The former director of communications at the RCMP, who previously told the public inquiry that she did not regret the way communications were treated during the mass shootings in April 2020, testified to the possibility of improvement, reflecting on how long it took a tweet to copy the shooter’s cruiser.
Leah Scanlan was Civilian Director of the Strategic Communications Division for Mountains in Nova Scotia on 18 and 19 April 2020.
Scanlan told investigators from the Commission on Mass Victims in an interview last fall that she was “super proud” and after considering this in detail, “will not change anything” about the way her team shares information with the public.
The team sent a dozen tweets and posted similar information on Facebook during the 13-hour rampage, which saw an armed man in a replica of an RCMP cruiser kill 22 people, including Mountie and a pregnant woman.
Scanlan’s tone seemed more subdued, and at times she burst into tears as she answered questions from the commission’s adviser during a public hearing in Truro, NS, on Wednesday morning. The day before, one of her team members, now retired Corporal Jen Clark, testified about waiting almost half an hour for Scanlan’s approval to post the message.
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19. Top row left: Gina Gulet, Dawn Gulenchin, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchin, Sean McLeod, Alana Jenkins. Second row: John Hall, Lisa McCully, Joey Weber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from the top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joan Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom line: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corey Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Roger Burrell, a lawyer for the investigation, asked Scanlan about her thoughts on the director’s approval, which is delaying the tweets.
“I think we should try to do everything we can to reduce the delay of something, so I think it’s certainly an area that has gone back and we’ve looked critically at this incident in particular, there can be improvements,” he said. she. “The goal is timeliness and public safety is superior to everything else, so I feel that improvements can be made there.
The communication was a contentious point for the families of the victims, who expressed concerns about the choice of forces to transmit information exclusively via Twitter and Facebook, rather than through the provincial Alert Ready system.
They also talked about how long it took to inform the public that the shooter was driving the cruiser’s replica and wearing a police uniform.
Pending operational approval
Scanlan said she learned of a police operation in Portapique, NS, around 6 a.m. on April 19. For the next few hours, she worked from home and spoke to half a dozen senior officials about what was happening. She also tasked her team members with finding a place for a press conference and tweeting about the cruiser.
Sgt. Adi McCallum earlier told commission investigators that he sent Scanlan photos of the shooter and his vehicle shortly after 8 a.m. after he was tasked with working with her to issue a press release.
Clark eventually posted a photo of the cruiser on Twitter at 10:17 a.m. on April 19. During her testimony on Tuesday, she said she would not have done so without the green light from Scanlan.
Scanlan testified that she did not remember when she first saw the photo of the cruiser – only that she knew that investigators were checking to see if the shooter had used it. She also insisted that despite McCallum’s statements that he had spoken to her about what information could be “made”, she was not told to release the photo of the car and had instructions to tweet about the shooter, which she did in 8:54 in the morning
RCMP Nova Scotia tweets a photo of the shooter’s police cruiser replica at 10:17 a.m. on April 19, 2020 (RCMP Nova Scotia Twitter)
Beryl asked in case she had the photo of the cruiser at 8:10, why she didn’t share it on social media within minutes.
“At that point, my understanding was that the decision was not made promptly,” Scanlan said, adding that her understanding was that the command team was considering factors such as the risk to the officer’s safety.
“I didn’t make any assumptions – I wasn’t asked to send the photo.”
She also said she did not mention the cruiser when she spoke to the Chief of Staff. Chris Leder, head of criminal operations, and her plans to share information with the public.
Clark is assigned to tweet
She never explained in her testimony when she felt approved for the operation, but at 9:04 a.m. she appointed Cap. Jen Clark to create a tweet and get approval from MacCallum.
She said she did not see Clark’s email at 9:49 a.m. seeking Scanlan’s final approval because she was on her personal and work phone at the time and did not have an open email in front of her. She said it wasn’t until she called a conference call with her team about 20 minutes later that she read Clark’s two subsequent emails. She told her orally to publish it.
Scanlan agreed that this was an “absolute obstacle”, but said she did not expect Clark to seek her approval and missed the messages. She also said she could assess why Clark was seeking her final approval given the considerations.
RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clark testified about the delay in a Twitter message with a photo of a copy of the shooter’s police cruiser on Tuesday. Clark, who retired in April 2022, was a public information officer at the time of the mass shooting. (Andrew Vaughn / Canadian Press)
In principle, tweets should be approved when there are operational concerns about employee safety, public safety or the integrity of the investigation, she said.
“There are many calls for judgment; we are in a constant state of evaluation, “said Scanlan.
She also testified that “standard operating procedures” will prevent delays in sending future tweets.
Wiping away her tears, Scanlan asked for a moment’s calm and said, “If I could go back and these minutes go away, I would do anything.”
Later, during cross-examination, Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer representing the families of more than half of the victims, asked about the process of approving the tweet and whether it was “fair to say the money stops” with her.
“Yes,” Scanlan replied.
No explanations in previous interviews
Commission officials interviewed Scanlan in September 2021 and February 2022. Earlier, she offered no explanation for the delay in sending the cruiser’s tweets, other than attributing the delay to Clark in her second interview. At the time, Scanlan said he could not “really can’t talk” about why it took so long to approve.
In those interviews, Scanlan said she told her team on the morning of April 19 that speed was essential to getting information to the public.
“All the rules about Twitter are – they don’t matter right now. This is information inside, information outside, “she said.
Clark testified on Tuesday that the unwritten rules for approving messages in a large-scale incident were clear, and she was adamant that she could not send the tweet without Scanlan’s approval.
Commissioners Lean Fitch, Michael MacDonald, chairman, and Kim Stanton, left to right, watch Leah Scanlan, director of strategic communications for Nova Scotia’s RCMP, be questioned by Councilor Roger Burrell during the Commission’s Inquiry into Mass Victims of Mass Murder districts of Nova Scotia on 18/19 April 2020 in Truro, NS on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Gabriel Wortman, dressed as an RCMP officer and managing a copy of a police cruiser, killed 22 people. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Andrew Vaughn (Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press)
On Wednesday, McCulloch asked about inconsistencies between Scanlan’s previous statements about the investigation and her testimony.
Scanlan, who quit her job in January 2021, said the interview last fall was the first time she had returned and relived the morning of the shootings.
“I never looked at my notes, I never looked at emails, I didn’t remember completely,” Scanlan said.
She said she believed the RCMP “should learn from the incident.” Since then, Scanlan has returned to work in another role.
“Raw emotion” in earlier interviews
It was only after the second interview that she reviewed the schedule of her team’s actions and other people’s comments to the committee, she testified.
Before her testimony ended, the Ministry of Justice asked the commission if Scanlan could make a final comment.
Addressing the hearing room in Truro, NS, Scanlan said he wanted to apologize.
“I just want people to know that not a day goes by that I don’t wake up and think about the victims and their families and their children,” she said. “Know that the delivery or how I got into … my interviews were just a raw emotion and I didn’t even know where it would end.”
Police blocked the highway in Debert, NS on Sunday, April 19, 2020. Nine people were killed that day by a gunman wearing a police uniform and driving a fake RCMP cruiser. Last night, 13 people were killed. (Andrew Vaughn / Canadian Press)
In interviews with the commission, Scanlan reiterated concerns expressed by other managers, who said that broadcasting information about the cruiser’s reply through a warning would lead to vigilant justice.
“You will have more dead cops because it’s the village police,” she said. “People deal with nonsense on their own. So, you know, I got a member to call me and they were petrified to be on the road. They thought they were going to be killed because it was public that he was a police officer.
Asked if she was behind those comments on Wednesday, Scanlan said she did it because she imagined her grandfather.
“Rural area of Nova Scotia, hunter, access to weapons. I can tell you that he would probably do it, “she said before falling silent. She said that there was no anecdotal evidence, but she believed that the mentality …
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