TERRACE RCMP Inspector Eric Stubbs says there are inaccuracies in the BC Civil Liberties report on policing released today.
“Small Town Justice: a report on the RCMP in northern and rural British Columbia” was written by BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) executive director David Eby after he travelled around to 14 northern communities last summer.
Terrace stood out as the community where Eby said he received the most comments about police behaviour. At 16 pages, the section on Terrace is the longest in the report.
“I’ve read the report, obviously it’s a negative report. [It’s] disappointing to see, frustrating to comment on a lot of what’s said in there due to the fact we weren’t invited to the meeting,” said Stubbs.
Names weren’t provided of people who did talk to Eby, a matter the legal services society executive director did acknowledge.
Stubbs noted that people quoted in the report aren’t happy that police have focussed on the activities of prolific offenders.
“I know they are not happy with us disrupting what has become to them a routine behaviour of causing disturbances, [consuming alcohol, drugs, or fighting in the downtown core],” he said. “We have to focus on keeping the downtown core safe.”
Stubbs did say he was concerned over allegations of racial profiling.
“We can’t hide the fact that we deal with a lot of First Nations people downtown; however, our focus is not on race but on behaviour,” he said.
If people are, for example, committing a crime on a daily basis, then police officers will look at what they can do to make the community safer, Stubbs continued.
The report does contain some actual situations but not all the details are correct, said Stubbs.
“There are a lot of inaccurate comments as well as false allegations made. I know who some of the situations are and some of the situations occurred but some of what was said is not accurate.
“Some of the issues are there. [There] is a thread of truth to some of the report, I’m not discounting it, not calling it all inaccurate or false but there is a number of areas that are incorrect.”
