Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (June 24/05) - An RCMP dispatcher in Yellowknife is now directing Inuvik police to emergency calls in town after regular business hours.

Inuvik RCMP officers, like Cpl. Woody Woodfine pictured here, no longer have to answer calls on their mobile radios after regular business hours. They will now be routed to Yellowknife and Inuvik police will be dispatched from there.

The move comes after a survey determined most calls placed during those times were not emergencies.

During one week, Inuvik police answered more than 350 calls from their mobile radios between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 a.m.

"Out of that, the number of emergency calls were minimal," said Cpl. Woody Woodfine.

"It's really a safety issue," he added. "Sometimes we'll have a member at a serious situation and his or her radio (goes off) and they, of course, have to answer it."

The new system began June 13 and since then Inuvik RCMP have had more time to focus on their jobs rather than answering calls, many of which could be made during regular business hours at the detachment, which are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Woodfine said that in no way would the new system affect the detachment's ability to respond promptly to an emergency.

"The dispatcher will determine which calls are an emergency and act accordingly," he said.

Police effort results in successful grad

To avoid last year's high school grad fight that followed uninvited guests crashing the party ending in several arrests, Inuvik RCMP teamed up with Samuel Hearne secondary school and the Town of Inuvik.

From 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. following convocation on June 11, the detachment rented the Family Centre where 25 grads and guests enjoyed a swim and snacks - donated by New North Networks - before heading out on the town.

"By all accounts it was a success and it's something we'll do again," said Const. Tim Fifield. He said there were no major complaints regarding grad festivities.

"We wanted to avoid the pit party fiasco that happened last year."