Northern RCMP gets a bad rap, says lawyer
Northern News Services
Friday, March 11, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife lawyer says his clients are understandably distrustful of RCMP members but police in the North often don't get the credit they deserve.
Peter Harte said he has been practising in Yellowknife since 2005 and has witnessed a negative sentiment toward Mounties among his clients but territorial police do good work in tough communities as far as he sees it.
"In many cases my sense is that the RCMP are doing a pretty good job in pretty difficult circumstances, most of the time I have to say," said Harte, adding his job offers him a broader perspective of RCMP activity than can be expected of his clients.
"I see more individual files that come out of RCMP detachments, and get a better sense of what's going on," he said.
"People frequently feel that they didn't get a break and the RCMP is arresting them. And there are times that happens."
Harte said he's aware of a Statistics Canada survey released at the end of January that suggests Northerners trust law enforcement less than other Canadians. The survey asks respondents to paint a picture of their perception of the job being done by police in regard to enforcing the law.
Results in all three territories showed the Northern respondents trusted police around 10 per cent less than the provinces. The survey showed 46.9 per cent thought police did an average or poor job compared to 51 per cent who said they did a good job. The Canadian average of respondents who said police do a good job is 61.8 per cent.
Harte said he is not sure how northern police wound up with a lower level of trust.
"It certainly is there. People express that and there's hostility at times," he said. "But I have to say that in many cases, the RCMP, policing in a very difficult environment, do not a bad job. As I say, there's bad apples on every tree."
He said some of the cases that cause trouble for the RCMP's image are the most mundane calls the police can expect to receive. People who are on their way for a "routine" trip to the drunk tank get into scuffles with police because they don't want to be arrested and the charges snowball.
"The perception is there's an over-reaction on the part of the police. But I've seen lots and lots of files of people that were just going to get taken to the drunk tank and then let out but they end up getting into a scrap with police. I've seen that on literally dozens and dozens of occasions, both in Nunavut and the NWT."
RCMP spokesperson Const. Elenore Sturko stated in an e-mail that detachment commanders regularly meet with elected officials and community groups to determine priorities and concerns as a means of managing their public image.
She said they have a couple of tools they use to show their faces in communities in a positive light.
"Foot patrols, participating in community events, and engaging in local activities are ways in which our members often "break the ice" with residents," she wrote. "Police are people too and we do look for ways to fit in and become a part of the community. Being a friendly 'community cop' while also being the one who arrests members of a tight-knit community is a balancing act."
