Harm-reduction strategies not delivering results, says Yukon's outgoing top RCMP officer

Yukon RCMP Chief Supt. Scott Sheppard says he has "no regrets" as he approaches the end of his 35-year career with the police force. 

Sheppard, who was named the territory's highest-ranking officer in 2016, will retire in February. He says being commanding officer in the Yukon is the thing he's most proud of in his long career.

Speaking to CBC's Yukon Morning host Elyn Jones this week, Sheppard was candid about some of the challenges of policing in a territory with a growing population, an ongoing substance-use crisis, and a recent increase in property crime. 

This interview was edited for length and clarity.  

We've certainly all felt the pain of the tragedies of fentanyl and opioid overdoses here in the territory. And you and I have talked about the role of policing in all of that. What do you reflect on when you think back over decades of work in this area?

Policing remains a huge pillar in the whole, I would say, the whole harm-reduction strategy. It's an important pillar because it's the one pillar that allows the other areas to be effective. If you don't have a strong public-safety element, you can't provide the other services. 

You know, my one worry is that we've started to venture down a path where I question sometimes whether, you know, we're providing enough of the right support in the right areas. And by that I mean, it's one thing to provide safe supply or a safe consumption site. But if you're not in a position to provide that follow-up care and sort of that wraparound service, I don't see that as a success. In fact, we might very well just be prolonging the issue. 

So those are some of my worries. And when I look specifically in Whitehorse which is, within Yukon, one of the areas of greater concern, I worry that we're almost creating a bit of an industry around this whole idea of harm-reduction. And I don't think it's achieving, at least not yet, what it's intended to achieve. And then when people start entering into the discussion about decriminalization, then the hairs on the back of my neck really begin to stand up because that becomes really, really worrisome then.

Why do you think that's worrisome, to go that route?

I just don't believe the evidence supports going in that direction. And even looking at the last several months in British Columbia, just as a point of comparison, if you were to ask most people living in that area to give an objective opinion about it, they say it went horribly wrong. We're fortunate we didn't go as far down that road in Yukon, but I think it's important to have an honest discussion about this. 

You know, one of the big challenges in this job is to find a balance — in having the knowledge of something, and balancing the ethical responsibility that comes along with that. So, for example, I've never been shy about saying what I believe needs to be said, but in this role you also have to be careful. But there comes a time when, as I look at Whitehorse, you know — and I know downtown safety has been raised as a major concern by many people over the last several months, years — I worry that there's too much focus on things such as safe consumption, creating that space for vulnerable persons, which I do not dismiss for a moment, it's important.

You know, we have other vulnerable places as well. We have vulnerable businesses that are being impacted by some of these things. And when I'm not seeing the health outcomes on the other side, I have to ask myself, you know, is this the direction we really need to go? 

And I know folks in health and in justice are very alive to this and it's a very delicate balance and we work very closely with them. But I just think we need to be cautious before we go any further down this path, unless we're satisfied we have the resources in place to actually provide treatment to folks so that they do get the positive outcomes that we all want them to have.

You mentioned crime, certainly that is a concern of a lot of Yukoners. What are the challenges for the RCMP trying to to deal with that, trying to stem the tide of what happening, downtown especially?

Property crime certainly on our radar and our acting officer in charge has been working very diligently at putting some formal programs together to address it.

We do have a group of folks that are referred to as 'prolific offenders.' And we've been meeting and discussing with our partners how we can all collectively, including the police, do a better job at managing these folks. And largely - because again, we're coming back to health, but it has such an impact on policing — you know, providing the services these folks need so that they're not in this survival situation of having to commit a crime to acquire drugs and continue this cycle. So we've had some very productive meetings with other partners both in the justice system and in other areas and we're hoping to see some improvement. 

But there's no one simple answer to this. And yeah, we could drive around with the van and probably put everybody in jail for a period of time. That's a tool, but it's not a long-term solution.