While driving in Calgary on Aug. 6, my phone and radio simultaneously emitted the emergency alert tone. The RCMP were warning of two armed and extremely dangerous suspects at large in the Strathmore area east of Calgary and telling people to lock themselves in their homes and shelter in place.
I have family in that area and was naturally very worried about them. While we were quickly able to contact family members to confirm their safety, we remained worried for hours while the RCMP refused to offer any further information on the incident.
Canada’s RCMP has long been known as a tight-lipped organization. This habit of keeping citizens in the dark as events are developing is fostering mistrust and could be putting people in danger.
The worst consequences ever seen of law enforcement’s poor communication was during the Nova Scotia mass shooting in April 2020. Over the course of two days, an armed man travelled the province on a murderous rampage, leaving 22 people dead in his wake before he was finally shot. Part of how the killer managed to remain at large for so long and encounter people was that he was driving a vehicle made up to look like an RCMP cruiser. Even though people knew a dangerous emergency was in progress, they were trusting when what appeared to be an authority figure was approaching. That trust and lack of knowledge of the nature of the killer cost them their lives.
The Aug. 6 Strathmore event indicates those recommendations still haven’t been fully implemented, as the police response was much like the response to the Nova Scotia mass shooting. Murderers were on the loose in a stolen Rocky View County fleet vehicle, and while the public wer told to lock themselves in their homes and shelter-in-place, the RCMP offered no description of the suspects or the vehicle until well after the event and the killers had escaped.
While the RCMP was silent, however, social media wasn’t. On Facebook, in a private group for the Strathmore area, people were sharing what later proved to be pictures of the suspects in the stolen vehicle as it was crashing through yards and fields. People were quickly realizing they could learn more about what was happening on Facebook than they could from the RCMP. More dangerously, though, rumours about the incident and description of the suspects were spreading on social media that haven’t been confirmed. People in a panic could have targeted other people and caused serious harm to them. The way to prevent such panic would have been for the RCMP to update citizens on the situation, but the silence continued.
Eventually, after some hours, the RCMP released a short statement on X that the scene was secure, but the suspects had escaped. No other details were offered on what had happened. RCMP reported one person was killed, but not who. We were in contact with our family members and knew they were safe. Doubtless, other people feared the worst if they couldn’t quickly reach loved ones in the area.
The next day, on the websites of the County of Rocky View and FortisAlberta, it was revealed that county employee Colin Hough had been murdered and his truck stolen, while a Fortis worker had been shot but survived. The RCMP later confirmed the casualties, but offered nearly no other information about the incident.
Thankfully, the killers were more intent on escaping than murdering more people. Had they approached homes in the county truck, they could have been recognized as safe, local authority figures by citizens. It could very well have ended up much like the Nova Scotia tragedy.
The RCMP was told in the commission’s report to “Recognize that affected community members are the ’true first responders’ to a critical incident.” Locals could have helped track the vehicle and could have kept themselves safer had the police trusted them as first responders rather than mushrooms to be kept in the dark.
While the Strathmore killers still roam loose, the RCMP are offering little information, and their representatives are sounding grumpy when questioned on the issue.
Vigilantism and panic occur when people lose trust in authorities. Open communication and respectful treatment of concerned citizens from the RCMP could help heal fraying trust. The Alberta incident should serve as a warning. The force must change its attitude and embrace communication as being part of its obligations to the public rather than a distasteful task. Lives are at stake.
