RCMP review complete into Dionne
Posted Mar 16, 2011 1:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Mounties say a communication breakdown is the reason a known sex offender was allowed to drive away from a traffic stop with a little girl in his passenger seat.
An RCMP review was conducted into the February 24th incident.
John Francis Dionne faces charges of kidnapping and following the alleged abduction of a ten-year-old girl from Deerfoot Mall, shortly before he was pulled over and then sent on his way with a speeding ticket.
A dispatcher told the constable, who had pulled Dionne over, that a licence check gave a caution of violence and that Dionne was of interest to police. However, the officer apparently missed the second part of the message which was relayed to him via the onboard computer in his cruiser.
“That’s where the communication breakdown was. So he processed what he felt was just another driver who was out driving too fast and the driver was allowed to continue,” says Inspector James Stiles.
Stiles says the review has resulted in recommendations that such transmissions between officers and operators be confirmed to avoid further miscommunication.
Neither the officer nor the dispatcher face any disciplinary action.
