Local Mounties’ Career Damaged by Drinking Incident

WebPosted Jan 21 2005 06:06 PM CST

CBC News

WHITEHORSE - An RCMP officer stationed in Dawson City has been convicted for being drunk and abusive in public.

Forty-four year old Const. Peter Mitchell was handed a conditional sentence in territorial court on January 21.

Mitchell was off-duty on the territory's Discovery Day holiday weekend in August 2004 and had been drinking heavily at Gerties', the local casino.

Mitchell was so drunk he remembers nothing about a drunken argument on the street that saw him push a woman into a vehicle.

She wasn't hurt, but Dawson police who broke up the altercation had to get rough with Mitchell just to get him home safely.

That's posed an awkward situation for Crown authorities and everyone involved.

Had Mitchell not been a police officer, he would have likely been forced to sleep it off in the drunk tank, and released the next day with no charges.

Instead RCMP laid four charges, and the Crown hired an independent prosecutor to try the case.

In court Friday morning Mitchell nodded when Judge Heino Lilles suggested the incident was a gross embarrassment for himself, and the RCMP. It also carries career-limiting implications for him within the RCMP.

Court was told Mitchell has been confined to desk duties and inevitably faces a transfer out of the jurisdiction.

Judge Lilles added a three-month conditional sentence that calls for him to take an alcohol treatment program and make a $500 donation to the Dawson women's shelter.

Dawson RCMP Looking to Curb Public Urination

by Dan Davidson

The RCMP are suggesting that something needs to be done to draw the attention of certain Dawsonites to the fact that a fairly common practice of relieving themselves in the streets is neither proper nor healthy.

To this end, Sgt. Tim Ashmore and Cst Ryan Hack have written to the Trustee and the Advisory Council requesting the creation of a new bylaw to address a problem which they say is growing in frequency.

“The letter was written to see if we could interest the city in creating a bylaw,” said Ashmore, “so that we could issue a fine for anyone we caught doing it.”

Ashmore said the initiative came from Cst. Hack, but he cosigned the letter.

Hack’s letter to the committee notes that the problem has been “noticed with increasing frequency in the streets of Dawson City especially after, but not limited to, bar closing hours.”

He sees at least two problems with the situation.

“This is a health risk and I also need to wonder what kind of message this sends to the large number of tourists that frequent Dawson each summer.”

Ashmore sees a drinking connection, even though the problem does not just occur on the streets that have bars.

“When you get people who are intoxicated and they’re on the street, they’ll feel the need and they’ll just do it.”

He wouldn’t like to see visitors leaving town with the image of someone “taking a whiz” off the dyke as their memory of Dawson City.

The letter suggests a fine in the range of $50 to $100 dollars. The matter will be on the agenda for the next committee meeting.

Moore to be New CAO

by Dan Davidson

Dawson City will have a new town manager as of March 1. Paul Moore, currently working for the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in as the manager of their human resources and education department, has agreed to take on the job.

Moore was selected from among a group of five applicants interviewed during January by trustee Ray Hayes and his town manager, David Skidd.

While Dawson has not had a locally hired chief administrative officer since the late 1980s, Hayes, Skidd, and the advisory group agreed that it would be a good thing to keep the competition local this time. There were savings to

Paul Moore will be wrapping up his duties with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in over the next month and getting ready to become Dawson’s new chief administrative officer. Photo by Dan Davidson.

be realized in terms of relocation and housing costs, as well as the benefits of hiring someone who already knew the town.

Moore has been with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in for the last three years.

“There are similarities,” he said in an interview on January 21. “I’ve been managing a whole department and all the staff issues. I’ve been managing for a while now in other positions too.

“It’s obvious there’ll be nuances and some new job duties, but for the most part it’s things I’ve go experience with.”

Moore’s managerial experience comes from both the public and private sector. Here, he has been working with a first nation; previously he managed a business in the south.

CAOs in Dawson have tended to last three to four years in the job over the last 20 years, but most have moved here from elsewhere and some had clear hopes of using this position as a stepping stone to bigger things.

That’s not the case for Moore, who moved here with his family to take the job with the TH, and says he considers Dawson his home even though he actually lives in Henderson Corner.

“I really think I can bring something as being part of the community; that’ll bring something that has been missing, maybe.”

Moore is not noted for having taken public opinions on any of the issues that have plagued Dawson in recent years, and he hopes his unbiased reputation will also be an asset.

“I have an investment here and I want to make sure that I can contribute to this place getting stronger and better.”

Moore will take office before an election for a new council can be scheduled. Trustee Ray Hayes has indicated that the most likely date for that is sometime in April, with the writ being dropped by February 24. Moore doesn’t want to speculate too much about what his priorities in office will be prior to the changes taking place.

“I’ve got lots to learn, lots of research to do, just about the details. My challenge that I have set myself is just to try to create some confidence in municipal government, try to create a sense that we can move forward and work as a community together.

“I don’t have a good picture yet, so I can’t say this is what we’re going to do: A, B, C. I want to working on the attitude and get municipal government working.”

Moore is aware that he’s likely to be in the spotlight as Dawson moves towards a restoration of democracy, and that public scrutiny of both hired and elected officials is going to be extreme for the rest of this municipal term, at least.

“I think we want something to work there. We need something to work there. If I can contribute there - well, I think I can. I’m gong to give it my best shot.”

The next round of regular municipal elections will take place in October of 2006. The slate elected in 2003, was removed the next April, after barely six months in office due to financial difficulties which are still being investigated by a territorially hired auditor.