Letter writer should contact RCMP

I am writing in response to an anonymous letter published in last week’s newspaper (“RCMP not protecting elderly victim,” Sept. 24). I wish to reiterate our commitment to providing quality police response and service to all the people of Iqaluit, and, indeed, Nunavut.

All of the police officers who serve in Nunavut are here because they requested to be here: they are dedicated and professional men and women who respond to literally thousands of calls a year. Each call is investigated thoroughly and, if charges are warranted, then charges are laid.

However, it must be understood that we operate under the very laws that we enforce and, as such, we can only lay charges when we have the evidence to do so. There is a difference between what we suspect may have happened and what we can prove in court and this is why we constantly ask the public for their assistance in solving crimes as we cannot be everywhere all the time.

Unfortunately, your writer did not provide his or her name; therefore, I am unable to respond directly to them, however, we have significant processes in place to deal with situations where members of the community do not feel that the police service that they received was at a standard that people expect from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The first step is to contact the commander of the local detachment. Any complaint or concern will be investigated.

Policing is not an exact science and we deal with situations that are often extremely volatile with emotions running high. Our officers are trained to defuse the situation, gather information and evidence, and lay charges if appropriate — but only, of course, if there is evidence to support those charges.

In 2003, the Iqaluit RCMP detachment responded to 6,128 calls for assistance. Across Nunavut, we responded to 11,835 complaints of a breach of the Criminal Code. Certainly, we arrest intoxicated people and provide them a place to “sleep it off” for their own safety as well as for the safety of those around them, but we also deal with a large number of serious cases and are proud of our record in dealing with them successfully.

I invite the writer of this letter to contact me personally to discuss his or her concerns.

J.F. (John) Henderson, C/Supt
Commanding officer, “V” Division
Iqaluit