Rankin Inlet (Dec 08/04) - The long arm of the law was reaching out in a slightly different direction in Rankin Inlet recently.

The Rankin detachment of the RCMP agreed to give the music festival committee a helping hand in its fundraising efforts.

Two of Rankin's finest teamed up with a pair of committee members to hold a mock arrest day on Nov. 27.

Proceeds from the event will go towards hosting a future music festival in Rankin.

Const. Dominic Milotte estimates between 40 to 50 mock arrest warrants were issued during a five-hour period.

He said of that number, about 15 people spent time in the cells at the detachment.

"We even had some people who paid the $10 for their own bail, but still decided to spend their 15 minutes in jail, just to get a sense of what being incarcerated feels like," said Milotte.

"That was quite interesting, actually, to watch their reactions to being put in a cell, even though it was just for charity."

Sgt. Grant St. Germaine also volunteered his time to help Milotte deliver the arrest warrants.

The two officers teamed up with music festival committee members Louie Taparti and Albert Kimaliakyuk to make the event a success.

People were paying $10 or $20 to have an arrest warrant issued for a person of their choice. Then, one RCMP officer and a committee member would pick the person up and place them under arrest.

The individual could either post $10 bail or serve 15 minutes in jail.

Milotte said town bylaw officer Warren Kusugak was a good sport, spending about 30 minutes locked up at the detachment after a warrant was issued in his name.

He said everybody laughed when served with a warrant.

"For some people, it was their first time to be in the police station.

"We never have any contact with most of the people who took part in the event, and they seemed happy to visit the station and meet with us.

"So it was a good community-relations project for us, as well as a fundraiser for the festival committee."