
RCMP commissioner warns IT failures will have 'catastrophic' consequences - e15ctr0n
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-it-commissioner-safety-1.3998221
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WestCoastJustin
Added context. This is what happens when you take 6000+ staff from 40+
departments and create one large centralized IT department with little to no
up front planning. An absolute meat grinder. Everything is on life-support
until the fire is so large that you have a near national incident and then it
becomes top priority. Cycle repeat.

Here's another example for CBSA: [http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics/shared-
services-canada-...](http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics/shared-services-
canada-cbsa-report-1.3786286)

Here's another example for DND: [http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics/shared-
services-canada-...](http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/politics/shared-services-
canada-data-military-1.3472794)

~~~
sandworm101
More context: The RCMP had a reputation long before shared services was a
thing. For decades they never adapted their recruitment and training,
continuing policies that drove tech-savvy individuals away from the force.
(Google around. In recent years they've dramatically lowered recruitment
standards to bring in younger blood. You don't even need to be Canadian any
more.) The result is a force that seems to never get along with technology.
Phones and radios just never seem to work properly.

I've taught more than a few cops (IT law / forensics) and have attended many
lectures by RCMP officers claiming to be tech "experts". They aren't. The RCMP
live in a very tight knowledge bubble.

~~~
walrus01
For reference: The Vancouver police department recently hired 16 out of 2500
applicants. This is even with a large number of baby boomers retiring. You
pretty much need a 4 year degree from a good school to be hired, they are
quite selective. Whereas the RCMP will take almost any reasonably fit, under
age 35 person with a high school degree and clean criminal record check.

Joining the RCMP is a crap shoot because you have no control over where you
will be posted after finishing the academy. It could be 8 years of purgatory
in Moose Jaw.

~~~
tonyarkles
I'm laughing pretty hard at your last comment. Around here, there are much
worse places to be posted than Moose Jaw. Rural isolation (entire RMs with
populations of 200 people) plus significant substance abuse and domestic
violence problems.

The point still stands though. Joining the RCMP is likely going to result in
you going somewhere no one wants to be for a few years, because anyone with
seniority transfers away as soon as possible.

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winteriscoming
For those like me who are unfamiliar with what RCMP is - it's the Canadian
police. The article is about the Canadian police commissioner raising concerns
about the quality of IT support provided to them

~~~
theluketaylor
RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) are a pretty unique police service.
Depending on the area of the country they can operate as everything from
federal law enforcement right down to local police services. In many rural
places they operate as all levels of law enforcement all at once, something
you wouldn't find in the US. The vast territory and mandate they cover makes
for some unique challenges.

~~~
hh2222
Cities and communities can also contract the RCMP instead of managing their
own police forces.

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jefe78
I worked on contract at this department and was declined a contract renewal
when I was reprimanded for identifying a DOCUMENTED zero-day in of our scripts
that managed some lofty systems. I was also reprimanded by the same manager
for suggesting configuration management tools since he couldn't bill out the
build time for that service vs. my time building each machine by hand.

The whole place is a disaster waiting to happen.

~~~
alex_anglin
It's been happening for quite a while now. This is hardly the first critique
of Shared Services Canada.

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AYBABTME
I've heard of similar issues with the pay system where people haven't been
paid in months and needed urgent pay issued, or others who received extra
money and were then asked to pay it back.

I can only imagine how hard it must be for the government to pull off
modernization. It's the poster-child definition of "big slow bureaucracy" and
it's asked to pull off high complexity feats at large scale, with little,
uncompetitive money to offer to recruits (in comparison to the private
sector), while juggling with politics and policies that make you buy IBM and
Microsoft.

Pretty happy I don't work in this. Yet, I'd join a "shock troop" if the
government was to pull off a Digital Service kind of thing with acceptable
pay, although the idea of working in all that big government crap makes me
feel a bit sick inside.

~~~
wolfgke
> It's the poster-child definition of "big slow bureaucracy" and it's asked to
> pull off high complexity feats at large scale, with little, uncompetitive
> money to offer to recruits (in comparison to the private sector)

If you have good reasons why you cannot offer so much money, there are still
options available to attract smart people for the job: Just give them a lot
more intellectual freedom to do "the right thing" (instead of having to
implement political compromises) and give them the authority to be really
allowed to do so. Also not every smart person who can, say, program really
well "is a startup guy". There are people who prefer a "more safe, plannable
career" \- here public service has something to offer. Also it might be a good
idea to have the job at still attractive places that have a very low cost of
living: What is interesting is "salary minus cost of living". So these jobs
can still enable a higher standard of living than, say in SF or NY, while
paying much less.

TLDR: There are lots of other ways to attract smart people if you have serious
reasons why you cannot offer so much money. But you have to be willing.

~~~
CountSessine
_Just give them a lot more intellectual freedom to do "the right thing"
(instead of having to implement political compromises) and give them the
authority to be really allowed to do so_

That's exactly the one thing that working in the public service CAN'T provide
you. If you screw up, you and everyone in the chain of responsibility right up
to the people who directly report to your ministry's cabinet member have their
necks on the line; public service employees typically enjoy very posh pensions
and no one is looking to lose that by getting sacked.

I think we incentivize public service employees to do _the safe thing_ rather
than _the right thing_ when those two things are not the same. Losing a public
service pension is a terrible cost for failure, and I don't think we
equivalently reward the success-side of risk for these people.

It would be interesting to know what government could accomplish if the public
service gave compensation that was more in line with the private sector.

~~~
wolfgke
> That's exactly the one thing that working in the public service CAN'T
> provide you.

Counterexample: In Germany university professors are part of the public
service. They (as probably every tenured university professor nearly anywhere
worldwide) _do_ have lots of freedom in the research they do etc.

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douche
Hah, I always thought it might not be the greatest idea to put all the IT for
a government in one bureaucratic fiefdom...

But they pay their support invoices for software on time and don't blink at
the prices, so that's something.

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jnordwick
Do they still use horses in any non-ceremonial role? Are they still called
Mounties?

~~~
tonyarkles
I upvoted you because I feel it's a legitimate question. One thing I've found
in my various experiences with the RCMP is that they generally seem to take a
lot of pride in their work and role. The ceremonial events involving the
horses and red uniforms are pretty impressive.

This, I think, spills over into their day-to-day work too. I've been pulled
over for traffic offenses and have only experienced the utmost
professionalism. All very "matter of fact" with no bullshit. Road-side stop
checks for impaired driving have gone very smoothly. I called once to report a
collision I had with a deer and she ribbed me a little: "when did the accident
occur?" "around 9pm" "great, thank you. I've got you all written up here for
hunting without a license and hunting after dark. Do you have a pen handy for
writing down the file number?" And recently I was at a remote beach and found
a woman who had clearly ingested a substance of some kind and was pretty
messed up. We talked and she was alone and a long way from home. RCMP dispatch
handled it well, and 10 minutes later the officer handling the case called me
back to ask for more specific directions and to thank me for taking the time
to help her keep people safe.

Do they have an impeccable record? No. But in general they are vastly
different than the police forces generally covered in the media.

