The commission of inquiry into the Nova Scotia massacre in April 2020 next week will review Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) communications with the population during the tragedy.
Federal police have been heavily criticized for being slow in releasing basic information about the killer. A high -ranking official is under investigation for his role in controlling information.
The public still sees a lack of transparency about communications. It will not help in restoring trust RCMPlooking for Christopher Schneidera professor of sociology at the University of BrandonManitoba.
Fear of causing panic
According to a summary of evidence released on May 13, the Board of Inquiry is currently investigating the lack of information provided to the public about the vehicle – a replica of the police cruiser – used by the killer.
Senior officials of RCMP The commissioners were told they were reluctant to provide such information because they were afraid of panicking the public.
This shows how RCMP don’t trust people’s common sensesad wayne mackaya professor emeritus of the University’s Faculty of Law Dalhousie in Halifax.
” No doubt it might have caused some intimidation, but he must have had more faith in the common sense of the people. “
The commission will also review the role of the Chief Superintendent Chris Leather in this aspect of the case.
A former police officer London, Scott Blandfordsays he cannot comment on the role the RCMP chief superintendents should play in public relations.
However, he recalled that the involvement of chiefs in the publication of press releases was not a common task in the Police Department. London.
Often, the commanding officer in charge of an event takes the lead. Only on exceptional occasions can he be challenged by a senior officersaid Mr. Blandfordis now a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University.
A reminder
The RCMP did not post their first message to Twitter about the start of the killings in Portapique until late April 18, 2020. The first 911 call was made at 10:01 pm That night, 13 people were killed by Gabriel Wortman in Portapique.
Although the police force knew that people had been killed and someone was still actively shooting, they only wrote at 11:32 pm that an investigation into the gun -related complaint was underway. Classes.
Several calls and testimonies to 911 clarified that the killer was driving a vehicle that resembled a police car. RCMPbut this information was not released to the public until the following day.
According to testimonies and documents published by the commission of inquiry, the RCMP reportedly considered issuing a more detailed warning that night, but ultimately did not.
Shortly after midnight, the RCMP obtained the name and photo of the suspect. At 1:09 a.m., all police in the province were notified of an incident involving a suspect. armed and dangerous possibly driving an old police vehicle was carried out.
According to the Board of Inquiry, the RCMP is considering sending a new message around 7:30 am this morning.
Police will only get a photo of the suspect’s vehicle. He learned that the killer was heavily armed and could be found anywhere in the province.
At that time, the Chief Superintendent Chris Leather is involved in the process of communication with the population.
In personal notes sent to the commission, Mr. Skin Confirms a conversation with Lia Scanlan, the director of the Nova Scotia RCMP’s strategic communications department, at 7:43 am
Information sent to the public –tweet can we read in his notes. Photo and name – none yet.
At 8 am, Staff Sergeant Addie MacCallum had to talk to Mrs. Scanlan about a press release with a photo of the suspect and the vehicle.
Nearly 10 hours after the start of the killings, the RCMP finally published a first tweet saying an ongoing situation involving a shooter in Portapique around 8:02 am
However, the message did not mention the name of the suspect or the vehicle he was driving. It was not clearly indicated that he was moving.
At 8:04 am, the RCMP issued an internal alert to indicate to its police that the suspect may be driving a police vehicle Ford Taurus. He could be anywhere in Nova Scotia. The same message was sent to all police forces in the province.
Fifty minutes later, he posted a message with the suspect’s photo and identity. But still nothing has been mentioned about the vehicle.
The Board of Inquiry found that after 9:00 am, Staff Sergeant Bruce Briers contacted his colleague Al Carroll to ask him if there was a press release about the vehicle.
We thought about it, but we decided differentlyofficer’s answer Carroll.
It is not known who made the decision.
Eventually, the first post with the vehicle photo was approved at 9:49 am, but an inexplicable delay passed before it went live.
The message was only published until 10:17 am Twitteri.e., 12 hours after RCMP obtained the information, two hours after receiving the photo of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, six other victims were made to kill.
Source: Radio-Canada
