RCMP use Taser to end 50 Street incident

Police used an energy weapon while arresting two people during what RCMP termed “an altercation” at a vacant lot on Yellowknife’s 50 Street.

Police said the incident happened on a lot between Franklin Avenue and 51 Avenue on Saturday at around 3pm.

Two men remain in custody but no charges have yet been laid.

Police asked witnesses to come forward.

“The incident occurred … in a high population density area, so public citizens may have witnessed the incident and some may have recorded it,” read a statement issued by RCMP on Sunday.

“RCMP are asking for any witnesses or anyone with video footage to please attend the Yellowknife Detachment to assist with the investigation.”

The statement said a conducted energy weapon, commonly known as a Taser after one such brand, was used “while taking two males into custody.”

Though there are no immediately available statistics for the use of conducted energy weapons by RCMP in Yellowknife and the NWT, rarely has their use been mentioned in police news releases.

They are described on the RCMP’s national website as a “less lethal intervention option.”

Violent incidents on 50 Street are under significant scrutiny following building owners’ complaints that their lives are being made a misery by assaults, threats, and damage to property on the street.

This is Yellowknife RCMP’s third news release related to the street in the past week.

A briefing document for city councillors published this week suggested a third of the Yellowknife detachment’s 59 downtown patrols in March were dedicated to 50 Street’s sobering centre and day shelter and the surrounding area.

This Monday, at 12pm, councillors will discuss how RCMP and municipal enforcement should prioritize their resources in the city this coming year.