There were some tense moments in downtown Yellowknife on Aug. 10 as RCMP officers pursued a man on foot to serve him with a court order.
As many as four officers followed James Picard while he was walking near the intersection of Franklin Avenue and 48 Street in what could accurately be described as a slow-speed foot-chase. Yellowknifer observed the incident in progress.
Police eventually caught up to Picard with one officer putting him face-first up against the outside wall of the Royal Canadian Legion building on 48 Street. He had one of his hands put in cuffs and was escorted to a police vehicle where he was searched. He was eventually released without charges. Police have not said why he was put in cuffs nor why they served him a court order on the street. They also won't say what the court order was for.
Man who spurred external investigation identified
This incident happened exactly one month after Picard was seriously hurt by coming into contact with an RCMP vehicle near the same intersection. He was never named by RCMP but has since told Yellowknifer that he is the person who was injured.
According to an RCMP news release, officers observed an individual in the early morning hours of July 10 who attempted to make contact with an RCMP vehicle while it was in motion and was injured during the attempt. Picard was taken by ambulance to Stanton Territorial Hospital and later medevaced to Edmonton for treatment. Yellowknife RCMP turned the case over to the Yellowknife-based RCMP Major Crimes Unit, which is investigating the incident. RCMP have also requested Medicine Hat Police review the investigation once it is complete.
He was wearing a tensor bandage on his arm when he was seen with police last week. Picard said he is still recovering from his injuries.
Yellowknifer asked RCMP for an update on that investigation and the public perception of RCMP officers investigating other RCMP officers in the same city.
“The decision(s) to request an external agency involvement … vary with each case,” stated RCMP civilian spokesperson Marie York-Condon. “In this case, due to the immediacy created by an injury to the person involved, the Northwest Territories RCMP senior management requested NT RCMP Major Crimes to start an investigation at once. Later, after reaching out to agencies to request assistance, it was decided that the investigation could continue with an NT RCMP unit, and then be reviewed by an external agency, Medicine Hat Police Services.”
Picard denies he jumped in front of the police car and says a police dashcam video will show what happened that morning. RCMP has declined to say whether there is dashcam video of the incident,
Insp. Brent Secondiak, of Medicine Hat Police, said there is not much he can say about the incident until the completed investigation file is turned over to them. He stated Medicine Hat Police weren't able to send somebody to Yellowknife to investigate the incident due to workload, manpower and holidays.
“At this point we don't have a copy of the final report,” he stated. “Once we do, it will be assigned to our major crimes section and a detective will review the file for its thoroughness and completeness. We will then see if there are any charges we would recommend.”
Secondiak stated RCMP has not given him an indication as to when they expect to complete their investigation.