Brenda Lucki vows ‘change’ after RCMP N.S. shooting response: ‘You have my commitment’ 

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is vowing to “change the longer term” inside the RCMP after intense scrutiny over its response to the most important mass taking pictures in Canadian historical past.

She made the promise whereas testifying on the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Fee, an unbiased public inquiry tasked with offering suggestions after a gunman, driving a reproduction police automobile, killed 22 individuals in a 13-hour rampage in April 2020.

“I can’t undo the previous, however I absolutely can change the longer term,” Lucki advised one of many attorneys representing households of the victims.

“You’ve got my dedication.”

Lucki’s remark was in response to questions from Josh Bryson, the lawyer representing the household of Portapique victims Peter and Pleasure Bond, about what the RCMP intends to implement to keep away from repeating the errors that introduced them beneath hearth in the course of the 2020 mass taking pictures — together with a failure to safe the crime scene for 18 hours and 45 minutes.

The RCMP commissioner testified earlier than the fee Wednesday for the second day in a row, the place she’s confronted questions concerning the RCMP’s controversial response to the mass casualty.

The Nova Scotia RCMP has come beneath hearth for plenty of selections made in the course of the taking pictures, together with failing to instantly specify that there was an lively shooter when the pressure warned residents in Portapique in a tweet that they’d obtained a “firearms grievance” and folks ought to keep inside.

Regardless of a collection of 911 calls and eyewitness accounts that night time, the RCMP additionally failed to tell the general public that the perpetrator was driving a reproduction police cruiser till the next day.

Members of the N.S. RCMP have additionally criticized Lucki, alleging that she pressured them to launch firearms data within the wake of the taking pictures — and that the push was politically motivated on account of looming Liberal firearm laws.

Each Lucki and then-public security minister Invoice Blair have denied the allegation.

In the meantime, Lucki pledged on Wednesday to not wait till the conclusion of the inquiry to start implementing institutional modifications inside the RCMP.

“I’ve individuals which can be going to take notes of my testimony. Once I say you’ve gotten my dedication, I do know they’re penning this down. They’re going to be tasking it,” she advised Bryson.

“It’s superb for one thing to occur, perhaps as soon as, however when it begins repeating itself, there’s one thing basically incorrect.”

When pressed for particulars about what concrete modifications are already within the means of being made on points like coaching, Lucki stated they’re “not but” applied.

“I’m a giant believer that the belongings you measure get achieved,” she stated, including that the suggestions and implementation might be “tracked.”

One of many concepts Lucki floated was having an analyst obtainable throughout main incidents the place a lot of data — a few of it conflicting — is flowing in.

“How do you cope with huge quantities of knowledge? Often, in an occasion, there’s not a number of crime scenes,” Lucki defined.

“I can’t think about how they’d cope with … all of this data coming in. Even telecoms could be segregated.”

She stated analysts “are skilled to cope with huge quantities of knowledge and work by way of it.”

Lucki’s testimony earlier than the committee is scheduled to proceed till 3:30 p.m. ET.