The Auditor General’s latest report has found that the RNC did not effectively manage its inventory and employee training.

Denise Hanrahan delivered her latest report this morning.

She says the Constabulary consistently failed to comply with its own inventory and training policies, underscored by inconsistent, informal, outdated and incomplete policies and procedures.

Among her findings was that the RNC never counted the Explosive and Disposal Unit’s use of force inventory, even though it is required by policy.

Hanrahan says due to the sensitive and often dangerous nature of items held in the RNC’s inventory, the public expects the Constabulary to ensure both the accuracy and security of its inventories through sound policies, procedures and regular monitoring.

Hanrahan is recommending that the RNC ensure inventory management and security policies are complete, and that the police service complete firearms and firearms storage area inspections.

She’s also recommending that the RNC ensure training policies, procedures, processes, documentation and reports are complete, implemented and used consistently and be appropriately communicated and updated in a timely manner.

All of the AG’s recommendations have been accepted by the RNC.

Chief Pat Roche responds

RNC Chief Pat Roche thanks the AG for her review.

He says it’s a benefit to any organization to have a fresh set of eyes on record-keeping and ensuring that good business practices are in place.

He says officers are keeping records, but changes are already being made.

“The officers in these sections are keeping their records, it’s how they’re keeping their records. A lot of it was paper record keeping which is obviously not optima;” says Roche.

“We’ve since switched to an electronic system for inventory control, and we started that in 2023 and we’ve seen improvements in that area since then.” He says they also need a stand alone system to maintain their training records so they can go in, find and see training records.

RNC say they have made the following changes;

•  The creation of a new civilian position in Corner Brook to remove some non-policing duties from officers.
• Re-assigning a policy position as a dedicated resource to address the recommendations of the Auditor General.
• All 54 policies identified by the audit are now under review.
• Implementing a new Quartermaster inventory management system in December 2023. The need for this system was recognized prior to the Auditor General’s report and implementation was ongoing prior to their engagement.
• Reviewing the record keeping and reporting methods used to facilitate training with the goal of consolidating training records in a single system.