The chief of Neqotkuk First Nation wants provincial and federal support to establish an Indigenous-led policing agency on the reserve, following the death of a community member who was shot by an RCMP officer.
Chief Ross Perley says the community is hurting and feeling anxious following Bronson Paul’s death.
“And there’s fear of the RCMP, and there’s anger too,” directed at the policing agency, Perley said in an interview Thursday.
Paul died on Jan. 18 after RCMP officers responded to what police called a “domestic dispute” at a residence in the First Nations community in northwestern New Brunswick, near the province’s border with Maine.
Perley said the RCMP failed to follow a protocol that calls for them to request assistance from the First Nation’s council, outreach team or tribal security, who are skilled at de-escalating such situations.
The chief said he has closed the RCMP detachment in the community following the shooting “and it’s going to stay closed indefinitely.”
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Perley and his council are calling on the RCMP commissioner to acknowledge that the police agency has a problem with systemic racism, and they are calling for Premier Susan Holt and Prime Minister Mark Carney to support the establishment of an Indigenous policing service on the reserve.
“We don’t feel the RCMP has done a great job in our communities and we think now is the time to transition away from that,” he said.
“We call on the prime minister, his ministers and the premier and her ministers to support that.”
Police have said an officer shot Paul after an unsuccessful attempt to subdue him with a conducted energy weapon. Police also say the man was carrying an edged weapon. He died in hospital.
Paul was the second Indigenous man fatally shot by the RCMP in a span of about a week.
On Jan. 13, an RCMP officer shot and killed a man from Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia along a highway north of Halifax. Police say officers tried non-lethal options before firing multiple shots. This followed an alert issued to residents in the area about a man with a firearm driving a blue Honda.
The two deaths have prompted First Nation chiefs across Atlantic Canada to call for an urgent meeting with the federal government.
Both deaths are subject of police oversight agency investigations by the Serious Incident Response Team.
When asked about the closure of the detachment in Neqotkuk First Nation, a media relations officer with the New Brunswick RCMP said police are continuing to ensure public safety in the community.
“Whether answering calls for service from within or from outside the community, it is important for members of the public to understand that no matter the ‘status’ of the detachment, the N.B. RCMP is continuing to ensure public safety and expected service levels in Neqotkuk,” Cpl. Hans Ouellette said in an email.
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