Gamètì leadership want RCMP to be more involved in community

The leadership in Gamètì, N.W.T., say they want the RCMP to have more of a presence in the community. 

Officers are stationed there on a rotational basis; none are full-time. 

But Chief Doreen Arrowmaker said when police are there, they tend to spend most of the time in the trailer-turned-detachment.  

"I don't know what they do, but we don't hardly see them around in the community," she said. 

This is something senior administrative officer Sherbaz Muhammad agrees with. 

"Even when they're there, they don't have an actual or active presence in the community," he said. 

Insp. Dean Riou, the officer in charge of the N.W.T. south district, said the RCMP does provide Gamètì 24-hour emergency services. 

"If a situation requires police attendance when members are not in the community, we will attend the community via aircraft," he said. 

Arrowmaker said she would like to see police involved in the various activities that are held in the Tłı̨chǫ community. 

"We keep telling them that they need to be very proactive in the community and you know be a part of the community," she said. 

"Even if there's like events, stuff that are happening like the Indigenous [People's] Day in June, Canada Day in July … we asked them if they want to be a part of it and we don't get a response from them."

Contraband entering through flights

Arrowmaker said another issue she's noticing is drugs and alcohol entering the community.

Gamètì is a prohibited community, meaning no alcohol is allowed, and it is only accessible by aircraft outside the winter months. 

On Monday, about 90 residents returned to the community from a handgames tournament held in Behchokǫ̀ over the weekend. 

Both Arrowmaker and Muhammad wanted police to check the returning passengers to ensure they weren't bringing in contraband.  

However, Riou, the RCMP officer in charge, said searching every travelling passenger would be a charter rights violation. 

"Police cannot search someone's personal belongings without obtaining a court order or incidental to arresting someone. Both obtaining a court order and arresting someone requires reasonable belief that an offence has been committed," he wrote.

"The NT RCMP value people's individual freedoms as set out by the charter and our courts, and we remain committed to do our very best not to infringe on them or overstep our authorities."

Arrowmaker said she understands the importance of this, but also wants assistance as she feels the airlines don't have the resources to keep her community safe. 

Crack cocaine has become a particular topic of discussion in various communities across the N.W.T., including Gamètì.

Riou said the RCMP has been trying to deal with the crack cocaine issue for several years. 

"Unfortunately, despite these efforts, demand for illicit drugs remains high," he said. 

Detention centre

Arrowmaker said one issue she understands is that the RCMP doesn't have any proper infrastructure in the community.

This includes the lack off a holding cell where people can be detained in or sober up in.

She said in the past, officers have had to drive residents around for eight hours until they sober up.  

Arrowmaker said there are plans to build a multi-use centre that could include a holding cell for the RCMP, but the planning is in the preliminary stages.