The Eight Hundred Pound Gorilla - Step Four

The Twelve Steps - Step Four

Original Wording (A.A.): Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Corporate Wording: Notwithstanding the outstanding work that has been done by many men and women in the force, we are corporately committed to conducting an inventory or our wrongs, deceits, cover-ups, oppressions, cruelties, ommissions and policies that have brought pain and suffering to other human beings.

Commentary:

One of the most difficult steps that an individual can make is to examine their dark side under the light of objective truth and goodness. This is a painful and humbling process that nevertheless is a crucial step in any recovery program.

I have received some very good critical feedback on this blog from people of all walks of life. Many police officers are quietly cheering me on ( some not so quietly, and thank you!). With this feedback has come the encouragement to keep true to my purpose and that is to bring hope.

I do not wish to focus solely on the negative side of a profession and institution that I care about. Some of the best people I have ever met and worked with are current members of the RCMP. Courageous, intelligent and passionate, I have been honored to serve along side them. They, too, however would be more than willing to acknowledge the dark side of their profession, if given the opportunity and safety to do so.

After the fall of the oppressive and abusive apartheid government, South Africa developed the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. The purpose of this committee is evidenced in the name and this is what the former justice minister had to say about its existence.

"... a commission is a necessary exercise to enable South Africans to come to terms with their past on a morally accepted basis and to advance the cause of reconciliation." Mr Dullah Omar, former Minister of Justice

This is step four in action at a National level. Coming to terms with our past on a morally accepted basis, should be the concern of any institution in need of reformation. I take no pleasure in stating that the RCMP, like any other institution or police service, has an historical legacy of darkness and cruelty throughout its existence.

Like the black sheep relative that no family wants to talk about for fear of embarassment and exposure, this dark side exists nonetheless. I know this from my own experience as I have not only contributed to this dark side, but I have also been the recipient of it. I have made peace with my own contributions of oppression, cruelties and deceit. I could only do so by going through a twelve step type of process myself.

Individual or corporate decisions made out of anger, fear, pride, hatred, ridicule, arrogance and judgment, are decisions made in moral darkness. These decisions and actions are, at times, challenged and brought to the light, exposed for what they are. Unfortunately many have remained in the shadows for many years.

The RCMP is not alone in this predicament. Almost every institution that has existed where there is the capacity for power, have fallen to the temptations of abusing those powers. From churches, to political parties, to reform schools, to nations - the stories continue to bring outrage and shock to an otherwise uninformed public.

The fearless moral inventory begins with the individual in the police force. It begins with the leaders. The corporate moral inventory begins when one of these leaders has the courage and conviction to stand up to their peers and corporate head and say " it is time for us to acknowledge our collective mistakes, cruelties and evils and stop pretending that the eight hundred pound gorilla sitting in the corner of our living room is not there."