A third Mountie is riding into Whatì; will work out of new detachment building

It’s a good thing the RCMP have a larger new detachment building in Whatì, as the number of officers is set to increase by one-third.

Chief Superintendent Dyson Smith, The NWT’s commanding officer, told the Dene community of 540 people on the shores of Lac la Martre that a third Mountie will be arriving shortly.

“It’s not so much that throughout the year it’s gotten any busier — it’s just that it’s more spread out now, because before, when we didn’t have the all-season road, it was just when the winter road was in that you’d see the influx,” Smith told CKLB after a public gathering Monday at the official opening of the new RCMP detachment building.

“You heard Chief Nitsiza in his speech, he mentioned that he wants more police — that’s what we’re hearing in every community out here,” said Smith. “Even when the Black Lives Matter protests were going on, and ‘defund the police’ was happening, every community here was saying, ‘We want more police.’”

One way the workload could be eased is with a program of Community Safety Officers. Those are regular people from the community with some training, who would work alongside Mounties to handle the less-urgent and non-crime-related calls.

There is a trial of that program currently happening in Fort Liard and Smith says he would like to see it adopted and expanded.

Whatì Chief Charlie Nitsiza said he welcomes the additional police officer as crime patterns have changed for the worse, as predicted, with the completion of the 97-kilometre all-season road in 2021.

“Drugs and alcohol are coming into the communities — we have two RCMP stationed here now, but they are really busy — we need more RCMP in the communities,” said Nitsiza.

“We hear a lot about what’s happening in other communities … and we don’t want that happening here. We live in Whatì, one of the beautiful communities, we want to keep it safe.”

NWT Deputy Justice Minister Charlene Doolittle said the relationship between the RCMP and the community of Whatì has, “set a high standard” for other communities to follow.

An example being the engagement between the community’s youth and the RCMP in recent times with basketball and volleyball gym nights to encourage good mental and physical health.

RCMP members in Whatì also participated in the development of the community safety plan in 2023 alongside community members and administrators.

“The RCMP in Whatì have worked with community leadership to develop policing priorities that are important to you,” she said.

“This work can only be strengthened by having a building that meets the needs of the RCMP and the community. I’d like to thank everyone who enabled us to make this new detachment a reality for your community.”