NUNAVUT
Restorative justice is a top priority for Nunavut's RCMP, said Chief Supt. Michael Jeffrey.

Chief Supt. Michael Jeffrey, the commanding officer of V Division, wants to focus on education and crime prevention. The RCMP plans to feature a strong restorative justice theme in 2016. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

"We're really big on trying to do more restorative justice," the commanding officer of V Division told Nunavut News/North in an end-of-year interview.

He called the quality of RCMP employees in the North high and said they show professionalism despite some tough circumstances.

"Not only do they work their normal day like everybody else does, on top of that they then are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Jeffrey, referring to officers stationed in the communities. "They're always alive and responsive to calls from the community. That can take a toll on members."

Nunavut has the highest crime severity rates in the country. The territorial force responds to 20,000 calls a year. One in every three days RCMP respond to a gun-related complaint. There is an average of six assaults per day in the territory and one sexual assault per day.

Nunavut RCMP officers have the highest file load per member in the country.

"At the heart of the RCMP and what gave us our reputation as an excellent police force around the world is our desire to be involved with the community," said Jeffrey. "Our desire is to try to prevent crime from happening before it happens and sometimes when you're so busy carrying out your duty on a regular basis you don't really have enough time to do prevention and education and being around the community that you would want to be."

Jeffrey said he takes pride in police involving themselves in the community as much as they can. He wants to push that aspect of the force, he added.

"The police officers and employees are going out of their way in trying to be involved in the community with fundraising activities," said Jeffrey, citing examples such as the Christmas hamper basket, elders' dinner, sports volunteering and student breakfast programs.

In 2015, Jeffrey said the quality of the RCMP's investigations was exceptional, pointing to resolution of a string of robberies in the capital in the spring.

A recent study indicated the RCMP needed 26 additional police officers to its 119-member force, plus more civilian members. Jeffrey is optimistic his requests for more funding are being heard.

But more staff doesn't mean more people are going to jail, he was quick to point out.

"That's not at all what we want to do," said Jeffrey. "That's the last thing we want to do actually. What we want to do is focus on education and prevention, suicide prevention, restorative justice initiatives. That's where we want to put our efforts."

A joint project with Nunavut Arctic College to train Inuit to take the RCMP exam or become involved in justice programs in one way or another is due to begin in September.

Jeffrey said the RCMP needs to focus on restorative justice and said it's dealing with people who have had trauma in their life, so the justice systems must tackle the core problem instead of simply treating the symptoms of crime.

He looks forward to a whole-government approach to justice and community wellness in 2016.