Nunavut’s RCMP boss urges trust in alleged police misconduct report

RCMP V Division commander Mike Jeffrey talks to reporters in 2015. Nunavut’s top cop says he believes despite recent excessive force accusations against his officers, that Nunavummiut still trust the RCMP. (FILE PHOTO)

When the results of a recent external investigation into alleged RCMP excessive force in Iqaluit police cells exonerated the officers involved, Nunatsiaq News published a story about the report’s findings with no comment offered from local RCMP.

The investigation, conducted by the Ottawa Police Service, cleared that officer of using excessive force in a January 2015 incident captured on cell-block footage involving Iqalungmiut Eetooloo Ejetsiak.

Because the officer in question has been cleared of wrongdoing, we have decided not to publish his name.

But in the spirit of clearing the air, Nunavut’s top RCMP member, commanding officer Mike Jeffrey, sat down with our reporter June 30 to answer questions about the investigation and the on-going relationship with Nunavummiut.

“From a policing perspective, we realize that we’re accountable to the public we serve, so we’d like to release as much information as we can about such incidents,” Jeffrey said.

Below is an edited transcript of our interview with Jeffrey.

Nunatsiaq News: Why did Nunavut RCMP only release the conclusion of the investigation and not any information collected during the investigation?

Jeffrey: We’re limited by the type of information we can release because of privacy laws.

NN: Couldn’t the report be redacted to protect individuals’ privacy but inform the public of the investigation?

Jeffrey: Any information police collect from someone becomes that person’s information. Any comments I make about you becomes your personal information. So it’s much more complicated than just being able to remove certain paragraphs or words out of an entire report.

NN: What about the parts of the report that give the logic or objective analysis behind the conclusions — couldn’t that be made public?

Jeffrey: The objective analysis is developed out of the personal information collected, and without the context of all the personal information, the analysis would be very difficult to understand.

But built into the entire process is an openness and transparency… The RCMP, the Government of Nunavut and the Ottawa police have an agreement that when Ottawa police investigate such incidents, the RCMP and government won’t interfere

And the OPS uses another layer of independence, which could be a local Crown prosecutor, to look at the investigation to determine if the appropriate actions were taken or if charges should be laid.

NN: Was that extra layer used by Ottawa police in the Ejetsiak investigation?

Jeffrey: It’s up to the Ottawa police to decide if they want to use that layer. I don’t know if it was used in this case.

NN: What would you say to those in the public who say they cannot trust the investigation’s results because no details of the investigation are released?

Jeffrey: There’s a process that exists that has been recognized as an independent process… It is the mechanism used by the GN and the RCMP to ensure there is independence and arms-length from the local police force [being investigated].

NN: What would you say to those in the public who say one police force should not investigate another police force because of real or perceived bias?

Jeffrey: You have to have some confidence in the process that’s been established, and in today’s work environment, there’s no such thing as trying to protect another officer. If you do that, you’re doing that at the risk of termination of your own job.

NN: Are the Nunavut RCMP considering bringing civilian oversight or involvement into such investigations?

Jeffrey: That’s a decision that would be made by the GN, probably in consultation with the RCMP… We haven’t been contacted by the GN about that.

NN: Do these investigations only look into whether criminal charges should be laid against an RCMP member, or are other disciplinary options considered?

Jeffrey: Only criminal liability is assessed if excessive force is alleged… But a code of conduct investigation can be done internally. That has to be decided by a supervisor if they believe the employee contravened the code of conduct… That internal investigation wasn’t done in the [Ejetsiak] case.

NN: There were three allegations of excessive force made against Iqaluit RCMP last year. Do you think the public’s confidence in fair treatment from Nunavut police is shaken?

Jeffrey: No, I don’t think so. When you look at individual situations, there’s always room for improvement and we make changes to our processes to ensure we don’t make the same mistake twice.

When you look at the broad context, we handle 20,000 emergency calls every year in Nunavut… I’d say the vast majority of those incidents are done appropriately.

We work in a very volatile environment where police officers make quick decisions. There’s going to be some wrong decisions, but I want to assure the public that when we do get it wrong, we take it extremely seriously.

RCMP have been policing in Nunavut for over 100 years. I think we have the general support and respect of the communities we police. We couldn’t police without that. And I think that does say a lot about how we handle complaints from the public.