A blog started by anonymous rebels within the B.C. RCMP has been shut down.
The Re-Sergeance Alliance, a group that claims to speak for "over 500 officers" within the RCMP's "E" Division headquarters in B.C., announced itself to Vancouver media on Thursday but their website, hosted on the popular Blogger platform, has since been taken down.
Prior to being silenced online, the Re-Sergeance Alliance sought to smoke out "orchards of bad apples" within the RCMP that they felt were not being dealt with appropriately by the force's leadership, the National Post reports.
The blog carried a number of postings that anonymously blasted current and former members of the force and questioned RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson's sincerity in snuffing out undisciplined officers.
SFU criminologist Rob Gordon read some of the postings and was "certain" they were written by RCMP members, but he pointed out that they were "hiding" behind the anonymity of the internet and weren't necessarily using the best measures to get their message out, News1130 reported.
"It's certainly quite cathartic for members of an organization who are feeling frustration, who are disappointed by the way in which the organization is suffering at the moment," he said.
The group formed shortly after news emerged that RCMP officers were publicly criticizing the commissioner.
First, Staff Sgt. Tim Chad of the Ridge Meadows detachment sent the RCMP commissioner an e-mail claiming that all members were being lumped in with a bunch of "screw-ups," The Province reported.
Paulson responded sharply, saying in an e-mail that Chad was "living under a rock" if he felt that the situation within the RCMP didn't require an "all hands on deck" approach.
Then Peter Kennedy, a 32-year RCMP veteran now living in North Vancouver, called Paulson a "man of words only" and gave RCMP management a "big fat F" for its efforts to manage disciplinary issues within the force.
The RCMP continues to grapple with allegations of sexual harassment by female members.
RCMP Cpl. Catherine Galliford, a former spokeswoman for the Missing Women's Task Force, has filed a civil suit against the RCMP, alleging harassment that spanned two decades, The Province reported.