RCMP has a history of failing to follow outside advice after deadly events

The RCMP has an uneven record when it comes to implementing recommendations and guidelines following tragedies, according to a CBC News analysis.

And that raises concerns as the inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting winds down and a probe of the horrific recent stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan gets underway.

Ten people were left dead and another 18 were injured in the James Smith Cree Nation area and in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask., over the Labour Day weekend. Those numbers do not include Myles Sanderson and Damien Sanderson, who were facing charges tied to the rampage before they died last week.

Many details about what occurred and how police responded are still not known. The Saskatchewan RCMP has asked the Saskatoon Police Service and the Saskatchewan Incident Response Team — the independent, civilian-led organization that investigates serious incidents involving police officers in the province — to conduct an external investigation of the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Its findings will join a collection of landmark reports that have looked into various issues within the RCMP, ranging from crime scene containment and policing in rural areas to the RCMP's internal culture.

A review of those reports' findings suggests the RCMP has a history of not following through on their recommendations.

"The RCMP is resistant to change," said Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College's department of political science who has studied RCMP oversight.

"It's tragic because this is the largest police force in the country, with 17,000 members. It's got to set the gold standard."

In 2014, the RCMP brought in retired assistant commissioner Alphonse MacNeil to review the events surrounding a shooting spree in Moncton, N.B. that left three members of the Codiac RCMP detachment dead and two others wounded.

As part of that review, MacNeil examined recommendations made in the wake of two other violent events — the murders of four RCMP members in Mayerthorpe, Alta. in 2005 and the deaths of two officers during a police pursuit in Spiritwood, Sask. in 2006.

While many of those recommendations were acted on by the RCMP, MacNeil also pointed to policy implementation failures.

For example, despite a warning contained in the outside report on the Mayerthorpe incident from nine years earlier, MacNeil reported guidelines on securing potential crime scenes were not followed by the RCMP officers who responded to the Moncton tragedy.

"The Moncton incident had multiple scenes, however, there was no indication members were aware or used the current policy," MacNeil wrote.

RCMP officers in Moncton hadn't been equipped with hard body armour, despite the fact that the post-Mayerthorpe report recommended it. MacNeil also pointed out that delivery to members of the Codiac RCMP of carbine weapons — short-barrelled rifles that have a longer accurate range than sidearms or shotguns —  had taken too long despite the previous reports' findings.