Today, Public Prosecutions Services, Office of the Attorney General released its response to the report from Quebec's Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) regarding the circumstances involving the death of 48-year-old Rodney Levi, of Metepenagiag First Nation, during a police intervention on June 12, 2020. This was a tragic loss of life that has deep repercussions for Mr. Levi's family and loved ones, the wider community, and our RCMP employees in New Brunswick.
The New Brunswick RCMP respect the decision made by the Public Prosecutions Services, and will not be offering any further comment related to the BEI investigation.
There has been a lot of attention in the past year regarding interactions between police and marginalized groups. These are important opportunities to be introspective about our own origins, culture and current operations, as well as to be part of a greater shift towards a more inclusive and compassionate society for all.
Use of force is never an action taken lightly. Our members become police officers knowing they may have to take protective actions that sometimes include lethal outcomes. They undergo rigorous and continual training to ensure they have the tools to respond appropriately in difficult circumstances. When we have to make those decisions to take those actions, regardless of the outcome, we carry that for the rest of our lives. We live with public conjecture and speculation about how things could have been handled differently, which impact people's trust in law enforcement, and our own mental health.
We are accountable to the public for what we do. For that reason, the RCMP is diligent in requesting external reviews of critical incidents involving police. We are committed to understanding the ways we could have done things differently to improve outcomes for everyone involved.
The New Brunswick RCMP continually strives for improved dialogue internally with our employee groups, and works with communities and specific external groups to explore and implement ways to provide the best service possible, as well as to provide the best tools for a healthy work environment for all our employees.
Respectfully,