Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Chief Peter Beatty says cooler heads need to prevail in the wake of two videos that were taken of arrests in Pelican Narrows on the weekend.
The videos show the same officer in two separate incidents with gun drawn and shouting profanities at suspects.
The videos have since gone viral on social media and the officer has been removed from the community and reassigned to non-frontline duties as the RCMP investigates.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is calling for the officer to be terminated and charges laid.
However, Beatty says although he is as disturbed as anyone else by the officer’s behaviour in the videos, due process needs to take its course.
“We can base our decisions just on that 10-second clip and say fire the guy, get them out of the force,” he says. “I mean that’s the knee jerk reaction to it.”
The PBCN Chief says overall the situation highlights what appears to be a need for greater cultural sensitivity training and experience for officers serving in northern Saskatchewan where policing can be complex.
“This is a new officer, I think just out of depot in Regina, and we kind of mentioned to them (RCMP) that when we send officers into these situations, young men, they’re asked to deal with certain situations that even an experienced officer would have difficulty dealing with.”
The RCMP says the officer was responding to calls involving weapons in both incidents.
In one of the incidents, a machete was seized.
Mounties also say the officer responded to a third incident involving a weapon on Sunday morning which is also under review.
Since the videos surfaced, officers have met with both community members and officials from the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation.
(PHOTO: Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Chief Peter Beatty. File photo.)