Surrey, BC — Following is a statement from Brian Sauvé, President of the National Police Federation, regarding the Lowndes family’s comments criticizing the police response to an active threat situation in Campbell River last week.
“We send our sympathies to the Lowndes family and friends following the death of Jared Lowndes last week.
If Mr. Lowndes had not, however, evaded police, stabbed PSD Gator and injured an RCMP officer, and instead turned himself in to the Courts to comply with a Warrant for weapons offenses, he could be alive today.
Use-of-force is exceedingly rare. The RCMP responds to an average of nearly three million calls for service annually and less than 1/10th of 1% (0.1%) result in any use-of-force.
Policing in Canada is highly regulated, with strong internal and independent oversight. We support the Independent Investigation Office of BC’s ongoing investigation into this incident and would like to emphasize that it is critically important their review is conducted without speculation and supposition regarding the outcome, and free from undue or inappropriate external influence.”
About the National Police Federation:
The National Police Federation (NPF) was certified to represent ~20,000 RCMP Members serving across Canada and internationally in the summer of 2019. The NPF is the largest police labour relations organization in Canada; the second largest in North America and is the first independent national association to represent RCMP Members.
The NPF is focused on improving public safety in Canada by focusing on increasing resources, equipment, training, and other supports for our Members who have been under-funded for far too long. Better resourcing and supports for the RCMP will enhance community safety and livability in the communities we serve, large and small, across Canada.
For more information: https://npf-fpn.com/
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Media contact:
Karen Cook
Director, Communications
media@npf-fpn.com
(604) 551-9074