Premier defends use of emergency alert
HALIFAX — Premier Stephen Mcneil is deflecting criticism that the province waited too long Wednesday to issue a public alert of an gunman in the province, suggesting any blame should be pinned on the RCMP.
“I believe (the RCMP) needs to look at their protocols when it comes to when they send out an alert and how quickly they want us to react,” said Mcneil on Thursday.
Questions still remain about why it took hours for a provincewide alert to be issued after police learned that a suspect wanted in a New Brunswick shooting was in Nova Scotia. His vehicle was reportedly discovered in
Amherst by police at around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Roughly three and a half hours passed before the province’s Emergency Management Office received an alert request from Nova Scotia RCMP. The provincewide alert was issued seven minutes after it came in at 11:35 a.m., according to EMO.
On Thursday, Mcneil said that the RCMP needs to “fix their protocol” around requesting a public alert.
“The RCMP has an issue when it comes to whether they want to use emergency alerts.”
Nova Scotia RCMP responded in a statement by Chief Superintendent Chris Leather issued late Thursday afternoon. Leather defended the timing of the alert and the force’s reliance on social media to keep the public abreast of their search for the alleged shooter.
Leather said that both the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick RCMP were involved in a thorough, behind-thescenes investigation that led to the arrest of the suspect.
“When we were confident a public alert would not impede his apprehension, jeopardize public or police safety, we requested an alert be issued,” he said.
The turn of events leading to the arrest of the suspect echoes the response to the Portapique massacre during which social media was primarily used by RCMP, but no provincial alert was ever issued.
In his statement, Leather said that at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, New Brunswick RCMP tweeted that the suspect’s car had been found by Amherst
Police Department. The statement also defended the Amherst force’s decision to also not request a public alert.
“I can say that at that time the RCMP would not have issued an alert either, despite the public and political calls for an alert.”
He said New Brunswick RCMP was continuing to lead the investigation.
“Officers in both provinces were doing police work, gathering facts, following up on leads, and speaking with suspect family members and close contacts to find and arrest the suspect.”
MLA for Cumberland North Elizabeth SmithMccrossin took aim at the province for not issuing an alert earlier. Her Amherst constituency office is one block from where the suspect was eventually arrested without incident.
She said shortly after 8 a.m., she learned that the accused’s car had been found in downtown Amherst. Shortly after, she called RCMP, town police and the Department of Justice to inquire why an alert hadn’t been issued.
“I requested one be made immediately.”
She said she’s especially concerned at the timing because the suspect had previously been identified by the RCMP in New Brunswick.
Despite Smith-mccrossin’s 8 a.m. call to the Department of Justice, Chuck Porter, the minister responsible for EMO, said he was first informed of the alleged gunman’s presence in Nova Scotia at 10:45. He said the department discussed with the RCMP what would be in the emergency alert.