B.C.'s former solicitor general says he's "disturbed" by surveillance videos showing violent encounters at the Williams Lake RCMP detachment, and believes they reinforce the need for more local accountability for the Mounties.
Kash Heed told CTV News that he was shocked by videos showing RCMP officers in violent confrontation with three First Nations men.
"Whenever you see people in these predicaments, it's disturbing," he said.
In its defence, the RCMP has said that because the videos are silent, viewers are unable to hear the verbal abuse coming from the men -- particularly Curtis Billy, who was thrown to the ground of his cell by several officers.
Heed said he will give the RCMP the benefit of the doubt about what was said, but added, "You learn to take verbal abuse as a police officer. It's part of the job."
The former West Vancouver police chief says that the videos are just one more reason for placing B.C. Mounties under the provincial system defined by the Police Act.
"It makes no sense for us to have two systems -- one the federal system and one the British Columbia Police Act," Heed said.
He has said in previous interviews that RCMP in remote regions of the province should also report to community accountability boards.
The RCMP's contract with the province expires in 2012, which Heed says offers an opportunity to bring in massive changes to policing.
"We're at a very critical time in British Columbia for changing policing, for bringing it up to the standard that the people of B.C. expect it to be."
The RCMP have asked for British Columbians to reserve judgment on the Williams Lake videos until the incidents have been fully investigated by the Mounties and the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger
