Statement regarding incident with Sûreté du Québec on Territory

10/01/2014

Forwarded on behalf of the Kahnawake Peacekeepers

The Kahnawake Peacekeepers would like to inform the community of an incident that occurred this morning in which the Sûreté du Quebec stopped a local on the Territory in contravention of existing protocols.

At approximately 9:50am the Peacekeepers received a call from a local man who advised them that he had been pulled over on Highway 132, clearly within Kahnawà:ke. One of the officers had his gun drawn.

The Peacekeepers responded immediately and were on scene within minutes. Chief Peacekeeper Dwayne Zacharie and Assistant Chief Jody Diabo were among those who responded.
Chief Zacharie is meeting at this time with the Sûreté du Quebec liaison to address the incident.
Normally, the Sûreté du Quebec will immediately inform the Peacekeepers in cases where they enter the Territory for reasons other than routine passage. In this case the Peacekeepers did not receive any notice except for the phone call from the local man.

“We have been informed that it was the first day on the job for the officer involved,” said Chief Zacharie. “He was, however, working with a veteran officer, so this incident is problematic for us. We’d like to assure the community that we are immediately addressing this at the highest level possible, as public safety is paramount. We are working  to ensure that this type of situation does not occur again within our Territory.”