RCMP Watch

Times & Transcript (Moncton, NB)

The most pertinent comment this newspaper has received related to the four arsons in the Salisbury region is that if the RCMP don’t take effective action soon, “another Grand Manan could develop,” a reference to citizens on that Island taking the law into their own hands to rid their community of long-standing criminal activity after police failed to act.

The situation is well-known throughout Salisbury; people are fearful; they say it has been going on for years; several properties owned or with ties to the victimized family have been torched (three in one night); locals have no doubt who is responsible; and the public’s patience is running thin. They ask where the RCMP have been; why nobody has been held to account.

This has been called a “feud” between families, but that is a misnomer. Citizens invariably describe it as one-sided. For whatever reason one family has been targeted by another. That’s a vendetta, not a feud. The victims merit commendation for their restraint and not responding in kind.

We sympathize with the District 11 (Caledonia) detachment. It has limited staff and a huge geographic area to cover, and the provincial ‘J’ Division has now sent in the Major Crimes Unit and extra officers, but it remains a pertinent question why it has taken so long? If the RCMP can send in extras, including a flying squad, for “security” during the Rolling Stones concert when it heard rumours some Hell’s Angels “might” attend, then surely it can help more promptly when a community is threatened.

Is the premier aware of the problem? Both he and his public safety minister should be. And they should be ordering — not requesting — that the RCMP devote whatever resources are necessary to address the problem. Vigilante action is not the answer, even if it is understandable, and the potential for it is high if results are not seen soon.

It is telling that Salisbury Village Council has been repeatedly inviting representatives from the RCMP to attend council meetings and hear concerns about policing, but nobody has shown up. Mayor Terry Keating is right: the RCMP have a responsibility to citizens, but they are not responding.

We know the RCMP are aware of this situation. Yet to date, they have said little, shown no results, and have yet to assure the public it is safe. Have the RCMP learned anything from Grand Manan? Perhaps, but the present response is already very late in the day?