officers and other first responders who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, in the wake of the suicide of the RCMP veteran, known for his stand on smoking medicinal marijuana while in uniform.

Francis, a 21-year Mountie veteran who was on medical leave from J Division in New Brunswick, died around 4 p.m. Monday. He was 43.

"He ended up unfortunately falling ill to the post-traumatic stress, and the treatment that he should have received just wasn't there for him at the end," said T.J. Burke.

Burke is calling on the provincial and federal governments to develop something to help first responders "receive actual treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder."

Francis made national headlines in late 2013 when he went public with his belief he should be allowed to smoke medical marijuana while in uniform to help him cope with PTSD.

In recent months, Burke has also represented a Fredericton city police officer and an ex-member of the Canadian military who have been charged with crimes while Burke says they were dealing with PTSD.

​"We`re seeing people, first responders — EMTs, police officers, soldiers, firefighters — coming forward saying they have post-traumatic stress disorder," said Burke.

"What's happening is it's manifesting in such a way because they are not receiving treatment, they are committing what society calls criminal acts. We're seeing them in court cases."

While Francis gained national notoriety in his quest to be allowed to smoke prescribed marijuana while on the job, Burke says that was never the major issue at play.

"Ronnie's whole goal was never smoking marijuana," said Burke. "It was about bringing to light that the RCMP was not providing adequate services to its officers that suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The marijuana was always a red herring," he said. "It was always the issue concerning post-traumatic stress disorder.

"For 21 years, he served as a proud member of the RCMP," Bourque. "He had no disciplinary issues.

"What the public saw was a man who was very sick in his last year of life and that is the unfortunate thing," said Burke.

"He was more than a person who smoked marijuana in uniform."

"It's unfortunate that the incidents that became very public to his own doing, that's only a very, very small snippet of who he was and what he actually did.

"This wasn't a pot-smoking issue. This wasn't a red serge issue. This wasn't a uniform issue," said Brown.

"This was a cry for help and a need to raise the awareness as to what PTSD really is within the organizations we all work for."

Brown said he is confident the RCMP did everything it could do to reach out and respond to Francis and provide him with the support he needed.

"Unfortunately, the turn of events yesterday really brings this into focus with respect to how much an issue this really is."
In September, Francis was set to stand trial on six counts arising from incidents in December 2013 and January 2014 when he changed his plea to guilty on three of the charges.

Francis pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting fellow officers and one count of breaching an undertaking to not possess or consume alcohol and non-prescription drugs.

The three other charges were withdrawn.

A sentencing hearing had been scheduled for Nov. 3.

The charges came out of a confrontation with fellow RCMP officers and Fredericton police on Dec. 6, 2013, when Francis was arrested on a mental-health warning.

The incident came one week after Francis turned in his ceremonial red serge to the RCMP after making national news with his assertion he should be allowed to smoke prescribed medicinal marijuana to deal with his PTSD.

The RCMP stripped Francis of his uniform and placed him on medical leave in November 2013.

Francis said the national police force needs to change its policies and provide more resources to officers.

In January 2013, the RCMP offered to pay for Francis to attend a treatment facility in Powell River, B.C. for three months. Francis left the facility after three days, saying he couldn't get settled and felt like he was being watched.

Francis was Maliseet and a member of Kingsclear First Nation, near Fredericton. In his most recent court appearance, and when he turned in his red serge to the RCMP, he carried with him an eagle feather

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... -1.2789975

[Fancy]

Like I said:

Francis pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting fellow officers

[A_Britishcolumbian]

so you feel that the rcmp were not at all bullying him when they 'checked up on him'?

if they had left him alone, do you think he would have sought them out to assault them?

[Fancy]

so you feel that the rcmp were not at all bullying him when they 'checked up on him'?

if they had left him alone, do you think he would have sought them out to assault them?

He walks out of treatment and who knows what else was going on. Obviously RCMP were concerned regarding the mental health warrant (prompted by?). Hindsight doesn't help anything. Too much unknown surrounding this tragic loss of life.

Brown said the RCMP were dealing with Francis as recently as Sunday to try to provide assistance to him. Francis had been on extended medical leave.

The rest of the clip from the above link:

RCMP call death 'a terrible loss'

Assistant commissioner Roger Brown, the RCMP's commanding officer for J Division in New Brunswick, confirmed Francis's death Tuesday "with great sadness."

"I know there will be much speculation about why this happened and assumptions may be made," said Brown. "The RCMP had been working with Ron to do everything we could to get him the support he had asked for and needed."

Brown said the RCMP were dealing with Francis as recently as Sunday to try to provide assistance to him. Francis had been on extended medical leave.

"Cpl. Francis was a very proud member of the RCMP for almost 22 years and will no doubt be missed," said Brown in a voice shaky with emotion.

"He helped shine a light on post-traumatic stress disorder affecting emergency first responders," he said. "Mental illness, as you well know, is something that carries a stigma and it is important as a society that we not only continue to talk about this very real issue, but we work together to find ways to address it.

"This is a terrible loss for the RCMP family and the community."

Brown said the issue of PTSD for first responders "is real."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... -1.2789975

[GenesisGT]

so you feel that the rcmp were not at all bullying him when they 'checked up on him'?

if they had left him alone, do you think he would have sought them out to assault them?

BC, based on your past comments about the RCMP, I think if they didn't check on him and this happened you would be on here saying the RCMP don't care, and if they hadn't charged him then you would be complaining that the RCMP cover up their own indiscretions.

No matter what was done or what the outcome was it would be the fault of the RCMP.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

that seems to be the consensus (in a way) of myself, the victim, his lawyer and others.

the rcmp bullied this man to death.

why did the rcmp actually check on him?

why did they need to call extra cops?

if they were really concerned for his well being, why did they throw 6 charges against him? that sort of care and concern i would think we could all do without if we were in mr. francis' situation.

[Fancy]

why did the rcmp actually check on him?

why did they need to call extra cops?

if they were really concerned for his well being, why did they throw 6 charges against him? that sort of care and concern i would think we could all do without if we were in mr. francis' situation.

Obviously more to the story - why did he walk out on treatment? Was he receptive to receiving any?
City police request was already discussed.
Have to go through the motions - can't have people assaulting police and say "it's okay". As you said, charges were dropped. In all likelihood he would have been told to get treatment through a court order. Don't forget there was the "breaching an undertaking to not possess or consume alcohol and non-prescription drugs".

[A_Britishcolumbian]

anyone who reads the castanet forum likely would know i am a fierce critic of policing, and because of actions on the part of rcmp that have had profound impact on the lives of myself and my family as well as the fact the rcmp is the principal policing agency in bc where i spend most of my time, i often target the rcmp with my criticisms.

often i have heard those that would oppose me claim 'the violent actions of police are warranted because of the violence of the job.'

here is a story that heavily quotes military and rcmp veteran dr. passey, our preeminent authority on ptsd.

Cpl. Francis suffered from PTSD and was critical of the force for not providing services for him and other victims of the disease. He used medical marijuana to treat his PTSD, something he became known for doing while in uniform. He is the 32nd RCMP officer (former and serving) to die by suicide since 2006.

He is also the second police officer to kill himself in just one week. Ottawa police Staff Sergeant Kal Ghadban, also 43 and a 22-year veteran, shot himself in his office on Sept. 29.

“More police officers are killed by suicide than by any felons,” notes Dr. Greg Passey, a psychiatrist who specializes in trauma and PTSD.

“PTSD and depression and those types of operational stress injuries are actually more dangerous to an officer’s life than the criminals out there. That’s an important piece that no one seems to talk about.”

From January, 1989, to May, 2012, 23 Ontario Provincial Police officers killed themselves, Ontario Ombudsman André Marin reported in his 2012 study on operational stress injuries, which encompasses PTSD, depression and other mental health problems. During that same period, Mr. Marin notes that two fewer OPP officers were killed on duty. The OPP brass embraced his recommendations, but since his report, one more OPP officer has died by suicide, according to his office.

“I think PTSD has been present in policing probably since day one,” says Dr. Jeff Morley, a 23-year veteran of the RCMP and now the mental health director with the Tema Conter Memorial Trust, a charity supporting first responders who are suffering from PTSD.

“Cops face horrors and confront un-fixable suffering on the job every day across Canada. It takes a toll; we can expect it to.”

Much of the debate around PTSD has focused on the military, especially soldiers returning from Afghanistan. But mental health experts, such as Dr. Morley, say PTSD and other operational stress injuries affect all first responders, including social workers, correctional officers, paramedics, firefighters, emergency room nurses and police.

Cpl. Francis is the 24th first responder in Canada to die by suicide since last April, according to statistics gathered by the Conter Trust. Vince Savoia, its executive director, started keeping statistics simply because no one else was. He wants to be able to understand whether first responders have a higher incidence of suicide than other professions do. Of the 24 suicides, 18 were related to PTSD and 13 were police officers.

For his part, Dr. Morley wants to see an integrated national strategy to deal with all first responders. It would start with research to understand the rates of PTSD and then look at programs for early intervention, screening and treatment where needed.

Currently, programs are all over the place – from municipal police forces trying to cope with the problem to the RCMP’s mental health strategy, which was unveiled in April, and focuses on education and reducing the stigma of an officer coming forward to ask for help.

“If we want to be able to protect Canadians and carry guns and intervene in situations, we have to make sure our members are healthy,” says RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Moreau, who is in charge of the strategy.

The last few months of Cpl. Francis’s life were played out publicly. He challenged the RCMP by smoking medicinal marijuana while in his dress uniform.

He used the drug to treat his PTSD – and his challenge was his way of protesting what he felt were the lack of services he and other members, also suffering from PTSD or depression or other mental issues, were receiving.

“I think what he was looking for in the end was for the Mounties to accept what he had done,” says his childhood friend, T.J. Burke, who was also his lawyer and is a former attorney-general of New Brunswick.

“They took his uniform from him, they stripped him of his privileges, they charged him under the Police Act … and he always came back to ‘I just want them to understand what I am going through.’”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e21071417/

this article articulates that police in 'canada' are more likely to be killed by their own self than by the people they variously serve and victimize.

so what is it then that leads to police suicide, more likely the environment and society at large, or the environment and society of the force they are part of?

given the numbers and also taking into account the civilian lives lost at the hands of police, it is obvious that the most deadly violent group in our society is in fact the police.

so i will say this, those that support the status quo, and do not feel that police bullying and violence is a plague that needs to be eradicated, are then of the mind that police are essentially expendable tools that they are fine with, and it is acceptable for them to use their side arm to expedite 'retirement' when they have had enough.

so support and defend police violence and bullying all you like, i will not be joining you as i believe no one, including police should have to work in such a negative, stress inducing environment.

[Treblehook]

Once again, A BritishColumbian proves that he doesn't have a clue what he is babbling about.

[hozzle]

...so support and defend police violence and bullying all you like, i will not be joining you as i believe no one, including police should have to work in such a negative, stress inducing environment.

I believe at the beginning the fine men and women of the RCMP know full well what they are getting into when they take up a career in law-enforcement, but there are the unfortunate few that cannot handle the baggage that comes with the job. Others thrive in it, good or bad. Society will just have to catchup and find a way to identify the legitimate sufferers of PTSD and those that have other disorders.

[Bsuds]

i believe no one, including police should have to work in such a negative, stress inducing environment.

If you believe this then you might try to advocate for some proper help when needed instead of criticism.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

and the judge thinks the rcmp and fredricton police were out of line in their treatment of RCMP Cpl. Ron Francis.

Instead of quietly accepting the customary Crown motion to withdraw the charges against the deceased, McCarroll commented that Francis should never have ended up in court and that he would have allowed him to walk out with his respect and no criminal record.

He said Francis provided exemplary service during his 21-year career and his "uncharacteristic actions" were, in his opinion, "a cry for help from someone desperately trying to deal with the ravages of post-traumatic stress syndrome."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... -1.2823434