Peacekeepers confirm identity of police vessel

04/20/2012

The Kahnawake Peacekeepers have confirmed that the Zodiac-type vessel witnessed in the Seaway earlier this week was operated by the RCMP.

The small vessel, manned by armed officers in tactical gear, was seen and photographed by local residents on Tuesday, April 17 just before noon.

"This incident is an unacceptable breach of the Policing Protocol we have with outside law enforcement agencies," said Peacekeeper Chief Dwayne Zacharie. "The Peacekeepers will be immediately addressing this issue with the RCMP to ensure that our protocol is respected to prevent this type of unfortunate incident from happening again."

While the RCMP confirm that they were in the Seaway testing their new vessel, they have informed the Peacekeepers that they were not aware that they had entered Kahnawake′s territorial waters.

"We′d like to thank community members for their diligence in this matter and would like to remind everyone that they should contact us immediately should they witness any such incursions in order for us to deal with the issue immediately," said Zacharie.