SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After Yellowknife RCMP admitted fault for not informing the public about a break-and-enter and sexual assault for two weeks, changes have been made both at the detachment and at the Department of Justice to prevent a similar occurrence.

RCMP spokesperson Elenore Sturko says police regret how it handled the lack of information surrounding the release of convicted sex offender Bobby Zoe. Changes in protocol have since been made both at the RCMP and the Department of Justice. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo

On Feb. 1 a man broke into a downtown residence and sexually assaulted one of the residents inside. In a similar incident Feb. 15 another residence was broken into and another sexual assault committed. Bobby Zoe, a convicted sex offender, was charged in relation to the two incidents. RCMP didn't warn the public until after the Feb. 15 incident.

At a news conference last Friday, RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko told reporters this prompted a procedural review, which has now been completed.

"The review revealed that inadequate information was the primary factor for a delay in the release of information up the chain of command," Sturko said. "Yellowknife RCMP regrets the failure to notify the public of

the Feb. 1 incident."

Sturko, the media liason officer, said that she did not find out about the Feb. 1 incident involving Zoe until Feb. 17.

"As media liaison my role is to help to protect the public by giving them information. I feel bad that I wasn't able to do this," she said.

A summary of each day's occurrences will now be forwarded to managing officers and Sturko said she doesn't have to "fish for information" anymore.

"I'll know what's happened today by checking my email at 7:00 p.m.," she said.

The NWT Department of Justice told the Mounties last year when Zoe was sentenced for a 2013 break-in in Old Town, but didn't notify them of Zoe's imminent release this year.

"When RCMP are made aware that an individual is going to be released (into the community), we can start a review process to determine if the individual's release warrants further notification to the public," Sturko said. "In this instance, a lack of adequate communication (between the justice department and the RCMP) was the primary factor in Zoe's release not being brought to the attention of managing officers, and as a result, a review was not undertaken and a decision on whether to release information to public was not made."

After consultation with the RCMP's partners, including the justice department and the North Slave Correctional Centre, the director of corrections has now drafted an interim policy, now in place, that will ensure notification of the imminent release of any offender that can be deemed as a high risk offender, Sturko said.

Sue Glowach, senior communications advisor for the Department of Justice, confirmed by e-mail the department will now notify RCMP officials of an inmate who may pose a high risk to the public within 15 days of their release.

RCMP can tell the public when a violent offender is about to be released from jail back into the community.

"Police have procedures and guidelines under the criminal code and privacy act of Canada that can be used in situations dealing with the release of inmates convicted of crimes against people," Sturko said.

"If there are grounds to believe that any person is a safety risk to the public then police can apply through a judicial process to have court imposed conditions placed upon that individual."

The decision to release such information is made by a committee which can include RCMP, the Department of Public Prosecutions Canada, the Solicitor General of the NWT, Corrections Canada and the Corrections Department of the NWT.

"A public information disclosure is made under the privacy act where the need for public disclosure must clearly outweigh any invasion of privacy that could result from the disclosure," she said.

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