Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Monday, July 23, 2007

LAKE HARBOUR - Kimmirut's RCMP have had nothing but a single emergency restraint chair to contain prisoners since March, a situation that will last until at least September.

This is the restraint chair in the temporary Kimmirut RCMP detachment. It is being used in place of jail cells to detain prisoners. - contributed photo

The detachment's office was condemned due to a sewage leak in the first week of December 2006. Until January 2007, when a temporary single room portable was provided as an office, officers had to detain prisoners in their truck.

The detachment received an emergency restraint chair - a sturdy wheeled chair with straps to restrain arms, legs and chest - four months ago.

"We were left in a position of 'What do we do now?' Do we take our two members out of the community?" said Insp. Frank Foran of the RCMP's V division. "It's not the 21st century way of doing business, but what can you do?"

Construction of the new detachment with cells should be completed by September, according to Foran.

The majority of the arrests made in the community of Kimmirut - considered 'dry' because liquor sales are banned - are for alcohol-related offences, according to Cpl. Richard Basha of the local RCMP detachment.

In the event that more than one arrest is made at a time, excess prisoners who need to be restrained are handcuffed and shackled to regular chairs in the office. Others may be sent home with a family member or friend, or released, he said.

"We just look for whatever means we can, and get by however we can, to make sure the person is not a danger to themselves or others," Basha explained.

The average stay in the chair depends on the level of violent behaviour, and whether prisoners need to be held until they can be put on a plane to the nearest jail cells in Iqaluit, according to Basha.

The RCMP plane is only a 20-minute flight away, Foran said.

If another call comes in to the detachment, one officer remains with the prisoner while the other heads out alone to perform a risk assessment of the situation, Basha explained.

The number of arrests made varies from week to week, usually depending on when liquor is spirited into the town, according to Basha.

"In the summer months (it's often) transported by plane on the scheduled flights or even on charters, and we do get some coming in on a boat every now or then," Basha said.

According to Peg Hogan, vice president of E.R.C. Inc., one of two North American companies that manufacture emergency restraint chairs, the product is regularly sold to prisons and juvenile detention units.

"It's for short term use, primarily to restrain somebody if they're combative or out of control," she said.

The recommended stay is for two hours, although somebody with medical experience can deem it appropriate for up to 10 hours, she added.

RCMP staff have met with hamlet council to discuss the solution to the prison cell shortage, according to Foran.

The lack of cells for the community "has been brought up on a couple of occasions, but (it's) not too major of a problem," said Akeego Ikkidluak, acting SAO for Kimmirut.

Alcohol is a major issue in the hamlet, "which it shouldn't be, because the community should be dry. But the RCMP try to do everything they can to keep the community dry," Ikkidluak said.

The process has been lengthy because of the length of time it takes to get supplies in on the sealift, and cells couldn't be built into the portable because of strict regulations on cell construction, he explained.

The safety of officers or their prisoners is not at risk, he said.

Jackie Callen, a nurse at the local health centre, characterized the situation as a safety concern, but said the centre has not received any reports of injury to either prisoners or officers.

"I would not want to be doing their job with no cells there," she said. "It's not ideal, but they have nothing else."

Police in Kugluktuk were also without jail cells from June 26 until last week, after asbestos was discovered in their detachment.

That Hamlet of Kugluktuk put a ban on alcohol in place to reduce arrests until the building could be reopened, and temporary office space was provided across the street.