The public inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting debated police paraphernalia and impersonation during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Experts including former police members and researchers participated in the roundtable discussion as part of the inquiry’s work to examine the April 2020 tragedy.
On April 18th and 19th, the gunman killed 22 Nova Scotians while disguised as a Mountie driving a mock cruiser.
The roundtable members include Phil Bailey, Brian Carter, Julia Cecchetto, Meaghan Daniel, and Ian Loader.
They discussed many topics including retired officers keeping their gear along with stiffer penalties for those who impersonate law enforcement members.
Retired officer Phil Bailey collects police paraphernalia, like badges and crests from Atlantic Canada.
“Bottom line you want to be a police officer, or peace officer, you go through the academy like the rest of us and you earn your badge,” Bailey says. “However, the penalties that we see coming out of impersonations are so trivial that’s something that needs to be addressed.”
Julia Cecchetto is the former Chief of Kentville Municipal Police Service and the former Chair of Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police.
Cecchetto says she never needed anything more than a paycheck to honour her service.
However, she explains she wants to keep her uniform so she can pay tribute to other officers if they die in the line of service.
Cecchetto says if asked by her own family member, she would not release her uniform.
“I don’t see the harm in allowing older, retired members to keep their uniform as long as it comes with some structure,” Cecchetto says. “And having some rules about who gets to keep it. You know if someone leaves the police force, not of their own choice, they obviously should not get to keep it. So some structure around that and some structure about collecting it back on the death of the member … I am the mother of two daughters. If this was one of my daughters I would say ‘no’ and that’s the truth.”
Meantime, Brian Carter, who represents RCMP Veterans Nova Scotia, says we all perceive a uniform differently.
“Yes, we have pride in our uniform,” Carter says. “But I also clearly understand that there are groups in society that see it in a very different light. I clearly understand that and respect that.”
The Commission is not scheduled to meet again until Monday when the proceedings will focus on how the gunman accessed his firearms.
An interim report is set to be released to government over the weekend.
