The police service says it needs to hire more than 5,100 women to the regular ranks to make up for a 27 per cent shortfall. But while previously published data show that Indigenous officers are leaving the RCMP, the national police force does not have a target for hiring more of them. Merlo said she is concerned about the lack of any guarantee that the RCMP won't "hire retired RCMP officers in to be the investigators in this entity." It also says that the RCMP sees addressing systemic racism as a priority. After first telling journalists she was "struggling" to define systemic racism, Commissioner Brenda Lucki said a year ago that she believes systemic racism exists in the RCMP.

Source: CBC News August 08, 2021 08:03 UTC