The two officers, who entered a home on Mount Moriah without permission early Sunday morning, were acting within their authority, an RCMP spokesman told a news conference Friday afternoon.
While talking to reporters on Friday, Capt. Jolene Garland said “the heads and hearts of the officers were in the right place.”
“The police had information that a 17-year-old girl was at risk and probably in danger. If our cops had moved away and she was inside this house – suffering damage due to our carelessness or inaction – I think we would be there at the moment there is a very different conversation, “Garland said.
Courtney Pike, owner of the western home of Newfoundland, says she woke up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning to find two RCMP staff at her home. They had entered the house without permission and entered her 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom, illuminating her face and questioning her about a missing 17-year-old girl.
The missing girl was not at home, and Pike has repeatedly said she does not know her. She says no one lives in her home except her, her partner and three children.
“This girl has never been to my house. We don’t know who she is. Our children are 13, 11 and 9 years old. They don’t even know who she is,” Pike said in a telephone interview after Friday’s press conference. “I’ve never seen this girl in my entire life.”
Garland said the RCMP’s top management conducted a “detailed review” of the 17-year-old’s investigation and found that officers had done nothing wrong by entering the home without permission. However, she said the RCMP did not interview or talk to the family living in the home as part of this review.
The RCMP believed the missing girl was at home: Garland
Garland said the RCMP believes the 17-year-old is at home based on information provided by her caregiver.
“The applicant said that the young man had been taken to this apartment earlier on Saturday and that he was known to be visiting this particular home,” Garland said.
Garland said that the two officers went to the home at 4:38 in the morning on the basis of the address provided by the applicant, as well as a description of the home and the vehicle parked on the alley.
“Based on all the information that was provided, the officers attended the residence, knocked on doors and windows, shouted, identifying themselves as police officers and calling out the name of the missing young man,” she said.
Pike repeatedly dismissed the claim and made it again on Friday.
“My answer to that is a lie,” Pike said.
“I’m a mother. I hear everything. The moment my baby was born, I never slept through the night again. I hear every little noise. There’s no way the world can knock on my door.”
Garland said officers spent about 40 minutes trying to warn residents of the home of their presence before opening an unlocked door where they crashed into a nearby oil furnace for 15 minutes.
Courtney Pike is standing in the doorway of her home, where she says two RCMP officers entered without warning around 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning. (Troy Turner / CBC)
Garland said officers sent a ping to the missing girl’s cell phone, and although the ping showed the girl was in the area, he did not specifically point to the house. However, after consulting with a senior officer, police still decided to enter, Garland said.
“The police officer’s concerns about the safety of young people are growing at this time, with no response from inside the home,” she said.
Police first entered the bedroom belonging to Pike’s 11-year-old daughter, questioning her without permission before her parents woke up.
“Officers asked the child her name and asked if he knew or saw the missing teenager. Police then asked if anyone else was in the home and targeted adults who are said to be upstairs at the residence, Garland said.
Pike said she first realized she had strangers in her home when she heard voices in the hallway in front of her bedroom. Pike said she spoke to police, but they made no attempt to search the rest of the house.
“After police found that the home and its residents were not connected to the missing young man, they apologized for the inconvenience and left the home around 6 a.m.,” Garland said.
I Won’t Let This Go: Pike
Police officers are allowed to enter a home without permission in certain “urgent circumstances” – such as if they have a reasonable belief that a person is in imminent or serious danger.
According to Garland, the officers entered the home because they had serious fears that the missing 17-year-old boy was in danger – although Garland was unable to say what the danger was.
“I do not have a specific level of harm, other than what was reported to the RCMP by the complainant was that the young man expressed concern that he wanted to return home,” she said. “There were concerns about her safety at the time.”
Pike said she was “hanged” after watching the RCMP press conference on Friday, and did not understand why the complainant would give police a description of her home.
“I will not miss this. I absolutely feel as if we have been targeted for some reason. I do not understand what is happening,” she said.
Garland said the RCMP had not received a formal complaint about the incident, although Pike insisted she had filed one online.
“Everyone can agree that this can be a very worrying situation for the occupants of this home. We sincerely apologize for, you know, the interruption, any of the impact it has had on them,” Garland said.
Obligation of the police to explain the incident: PC opposition
Earlier on Friday, progressive justice critic Helen Conway Otenheimer said the incident was worrying.
“The police are carrying the burden on them. “If they really had the authority to enter the home, as they did, we need to understand what circumstances justified that,” she said.
Helen Conway Otenheimer, a critic of Progressive Conservative Justice, said the incident was worrying. (Mark Quinn / CBC)
Conway Otenheimer noted that both police and residents were killed or injured in other incidents in which officers entered the home without permission. She called on Justice Minister John Hogan to ensure that police fully explain what happened.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice noted that the RCMP was holding a press conference.
“It is inappropriate for the Minister of Justice and Public Safety to comment on an issue like this,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
Add Comment