(Halifax) The first police officers who were called to respond to the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia did all they could, according to the former commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the province, but the operations did not go smoothly, confessed Lee Bergerman Monday.
Posted at 6:33 p.m.
During his testimony before the commission of inquiry responsible for shedding light on this event, Mr.me Bergerman underlined the “heroic” gestures of the first police officers who went to the scene, in Portapique, as well as those of the first responders.
“I think the people who were first on the scene did everything they could at that time. It was an extremely unusual situation,” said Ms.me Bergerman.
The former assistant commissioner, who retired in October 2021, however admitted during cross-examination that the public inquiry highlighted parts of the police operation that did not go well.
On April 18, 2020, a gunman murdered 13 people in Portapique and then escaped in a replica police car. The killer then murdered nine other people the next day, before being shot dead by officers at a gas station.
According to Mme Bergerman, one area that could have been improved is communication between the RCMP command post and officers in the field. Relations with the community will also have to be reviewed: the police must better transmit information to the public and better understand the realities of the communities they serve, according to her.
“These are all aspects on which we must learn certain lessons,” she acknowledged.
But when asked what she thinks should be done first to improve the efficiency of operations, Ms.me Bergerman responded that more resources should be given to the RCMP. The police force has often complained that it lacks the manpower and equipment to do its job properly throughout the province.
“In circumstances like these, we would have benefited from having additional resources that we could have drawn from,” said Ms.me Bergerman. She added that the police will have to discuss with the provincial government and with the population so that everyone agrees on the role of the police in the province.
“I imagine it would be a question of money, and we know that one of the main priorities in this province is health care. But perhaps the question should be asked: do we want five doctors or 10 police officers? »
Little information at the start of the investigation
During the interview she gave on August 2 to the lawyers of the investigation, Ms.me Bergerman revealed that she had few details at the start of the day on April 19 about what had initially happened the night before, reads the transcript of the encounter, which was made public on Monday. .
Mme Bergerman said she was first told something was up before she went to bed around 11 p.m. on April 18. She confirmed she learned the next morning of the existence of killer Gabriel Wortman’s replica police car, but was ‘stunned’ when she saw it on the news shortly before. to leave the house to go to his office around 9:30 a.m.
“I remember being, I would say, stunned by the […] when I saw the police car they had,” Ms.me Bergerman.
She added that she was convinced that one of the RCMP police cars had been stolen. So she called Chief Superintendent Chris Leather to ask if that was the case.
“He confirmed that all of our police cars had been found,” Mr.me Bergerman.
She maintained that it was only after she arrived at her office that she was informed that the photo had been provided to the RCMP by a witness.
In fact, the photo was obtained from a relative of Lisa Banfield – the killer’s spouse – by Halifax Regional Police, who sent it to the RCMP around 7:30 a.m. The photo has not been shared publicly by the police until the RCMP posted a message on Twitter approximately three hours later.
On Tuesday, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is also due to appear before the commission. Mme She and Bergerman both testified before a parliamentary committee in Ottawa investigating possible political interference in the RCMP’s handling of the case.