Police associations respond after death of Chantel Moore Times & Transcript (Print Edition)·Savannah Awde CA|June 08, 2020·08:00am Section: A·Page: A1 Police associations across the province issued statements on Saturday after an Indigenous woman was shot and killed by an officer called to her home to perform a wellness check.

In a release posted to the City of ’s Facebook page, president Sgt. Martin Perron extended condolences of behalf of the 41-member Edmundston Police and Dispatcher’s Association to family and friends of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation woman Chantel Moore.

The 26-year-old had moved to Edmundston to be closer to her family and young child just a few months before the fatal altercation on Thursday.

“It is a tragic and difficult situation for all involved,” Perron said. “The association also offers support and assistance to the members who were involved directly or indirectly in this incident. An incident that changes lives forever.”

The association represents 30 police officers and 11 dispatchers.

“Faced with this incident, we fully support the ongoing independent investigation into the action of one of our members,” Perron said.

The Saint John Police Force also issued a “co-ordinated message on behalf of law enforcement agencies” on Saturday afternoon.

“There is a lot of attention right now on interactions between minority groups and law enforcement. These are important conversations,” the statement reads.

“These are difficult times, but in the difficulties lie opportunities to learn, to improve and to strengthen connections and common experiences. We will continue to work with you.”

Actions from racism ‘drag down’ force: RCMP Commissioner

On Friday, the day after Moore was killed, Canada’s RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki weighed in on a national conversation about systemic racism and policing.

“I know everyone is affected and processing the events surrounding the death of George Floyd differently, including our RCMP family and communities,” she wrote. “Watching the protests and hearing the discussion may be difficult, but at the heart of it is the need to confront anti-Black racism and other forms of discrimination that continue to plague our society.” “Racism is a reality that should make us each take a hard look at ourselves to understand how our words, our actions and our inactions may contribute to it. Even with the best of intentions, we can make assumptions and fall into habits that lead to bias.”

Lucki then turned her statement to RCMP employees.

“I have shared a clear message with all employees of the RCMP: we are here for everyone. No matter what they look like, sound like, or where they come from,” she said.

“There is no room for racism – or any other kind of discrimination – in Canada’s RCMP. Those attitudes, and the actions they lead to, drag down every employee in this profession who is working hard to keep their communities safe and give Canadians the police service they deserve.”

Saskatchewan’s provincial RCMP also called attention to the issue on Friday.

“There’s no denying that racism exists. We are actively working to combat it, both within policing and society at large. We hear the concerns being raised by citizens everywhere and recognize we still have strides to make as the provincial police service.”

Disproportionate violence in policing minorities

On Saturday, Minister of Public Safety Carl Urquhart said he will remain engaged with Indigenous leaders on their calls for an investigation into police interactions with Indigenous New Brunswickers after Moore’s death.

“We acknowledge the chiefs want to discuss a review of Indigenous people and the justice system, with a scope broader than this one tragic case,” he said via email.

“We have already begun a dialogue with Indigenous leaders on this important topic, but we will engage with the chiefs in the days ahead.”

A CBC investigation that compiled data across Canada from 2000 to 2017 found black and Indigenous Canadians to be “overwhelmingly over-represented” in fatal police encounters.

Another national report from The Globe and Mail in November 2019 showed that more than one-third of people shot and killed by RCMP officers over the past decade were Indigenous.

At home, Brunswick News’ investigation in January found inconsistency or lack of reporting on ethnicity in random street checks by police forces across the province.

“For a modern police force not to be taking note of the racial profile of the people they’re policing is at best irresponsible, and at worst a calculated omission so as not to be held responsible for racist practices,” St. Thomas University professor Michael Boudreau said in an interview.

“If a police force wants to know that it’s doing what is right in the area of diversity and inclusion, then they have to keep track of those people who represent the diversity.”

Deputy Chief Andre Madore of the Edmundston Police Force, a member of which shot Moore on Thursday, told Brunswick News that tracking ethnicity in their region would have no value.

“It’s not something that we’re really concerned about or we’re really looking at,” he said.

“We are predominantly Caucasian. We do have immigrants, we do have ... a lot of students who come from other countries with the [Collège communautaire du Nouveau- Brunswick] and [l’Université de Moncton campus d’Edmundston] here, but they’re not the people who we have routine dealings with.”

Brunswick News has asked the province what statistics are kept on police dealings that lead to harm or death and is awaiting a response.

The most recently published annual report from the New Brunswick Police Commission for 2017-18 shows that the Edmundston force fielded five complaints, the same total across all RCMP units and the Grand Falls police that year.

Only and Saint John recorded a higher count, with 30 and 20 complaints, respectively.

Brunswick News has requested the most recent report.

– With files from Aidan Cox