Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Tuktoyaktuk (Oct 07/02) - Two months after the community was rocked by stories of police brutality, RCMP believe tensions are easing here, noting they have now resolved six of the seven formal complaints against them.

But not everyone agrees.

While police insist they were just doing their job during a hectic month of drug and alcohol complaints, community relations may have been damaged irreparably in the fray.

Hamlet Councillor Georgina Jacobson-Masuzumi is among those who remain convinced the police were acting out of line.

"They were not honourable men when they did this," says Jacobson-Masuzumi. "They were just criminals in red serge as far as I'm concerned, and it brought up all kinds of ugly and angry feelings."

She says it will be hard for the community to ever trust the police again. "I'd like to work with these guys, but they have to show reasonable restraint. You'll never see the white community policed like this. Never."

RCMP Const. Alan Shepherd says police met with five complainants, and in each case, the complaints were dropped. In the sixth case, the individual would not agree to meet police, so the case was closed.

"For the most part, the situation was explained to the person and the reason why certain things were done, and they were satisfied with the explanation," says Shepherd. "It was more of a misunderstanding of how we do our job and why."

Shepherd says in one instance the allegations of excessive force were exaggerated and after meeting with the police, the complainant apologized to police for making up his story.

However, the remaining and most serious allegation against the police remains unresolved. John Noksana Sr., a 55-year-old hamlet employee, says he was beaten and pepper sprayed by police during his Aug. 10 arrest for public drunkenness. Although he does not deny being drunk, he says he was co-operating with police and offered no resistance. He also accuses the police of denying him access to water to wash his eyes for the 15 hours he was kept in the holding cell.

Noksana is contesting a charge of resisting arrest, stemming from the same incident, and he is scheduled to appear in territorial court here Nov. 20 for his trial.

Another resident, Allison Raddi, 32, has yet to lay her formal complaint. She says she is waiting until the detachment head, Sgt. Brian Winters, returns from holidays because her complaints involve the officers currently working the detachment, including Shepherd himself.

Raddi says on Aug. 10, police came to her mother's house and arrested her without reason. She says she was then choked until she blacked out, and when she came to, she was covered in bruises. Like Noksana, she was also charged with resisting arrest and will be contesting the charge at her Nov. 20 court date.

Still harassing

In the meantime, she says the police are harassing her, picking her up Sept. 28 from her mother's house for having had a drink the night before. While she was in the police cell, she says, two officers tried to talk her out of laying her complaint. "They were being sneaky about what happened that night (Aug. 10). They were saying my witness wouldn't talk. But I'm not going to let it rest until everybody knows that I was the innocent one getting beat up for nothing."

Since August, Raddi says, she has been afraid to walk the streets. "I don't know what's wrong with these cops," she says. "They're always calling me princess, and they tease me in jail. I'm scared to even walk to my mom's across the road. I get nervous and shaky."

After Noksana and Raddi's arrest, more than 200 residents signed a petition accusing the RCMP of "unnecessary use of force" and "harassing the citizens of the community." Hamlet council held a special meeting to discuss the concerns. About 40 residents turned out, many expressing anger and frustration as police refused to discuss individual complaints.

Since that emotional public forum, Shepherd says, things are beginning to return to normal and police are planning to start a minor hockey league and elders' council to smooth community relations. "Except for the one existing complaint, for the most part, everything is fine and back down to normal," Shepherd says.

Although the streets may be quiet, the public mistrust remains, just below the surface, in the many stories repeated in private places: a teenage girl who was stripped in jail, another charged with disturbing the peace for singing too loud. Residents say the community has never had this many problems with police, until two new officers joined arrived this summer.