The Editor,

Re: "Transparency is only option for regaining trust in police," the Now, Aug. 23.

This was an excellent column. I am an immigrant to Canada from the United Kingdom and one or two things worry me.

Is the RCMP a military organization? I ask this because of the RCMP involvement in the Boer war, the First World War, Siberia in 1918 and the Second World War.

If the RCMP is still a military organization, then it seems to me it is a root cause of some of the issues being discussed. The RCMP have always seemed to me to be "a superior" organization, and come across to the public as Lord God Almighty, which of course is a military attitude, and not appreciated by the public.

The number of errors committed by the RCMP over the past 16 years, I think, is excessive and the retribution for these errors has been minimal to say the least. Again, I suspect that a military attitude is at work.

With my British citizen hat on, I feel most strongly about a military organization enforcing civilian law. In my view the civilian governments should have total control over the police force.

As I understand it, the military forces in the U.K. owe allegiance to the Queen, not the government; whereas the police are controlled by the House of Commons.

Keith Parker, Surrey