'Don't call us,' RCMP tell media
Reporters told to send inquiries by e-mail, leading to slow response times and unanswered questions
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, August 5, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
On the morning of July 7 media outlets reported five boaters were missing on Great Slave Lake. There was one problem: the boaters had been found about 12 hours earlier and were home safe in Lutsel K'e.
The RCMP has changed the way it distributes information to the public through the media, which has lately meant slow or unanswered questions about police activity. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
Other agencies involved in the search confirmed the rescue prior to RCMP. Later that day, RCMP defended its slow release of information.
"It's not that we don't want to provide information, it's that our members are deployed to events," Staff Sgt. Bruce McGregor said during a conference call with reporters. "Providing accurate information is more important than releasing information that has not been confirmed."
The delay came during a shift in how Mounties distribute information to the public via the media. Since the detachment's full-time media liaison Const. Elenore Sturko left in June, reporters don't have a person to call or e-mail with questions unless a news release has already been issued, which comes attached with an officer's name and contact information.
Police have since started to issue updates on searches more quickly.
The same week as the search and rescue, reporters were told to not call RCMP detachments in the Northwest Territories at all. Reporters were given an e-mail account where they could leave messages, one that is not always monitored.
Until recently, responses from that e-mail account were sent back to Yellowknifer unsigned, making it unclear who from the police was actually responding. That changed after Yellowknifer questioned RCMP on the issue. A federal government communications directive states spokespeople are to be identified by name and position.
At other times, requests for information have been unanswered for hours - such as when a man was being held from falling from a downtown parking garage ledge by an RCMP officer earlier this summer, an incident that drew a considerable police presence.
Asked about the changes during a city committee meeting Monday by deputy mayor Adrian Bell, RCMP Sgt. Donnie Duplissea claimed there had been no substantive changes.
RCMP civilian member Marie York-Condon said in a recent interview the most obvious change was Sturko's departure.
"There hasn't been anybody that's been appointed to take her position," York-Condon said. She couldn't say if the position would be filled.
G Division senior management, York-Condon said, "are looking to improve the situation we're in right now with the media."
She said media outlets have expressed frustration.
"We're listening to that feedback and we're trying to improve our service delivery," York-Condon said.
The handling of media by RCMP is not consistent across the country. Reporters in New Brunswick can still call local detachments or a spokesperson for information. Nunavut has a designated spokesperson media can call for information.
Routine requests for information about police activity are now denied here.
When Yellowknifer was told about a vehicle versus vehicle hit and run in the Sissons Court area on July 14 that prompted concern among area residents, police stated no information would be provided.
"We issue media releases where public safety is a concern. We have nothing to report," the unsigned e-mail stated.
RCMP took four days after Folk on the Rocks to confirm four separate sexual assault investigations were underway.
On July 25, police issued a news release about a truck crashing into a fence outside Mildred Hall School that injured no one.
A question about an apparent serious assault and chase that occurred that same night near Harley's Hard Rock Saloon resulted in a reply but without details.
"The Yellowknife RCMP did respond to report of an assault in downtown Yellowknife late Friday night. The investigation is still on-going. This is all I can report at this time," Duplissea stated in the e-mail.
It had been routine for RCMP to issue news releases about serious assaults or answer questions about such incidents when asked.
 | 'It's not a good thing' | 
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Nick Taylor-Vaisey, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, an advocacy group for media on access and transparency issues, said the changes seem to follow a pattern with the federal government of greater reliance on e-mail when dealing with reporters.
"It obviously removes the ability of us to follow up or for us to ask questions that aren't provided in advance," he said.
After being presented with several e-mails from RCMP outlining the change in practice here, he expressed concern.
"It's not a good thing, not only for our job as reporters who want to get information out, but for our readers who have a right to know this stuff," he said.
Yellowknifer contacted RCMP headquarters in Ottawa to understand what national protocols are in place to share information with the public via media.
More than a week after providing a list of questions to an RCMP spokesperson, Const. Annie Delisle responded by e-mail stating the force has designated spokespeople at divisions and large detachments.
"The policy also states that the RCMP will provide the media with prompt, courteous and impartial service in the official language chosen by the journalist," she wrote.
Ottawa is "aware of the fact that our Divisional Media Relations office for the Northwest Territories is currently using an e-mail address to handle requests by the media. We can confirm they are looking into the situation."
Police, she wrote, will endeavour to respond in a timely fashion, although police work takes priority.
Follow-up questions to Delisle, including whether Ottawa approves of how communications here are handled versus the rest of the country, went unanswered.
