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Communities key to fighting rising crime: RCMP

Curbing drug and alcohol abuse first step in crime prevention

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Insp. Doug Reti, head of the RCMP's criminal operations department in Nunavut, said the rising crime stats could be a result of the territory's population boom, and an influx of money into some communities. He said these changes usually lead to increased social problems, such as alcoholism.

"We have a problem in Nunavut with violence, and a lot of that violence is spurred on by alcohol," Reti said.

He cautioned the bleak statistics might reflect Nunavummiut's increased access to police, instead of a drastic jump in crime.

Communities have been able to report more crime since police expanded their services since 1999, opening detachments in Kugluktuk, Grise Fiord, Repulse Bay, Whale Cove and Chesterfield Inlet.

But statistics aside, Reti said criminal activity is on the rise in Nunavut, and Nunavummiut will have to get more involved in crime prevention if they want safer communities.

To do so, Reti said the government of Nunavut needs to provide more training and resources to community justice committees, who he describes as key to turning the tide of crime in the territory.

"The communities need to be more engaged," Reti said. "I find we will so often defer to other people for [dealing with] problems, when the answer for that problem is in that community. We just have to go and find it."

Reti said the RCMP are negotiating for more funding from the territorial government to expand their services. In order to receive partial funding from the federal government for policing, the Nunavut government pays 70 per cent of the RCMP's expenses.

The total budget for RCMP operations in Nunavut reached nearly $31 million last year, up from $21 million in 2001.

Reti declined to say how much money RCMP want to improve policing in Nunavut. However, he said the major crimes unit is "tasked right to the max," and phone operators are struggling to handle all the calls coming in.

Three detachments - Kugluktuk, Pond Inlet and Iqaluit - need more officers to keep up with their caseloads, he said.

Without added funding, RCMP are responding to rising crime by boosting their crime prevention activities. By the end of August, Nunavut will have a new officer who will educate people about the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse.

Sgt. Brigdit Leger, an RCMP policy analyst based in Iqaluit, said the new officer will be key to fighting crime because RCMP find around 90 per cent of violent crimes in Nunavut are directly linked to drug and alcohol abuse.

She said RCMP are also battling drug and alcohol abuse by acting as role models for children through volunteering, such as the Start Right, Stay Right hockey program run for children by officers in Iqaluit.

"Younger generations... have to realize there's alternatives to being drunk and stoned all the time," Leger said. "It's not a one-person responsibility. It's the community, along with the RCMP."

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