RCMP Supt. Lindsay Ellis on public safety and Yukon's crime rate

These are busy days for Yukon RCMP, as police deal with an apparent rash of violent crime in recent months.

Some high-profile incidents — including a double homicide in Mayo last month, another homicide in Whitehorse a month earlier, and an armed break-in in a Whitehorse subdivision two weeks ago — have put many residents on edge. 

Yukon RCMP Supt. Lindsay Ellis acknowledges "sort of a rapid pace" of serious calls made to police lately.

Ellis spoke to Yukon Morning host Elyn Jones on Monday about some of those cases, and why Yukon ranks so high on Canada's Crime Severity Index.   

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What kind of update can you provide on the homicides in Mayo?

This file is very much a priority for us. It's progressing well.

We are still of the belief that there's witnesses that have been reluctant to come forward, and we would encourage them to do so. Anything that may seem, you know, insignificant may be very important to our investigation. We do still need the public's help with that.

Can you say if you're close to making an arrest, or anything like that?

Because of the integrity of the investigation, I wouldn't be able to say that.

For people in Mayo who would be concerned about the situation, what's your message to them and the community?

Keep working with the detachment for your policing needs. The community of Mayo, the Village, the citizens of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, have been fantastic partners with us for community safety in the village of Mayo and in the subdivisions.

For individuals who wish to report or come forward as a witness on the double homicide investigation of Mr. Bennett and Mr. Symington, please don't hesitate to call the Yukon RCMP Major Crime Unit. We encourage you to do that and we're we're there to support.

In Whitehorse, a lot of people were concerned about the incident in Whistle Bend — the break and enter, and then seeing photos of someone who appeared to be carrying a weapon. What more can you tell us about what happened there and and how that investigation is going?

That investigation is also a priority for us. Whitehorse detachment's general investigation section has that investigation and is getting a lot of support from other units in the division. 

It is what we consider to be an isolated incident. I can't say much more about where we're at with that investigation, just because I don't want to jeopardize the outcome, both for public safety and also for, potentially, the courts. 

So we have put out some messaging, that if there's anybody who hasn't come forward yet that might have some doorbell cams or home surveillance cams, to give us a call at the detachment here. And we're hoping to update as we can on that one.

And when you say it's an isolated incident, what does that mean?

Specifically meaning that it hasn't been a spree, to use that word. It was not an incident where, you know, we had multiple break and enter calls within Whistle Bend or within the rest of the city that day — and that's all I can say about that.

Are you looking at how the message was communicated to the public in the neighborhood? Because a lot of people were worried, and some people were hearing things and then seeing things on social media too.

 We're always looking at what our communication is, whether it be for public safety or you know, tactical or strategic communication. I can say that we're reviewing that, we're working with our partners — and they're tremendous partners at Emergency Measures Organization — to crack open the protocols that each department have, just to see where we're at. 

I am satisfied that the public safety messaging was provided the way that it should have been, and how that information rolled into us and how we confirmed it that day. However, I acknowledge, and we all acknowledge at Yukon RCMP, that part of public safety is also assuring the public, and there's times where the public interest versus the public safety messaging can be a little blurred.

We do know that our appearance on scene and our presence on scene sometimes is not assuring to people. In fact, it can cause fear, it can cause all the way to, I'll use the word panic, and social media can contribute to that as well. 

So we're looking at what we could have done to perhaps assure the public that it was in hand. But like I said, I'm satisfied that the messaging that went out about public safety was met.

We do know that in 2023 our role is to assure the public, and how we can do that — whether that's through public messaging, through the media or with other mass communication tools, so including door-to-door canvas, on-scene communication, even as simple as, you know, while a member is standing outside a scene, taking their sunglasses off and making eye contact with the public and assuring them that it's all in hand. That goes a long way and we know that, and we're working on that and looking at reviewing what else we can do, going beyond.

There was an RCMP news release on Friday about a number of high-risk calls within the span of about two hours last week: young people being bear-sprayed in downtown Whitehorse, a dispute that involved the seizure of brass knuckles, a loaded restricted firearm, and a substance that appeared to be cocaine. So how unusual was a day like that for you here in Whitehorse?

I would like to say that it wasn't the most unusual day that we've seen in the Yukon, but it is just an example of the seriousness of some of the files that we're getting — and they're coming at sort of a rapid pace. 

I'll take that all the way back to, you know, last year. It's almost been a year, or it has been a year since we had a member stabbed in Whistle Bend at a well-being check. And our year has just gone from there. 

We've had multiple incidents including, you know an individual shot in Air North, we had a member shot and another individual shot in the fall, the homicide of Aaron Smarch, the double homicide of of Michael Bennett and Ben Symington.

We're seeing and we're also hearing from the public, a certain intensity in violence, in reported violence to us. We're hearing about violence that's maybe delayed in coming to our ears. 

This is just a symptom that [in the] Yukon, we're not immune to what's going on perhaps down South, or anywhere else. We know that the Yukon, we're third in all the provinces and territories for Crime Severity Index, and that has been through years.

If you look at 326 police services — and that includes municipal and provincial and other RCMP areas — Whitehorse itself is number 18 for 2021, [on the] Crime Severity Index.

What's behind that intensity of crime?

I could only speculate.

I will say, you know, I think that there's a lot of tumultuous times in the world. We've got the substance use emergency, which is a very real emergency, it's a crisis. 

I think coming out of the pandemic, there's a lot of tension in the world and we're seeing that. And I don't want to be glib or say, you know, it's those pieces — because we've had people within the year that have lost their lives in the Yukon and it's very serious. 

The events of Wednesday afternoon were very serious for many different people. We've got youth in broad daylight being bear-sprayed downtown Whitehorse, in a very trafficked area. Then we've got individuals who are chasing each other around with screwdrivers, and then not even an hour later we're getting called to another area of the city where there's been a dispute and a firearm has been brandished. 

We've got all of those things, and notwithstanding organized crime touching the Yukon — and we're seeing that on, I would say, a daily basis in some of the investigations that were undertaken. 

Tell us more about organized crime and and gang activity in the Yukon. What do we know about that? What does that look like?

We commissioned a report through the Criminal Intelligence Service B.C./Yukon, we're members of that, two years ago now. And that report indicated that there's no less than five organized crime networks working in the Yukon.

I've worked here for a decade. When I arrived here, I would say that that was an accurate picture just from, you know, our investigations.

We're not immune. We see the touch that organized crime has. Our First Nations communities are especially vulnerable to that. Some of the communities outside of Whitehorse are in particular vulnerable to that. But here in Whitehorse, we see it. A few years ago we had the 856 gang here in town and they were walking around town with T-shirts that said "856." They were being allowed into restaurants. They were being supported, and I believe unknowingly supported here in what they were doing. 

But you know, organized crime, it's a supply-and-demand. It's an economic fuel. 

So it's a very real concern for us, and Whitehorse is sort of the centre of that and then it is spreading out into the communities. And we're seeing that. A few weeks ago, [there was] some excellent police work done in Carmacks where a member responds to a call and he sees an individual who has a bag of crack cocaine hanging out of their pocket. And that crack cocaine was destined for distribution in the community of Carmacks.

So we're seeing it, we're seeing it everywhere.

What can be done to stem that, and stop it?

It's a very complex question and  if I could snap my fingers I would put all of these things into place right away to stop it.

But I think the first step is a harm reduction. Yukon RCMP is participating in that, attempting to, you know, curb some of the harm, save lives. 

The second step would be public education about what organized crime looks like. And we're starting to work on that through the Substance Use Action Plan. We're starting to work on that again internally at the Yukon RCMP. 

And you know, there's other things like safe supply. Safe supply cannot completely remove the commodity of drug trafficking, but it could certainly assist in that. We're not in a position anymore where we can, you know, have a war on drugs and have policing take care of that problem. 

It's a multifaceted solution, and multifaceted solutions, and we're participants in that.

Overall then, what do you want Yukoners to know about the time that we're in right now with crime in the territory, and how best for them to respond and get informed?

Yukon RCMP are prepared. I think that we've seen that in our response over the last year at least, in how we're positioned to promote community safety and promote and keep the public safe in the Yukon. 

However, we also work with our partners to do that as well and there's tremendous partners in public safety here in the Yukon. I would be remiss to name them all; they know who they are. Yukoners need to know that they're well in hand with each other.

But I think that if if folks want to learn more about what's going on there are opportunities through many different websites, around crime prevention, around what Crime Severity Index actually means and how that informs some decisions — it's not the entire piece that informs decisions.

There is a wealth of information. I will caution though that sometimes the social media rabbit hole can be deep and dark, and you know, making sure that information is valid.

And we'll continue to put out information as we can around crime and also around what we're seeing around emerging trends. And that's why I thank CBC so much for inviting us in today.