Ex-police officer raises alarm over misdelivered investigation findings

An ex-police officer from Portage La Prairie is raising concerns with RCMP, after he was mailed the conclusions of a police investigation meant for someone else.

“I got a notice from Canada Post saying that I had a registered letter to pick up. I assumed it would be the final report of my last complaint. I went down there and picked it up, looked at the envelope and it was from the RCMP so I assumed that’s what it was. I got up to the car, opened it up and I started reading it and I noticed it was written to someone that wasn’t me,” said Blair Beddome.

The rural Manitoba resident, formerly with Manitoba Justice and the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council, said he was waiting for his own conclusion to a complaint lodged against RCMP and received the document addressed to someone else by mistake. He said he wanted to give the document back, so he called two different RCMP detachments. He started with the detachment in Portage La Prairie.

“There was no concern. They weren’t even concerned about it, so I just ended the phone call and then I decided to read the document,” said Beddome.

Then, Beddome says he tried Carmen’s RCMP as it was also mentioned in the letter.

“I got a call back from that corporal, and his tone had changed totally. It wasn’t one of concern anymore, it was one of, “Oh well. Oh, well, this happens.” And he told me anything I wanted with the report, throw it in the garbage or do anything I wanted,” said Beddome.

RCMP say letters like these do not include personal information, which is why Beddome claims he was told he is able to do whatever he likes with the pages. Beddome says the problem with this letter is, he now knows this person’s name, file number of the complaint, their health conditions and criminal history.

“It’s absolutely wrong. A breach of trust is what it is,” added Beddome.

After Beddome reached out to RCMP, he did receive an email from the office manager of the Manitoba West District apologizing for the mistake, saying his personal information hasn’t been mailed to anyone as Beddome’s complaint has not yet been resolved.

RCMP contacted CityNews after we sent copies of the pages mailed to Beddome. Though it did say the expectation for anyone receiving mail that isn’t for them is for the person to return it to sender, RCMP acknowledges a mistake was made and says this incident is being investigated seriously by its highest ranks.