New RCMP foot patrol launches this summer in Iqaluit – Nunatsiaq.com

July 16, 2018

“Opening lines of communication will empower them to take back a bit of ownership”

This week, RCMP boots hit the dirt in Iqaluit to begin a new summer foot patrol.

Staff-Sgt. Garfield Elliott walked along Federal Rd., up Queen Elizabeth, on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 11, stoppingat businesses along the way and introducing himself to passersby.

According to Elliott, the idea behind this approach is to increase police visibility in Iqaluit, improve trust in the community and help create a variation of a neighbourhood watch program in which citizens can feel more comfortable and safe contacting police when in need help or when others are in distress or danger.

Elliott suggested the idea at the June 26 city council meeting, when he presented an RCMP report about crime statistics for the first half of 2018.