No ‘imminent danger’ during Iqaluit shelter-in-place advisory: RCMP
Alert issued Monday morning noted ‘ongoing situation’ in Plateau areas; streets reopened after two hours
An armed RCMP officer approaches a building in Iqaluit’s upper plateau area, before moving back behind a vehicle. RCMP advised residents in the upper and lower plateau areas to shelter in place Monday morning. The advisory was later lifted. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Nunavut RCMP are still investigating the incident that prompted them to issue a shelter-in-place alert which buzzed many Iqaluit residents’ phones Monday morning.
RCMP advised residents in the upper and lower plateau in Iqaluit to shelter in place due to an ongoing situation. The advisory was later lifted. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
The shelter-in-place advisory RCMP issued to residents in Iqaluit’s Upper and Lower Plateau areas was lifted at 12:25 p.m., nearly two hours after it was sent out.
“The situation is resolved, the investigation has determined that at no time was there any imminent danger to the public,” the RCMP said in an email to Nunatsiaq News on Monday afternoon.
The email did not provide information regarding the initial call that officers responded to or say if any charges were laid as a result.
During the incident, a street in the 5000s area was blocked off by RCMP and there was a heavy police presence in the area, including some officers carrying assault-style firearms. Another officer was on the scene piloting a drone over the area.
When the alert was lifted, police packed up and drove off and the usual flow of traffic through the residential area returned.
The alert actually spoke only about sheltering in place if you live in the Upper or Lower Plateau, unless you know something that we don’t and can share that.
The RCMP announcement caused confusion. It said residents of Iqaluit should shelter in place, but the alert on the phones said residents of plateau and lower plateau, which makes sense since it is happening on Plateau. And Nunatsiaq has caused even more confusion with their headline about Iqaluit residents of Plateau sheltering in place and the article itself saying residents of Iqaluit should shelter in place.
When the RCMP issued an announcement urging the residents of Iqaluit to seek shelter, it’s just common sense to find a safe place and wait for updates, especially when the guidance comes from the RCMP. Nunatsiaq does not know the exact details and has only given us what they see.
Either way, the details headline should match the information in the article. If there are conflicting announcements, you don’t just split the difference.
Nunatsiaq has a duty to be specific enough in their reporting that people can verify the information. They should have specified “as reported by the RCMP on facebook”, and you would assume they would have this consistent with the message sent to everyone.
People should have enough information to be safe, and Nunatsiaq should check information they report and verify it with the RCMP.
When communication between the RCMP and news breaks down we can see really tragic incidents unfold. V-Division, Nunatsiaq and CBC need to get on proper terms and have a good working relationship before someone is harmed.
Somebody just give them a pepsi, please!
Or an acorn
Can we guess this is alcohol related? Little Chicago keeps getting busier each year,
Chicago handles itself better than Iqaluit. I find this offensive to the city of Chicago.
You can tell when someone’s brain is rotting from conservative media when they think Chicago is a dangerous city
So the RCMP force their way into Inuit homes, steal children because the church and gvt tells them to, they shoot the families dogs so they can’t chase after them! They arrested and criminalized anyone who fought back against their children being kidnapped and have never apologized and now the Inuit have allowed them to police their towns? These are the people that have traumatized the Inuit population for generations! Now they bring assault rifles for a non call???? When are the RCMP officers that stole children and murdered dogs going to be arrested??? When are the Inuit going to demand this happens??? What say you premier?
Imagine living with this kind of mind rot.
Crack is whack
Speaking of RCMP stealing children, there was an actual child taken from the parents by the rcmp and his wife in 1980’s because of the child’s skin colour and they believed the child should live with white family instead. Happened in belcher islands and no one is talking about it.
In plain English shelter in place seems to mean find a safe place and stay there. Duh!
In plain english… The RCMP have a legal obligation to communicate in Inuktitut. “ᐅᓗᕆᐊᓇᖅᑐᖅ! ᐃᓯᖅᓯᒪᓗᑎᑦ” ….how hard was that to include?
As a federal entity, the RCMP are not bound by the Inuit Language Protection Act and have no legal obligation to communicate in Inuktut. They are legally obliged to provide services in French and English.
Yes but… the simple and real fact is that there are people in Iqaluit who do not speak or read English or French. As such… it is not much of a stretch to expect the RCMP (or any agency tasked with any aspect of public safety) to ensure such notices can be read and understood by ALL of the population. This is especially so when they are funded for and have people on site who can reach ALL of the population. Ever heard of “cut and paste”. This is not to much to ask for or to expect.
If there was no imminent danger, then why the hell does the article say “During the incident, a street in the 5000s area was blocked off by RCMP and there was a heavy police presence in the area, including some officers carrying assault-style firearms.”
In the photo, the assault-style rifles are drawn. That immediately creates imminent danger. The alarm I got on my phone scared the crap out of me, but I’m glad they were able to get it out as quickly as they did, and shut this incident down.
How about RCMP start looking into Crack/Cocaine & Meth in Iqaluit? There has been a surge in the past couple of years of hard drugs & it will only get worse if they dont do there jobs properly. Sad to say until something serious happens because of it only then will they finally realize there is a severe drug problem in town. Also create a law where it is illegal to be wandering around drunk, & a curfew for kids after 10 pm. The amount of Rcmp for Iqaluit is not enough , they need at least double the amount of workers compared to now.
RCMP cannot operate in isolation when combatting drug dealers. They require the cooperation of community members to report any suspicious activities. The impact of hard drugs on families has been devastating, and it is the callous disregard of the dealers that perpetuates this issue.