In an emergency alert, police put out information about two men but later took it back
The former privacy commissioner for Ontario says provincial police need to take responsibility for giving out private information about two men during a manhunt in eastern Ontario last month, only to take it back after a third person was arrested.
On February 10, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) sent out an emergency alert for Lanark County and the nearby Sharbot Lake area, saying that they were looking for two armed suspects who were still on the loose.
People were told to stay in their homes, lock their doors and windows, and call 911 if they saw anyone acting strange.
Police also posted the names, birth dates, photos, and descriptions of two men who were said to be carrying handguns near an arena in Beckwith Township on their social media accounts, on the provincial Alert Ready website, and in a news release.
Ann Cavoukian, who was Ontario’s privacy commissioner for three terms, said, “All of a sudden, these two people are guilty in the public’s mind.” She is in charge of the Global Privacy and Security by Design Center right now.
“It can cause a lot of harm to innocent people.”
After a few hours, the information was taken down without much explanation. Later that day, the OPP said that earlier that day, they had arrested a different man on charges related to a stolen vehicle.
In a news release four days later, police gave only a few details about what led to the emergency alert and why it was later taken down.
The release said, “These men both have a history of violence and have been convicted of multiple crimes,” and it suggested that, even though the alert was no longer valid, both men still had arrest warrants out for them.
“Even though they had nothing to do with the crime in question, it was still a mistake to release their names and pictures with that information.” “So I think they should have at least said that,” said Cavoukian.
Police say that both men have been taken into custody since the emergency alert. CBC asked their lawyer for a comment but did not get a reply in time for the story to be published.
Cavoukian suggested that the police might be trying to send out emergency alerts more quickly after the RCMP in Nova Scotia received a lot of criticism during the Mass Casualty Commission.
The Commission is looking into what the police did when a man dressed as a Mountie went on a 13-hour killing spree in Portapique, N.S., in April 2020, killing 22 people.
“When you accuse someone of a certain crime, you have to be very serious about having proof that they were involved in that crime, not crimes they may have committed in the past,” she said.
Police also confuse
After a few weeks, the OPP is giving a slightly clearer picture of what happened that Friday after a man in a stolen car was caught.
Bill Dickson, a police spokesman, said that the two people who were thought to be “armed with a handgun in the Carleton Place area” were found after the third suspect was caught.
Dickson said of the men who were named, “We didn’t know where they might be going or what their plans might be.”
Dickson said that at that point, a critical incident commander—a higher-ranking officer trained to handle armed situations—on the ground would have decided to send out an emergency alert after consulting with the OPP’s provincial operations center in Orillia.
“When we think someone is out there with weapons and could be a threat to public safety, we need to tell the public as much as we can,” Dickson said.
Not long after the alert went out, Dickson said, officers found out they had been given false information.
“We, too, were lost. So many things were going on, “he said.
Dickson didn’t apologize to the two men even though he should have.
“Both of them were wanted on warrants for violent crimes that were not related to each other. They had both done bad things in the past, and we wanted to get them arrested,” “he said.
A public warning specialist says that every minute counts
Tim Trytten, who used to run the Alberta Emergency Alert program and is an expert on public warnings and communications, said that police have to make a hard choice about whether or not to alert the public.
Officials could wait until they are 100% sure about a suspect, but then they would be late, or they could move quickly and be wrong. In the end, he said, every minute counts.
I always find it easier to say I’m sorry when I’ve done something wrong.Tim Trytten, an expert on public warnings
Trytten, who testified before the Mass Casualty Commission last year, said, “I always find it easier to apologize for being wrong than to be able to say to the family, “Well, I’m sorry we knew, but we didn’t say anything.”
He said he doesn’t think the alert was sent out without thinking, but there are always ways to get better.
“The price of being wrong… could be very high.” “So you should always err on the safe side,” he said.
“It’s annoying to get a message, but it would be much worse if something bad happened.”