Mounties Suspend Officer In Break-In

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, still reeling from the break-in by an armed intruder at the prime minister’s residence, suspended a senior officer Friday and announced a series of security improvements.

Four lower-ranking Mounties already had been suspended for failing to prevent the Nov. 5 intrusion by a man with a knife who reached the door of the bedroom where Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his wife were sleeping.

The police command has been criticized for punishing the junior officers instead of senior staff.

At a news conference Friday, the Mounties said one senior supervisor - who was not named - had been suspended.