Police in the Northwest Territories say they’ll adopt a new approach to publicly identifying the people they charge with crimes.
In most instances, newsrooms in the North learn of crimes – and subsequent arrests – through news releases issued by the RCMP.
While it’s possible to match the details of news releases to court records that are later produced, and some newsrooms have their own policies, the practice of whether RCMP name people or not tends to have a significant impact on whether reporters do the same.
In a Wednesday news release, RCMP said they would scale back a policy only recently introduced of naming anyone charged with a criminal offence when a press release is issued.
Instead, police will now only name people charged if the offences involve drug trafficking, organized crime, violent offences connected to organized crime, or “acts of violence that pose potential risks to the public.”
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Police said RCMP senior management had reviewed the policy of naming all persons charged when issuing press releases – a policy introduced in October – and concluded it didn’t work in the North.
“The intent was to have a standardized and equally applied policy for the naming of accused persons that could be consistently applied. The names of people who are charged is public record and this information is accessible to everyone on the NWT court dockets. The policy also brought the NT RCMP in line with other RCMP divisions,” Wednesday’s news release stated.
But RCMP have now decided that approach “did not take into account the unique community dynamics and situations that sometimes arise when naming charged persons in the media.”
“After a review,” the news release continued, “a new policy was created that provides a clear nexus” – or connection – “between the naming of accused persons and public safety.”
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The implication of the policy is that persons charged with other forms of crime not listed above will no longer be named in press releases.
The statement concluded: “The RCMP will continue to work with media to ensure that reporters are able to get the confirmations and details they need to write their stories.”
An RCMP spokesperson clarified to Cabin Radio that charges related to offences of a sexual nature – a child-luring charge publicized earlier this week being an example – would ordinarily meet the new criteria for an accused person being named.
