The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) “welcomes favorably” the recommendations made by the deputy chief coroner, Luc Malouin, who published a report on Tuesday which cuts into pieces its management of a case which had kept Quebec in suspense in July 2020 : the disappearance of sisters Norah and Romy Carpentier, as well as their father, Martin.
In the 45-page document, the deputy chief coroner undermines the hierarchy of the police force, questioning his decision to refuse the help offered by the Quebec police, criticizing the poor coordination of search operations, pointing out its slowness in carrying out the urgency of the situation and denouncing the total absence of a plan to deal with unforeseen events during the summer holidays and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The day after the publication of the report, the SQ wants to be reassuring: the provincial police analyze its actions “after each operation” to determine “what worked well and the points to improve”, indicates the police force in a press release. The Carpentier affair, where two children and their father were found dead after laborious searches, was no exception: the tragedy, she promises, has already spurred reforms within its ranks.
The report noted that “the absence of trained personnel” was “obvious” in July 2020. The SQ promises that “enhanced” training in search and rescue already makes it possible to “deepen” and “maintain” the skills of its police officers in this area.
Some officers responsible for the investigation only learned of the existence of statements collected from the start of the case about Martin Carpentier’s depressed state during the public hearings, three years after the events. A situation deemed “incredible” and “incomprehensible” by Luc Malouin, who indicates that he did not have “a clear answer” to explain the blunder.
New protocols
A unified command structure called “Net 1” and filed in July 2022 must now ensure better coordination between the different actors deployed “during a major operation to search for a fugitive or people whose lives are in imminent danger” , underlines the SQ.
“This plan formally governs the cohesion between the investigation teams and the police officers on the search perimeter,” writes chief inspector Patrick Marchand, director of emergency measures for the SQ.
A “reviewed and adapted” protocol, adds the police force, “will save precious minutes in the time required to broadcast an alert”. When the Carpentiers disappeared, the police issued an Amber Alert 18 hours after the disappearance of the two children.
Furthermore, the SQ, which came under criticism from the deputy chief coroner for having gone “it alone” in its research at a time when the shortage of personnel was glaring, indicates that it has “listed all its provincial partners in terms of ground research “.
A collaboration protocol is also in place with the Quebec Association of Search and Rescue Volunteers, a group which participated in operations in July 2020, but with several hours of delay due to the lack of Sûreté du Québec police officers on site to accompany them.
Better understand the urgency?
The press release published by the SQ does not mention any reform, however, regarding its ability to quickly grasp the urgency of a situation. In his report, Luc Malouin, however, reserved his harshest criticism for this aspect.
“In the police hierarchy, someone, somewhere, forgot the Guide to police practices », wrote the deputy chief coroner, “thus leading to undue delays for the continuation of the case”.
During the public hearings, a senior officer of the SQ indicated that even 15 hours after the disappearance of the father and his daughters, all the scenarios remained on the table despite the absence of evidence to corroborate several of them. No one had seen Martin Carpentier flee the scene of the car accident with Norah and Romy, he claimed. Maybe someone had taken them? Maybe they had hit a deer? Perhaps they had walked to a hospital after the spin?
However, nothing and no one supported these scenarios to which the SQ seemed to cling for hours. “In the hierarchical authorities of the SQ, we have forgotten the notion of the urgency of the situation,” states the report.