Ottawa, ON — Following is a statement from Brian Sauvé, President of the National Police Federation, in response to an RCMP Member-involved shooting in Shamattawa First Nation on July 2, and a related ongoing investigation by the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of Manitoba:
“Our Members’ priority and preferred result is always de-escalation and peaceful resolution. Police officers often have seconds at best to assess the safest and most effective response to protect the public and themselves. In this case, an active shooter was discharging a firearm in the community, this is reiterated in the statement from the IIU: ‘Shots were fired by the male and the Members responded with shots from their service firearms’.
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the injured subject; the community who endured a shocking event, and our involved Members. NPF Regional Director, Bobby Baker, is supporting Members with the assistance of NPF Local Area Representatives and will continue to do so until the conclusion of the IIU investigation.
We welcome and respect Manitoba IIU’s investigation and look forward to their thorough, timely, and transparent findings. Until their report is published, we have no further comment.”
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 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.
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Media contact:
Fabrice de Dongo
Manager, Media Relations
fdedongo@npf-fpn.com
(647) 274-7118