Speaking to reporters on Friday, Cpl. Jolie Garland said that “the officers’s heads and hearts were in the right place”. “The police had information that a 17-year-old girl was in danger and possibly in danger. If our police had been removed and located inside this house – which was suffering from our carelessness or inaction – I think we would have had a very different conversation. “Right now,” Garland said. Cortney Pike, the owner of the house in western Newfoundland, says she woke up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday to find two RCMP officers at her home. They had entered the house without permission and entered her 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom, throwing a light at her face and asking her about a missing 17-year-old. The missing girl was not inside the house and Pike has repeatedly said he does not know her. She says no one lives in her house except her, her partner and her three children. “This girl has never been to my house. We do not know who she is. Our children are 13 and 11 and nine. They do not even know who she is,” Pike said in a telephone interview after a news conference on Friday. “I have never seen this girl in my whole life.” Garland said the RCMP senior administration had carried out a “detailed review” of the search for the missing 17-year-old and found that police had done nothing wrong by entering the house without permission. However, he said the RCMP did not interview or speak to the family living at home as part of this review.
The RCMP believed that the missing girl was inside the house: Garland
Garland said the RCMP believed the 17-year-old girl was inside the house based on information provided by her caregiver. “The complainant said the young man was picked up in front of this house earlier on Saturday and was known to have frequented this particular house,” Garland said. Garland said the two officers went home at 4:38 a.m. based on an address given by the complainant, as well as a description of the house and the vehicle parked on the road. “Based on all the information provided, police officers went to the house, knocked on doors and windows, shouted, identifying themselves as police officers and shouting the name of the missing young man,” he said. Pike has repeatedly denied the allegations, and did so again on Friday. “My answer to that is that it is a lie,” Pike said. “I’m a mom. I hear everything. The moment my baby was born, I did not sleep all night. I hear every little noise. There is no way people in the world would knock on my door.” Garland said police spent about 40 minutes trying to alert residents to their presence before opening an unlocked door, where they knocked on an adjoining oil furnace for 15 minutes. Cortney Pike stands in the doorway of her home, where she says two RCMP officers entered unannounced around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. (Troy Turner / CBC) Garland said police raided the missing girl’s cell phone and although the ping indicated the girl was in the area, it did not specifically show the house. However, after consulting with a senior officer, police decided to enter anyway, Garland said. “The officer’s concerns for the safety of the young people were growing at the moment, with no response from inside the house,” he said. Police first entered Pike’s 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom, interrogating her without permission before her parents woke up. “Police asked the child his name and asked if he knew or saw the missing teenager. Police then asked if anyone else was in the house and turned to adults who were said to be upstairs,” Garland said. Pike said she first realized there were strangers in her home when she heard voices in the hallway outside her bedroom. Pike said she spoke to police, but made no attempt to search the rest of the house. “As soon as the police found out that the house and its occupants were not related to the missing young man, they apologized for the inconvenience and left the house at around 6 in the morning,” Garland said.
“I’re not going to let go of this”: Pike
Police officers are allowed to enter a home without permission in certain “necessary circumstances” – such as if they have a reasonable belief that a person is in immediate or serious danger. According to Garland, police entered the home because they were seriously concerned that the missing 17-year-old was in danger – although Garland was unable to say what the danger was. “I do not have the specific level of damage other than what was reported to the RCMP by the complainant, it was that the young man expressed concerns that he wanted to return home,” he said. “There were concerns about her safety at the time.” Pike said she was “hurt” after attending the RCMP press conference on Friday and did not understand why a complainant would give police a description of her home. “I’m not going to let that go. I feel like we’ve been targeted for some reason. I do not understand what is happening,” he said. Garland said the RCMP had not received a formal complaint about the incident, although Pike insisted it had filed an online complaint. “Everyone can agree that this could be a very worrying situation for the occupants of this house. We sincerely apologize for, you know, the disturbance, any of the effects it has had on them,” Garland said.
The burden of the police to explain the incident: PC opposition
Earlier Friday, Progressive Conservative justice critic Ellen Conway Ottenheimer said the incident was worrying. “The police have their weight. If they really had the power to enter the house as they did, we need to understand what circumstances justified it,” he said. Helen Conway Ottenheimer, a critic of Progressive Conservative Justice, said the incident was worrying. (Mark Quinn / CBC) Conway Ottenheimer noted that both police and residents were killed or injured during other incidents where police officers entered a house without permission. He called on Justice Minister John Hogan to ensure that police fully explain what happened. In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said the RCMP was holding a press conference. “It is inappropriate for the Minister of Justice and Public Security to comment on an issue like this,” the spokesman said in a statement. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
title: “Officers Who Entered Mount Moriah S Home Without Permission Did Nothing Wrong Says Rcmp Spokesman " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-06” author: “Crystal Alvarez”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Cpl. Jolie Garland said that “the officers’s heads and hearts were in the right place”. “The police had information that a 17-year-old girl was in danger and possibly in danger. If our police had been removed and located inside this house – which was suffering from our carelessness or inaction – I think we would have had a very different conversation. “Right now,” Garland said. Cortney Pike, the owner of the house in western Newfoundland, says she woke up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday to find two RCMP officers at her home. They had entered the house without permission and entered her 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom, throwing a light at her face and asking her about a missing 17-year-old. The missing girl was not inside the house and Pike has repeatedly said he does not know her. She says no one lives in her house except her, her partner and her three children. “This girl has never been to my house. We do not know who she is. Our children are 13 and 11 and nine. They do not even know who she is,” Pike said in a telephone interview after a news conference on Friday. “I have never seen this girl in my whole life.” Garland said the RCMP senior administration had carried out a “detailed review” of the search for the missing 17-year-old and found that police had done nothing wrong by entering the house without permission. However, he said the RCMP did not interview or speak to the family living at home as part of this review.
The RCMP believed that the missing girl was inside the house: Garland
Garland said the RCMP believed the 17-year-old girl was inside the house based on information provided by her caregiver. “The complainant said the young man was picked up in front of this house earlier on Saturday and was known to have frequented this particular house,” Garland said. Garland said the two officers went home at 4:38 a.m. based on an address given by the complainant, as well as a description of the house and the vehicle parked on the road. “Based on all the information provided, police officers went to the house, knocked on doors and windows, shouted, identifying themselves as police officers and shouting the name of the missing young man,” he said. Pike has repeatedly denied the allegations, and did so again on Friday. “My answer to that is that it is a lie,” Pike said. “I’m a mom. I hear everything. The moment my baby was born, I did not sleep all night. I hear every little noise. There is no way people in the world would knock on my door.” Garland said police spent about 40 minutes trying to alert residents to their presence before opening an unlocked door, where they knocked on an adjoining oil furnace for 15 minutes. Cortney Pike stands in the doorway of her home, where she says two RCMP officers entered unannounced around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. (Troy Turner / CBC) Garland said police raided the missing girl’s cell phone and although the ping indicated the girl was in the area, it did not specifically show the house. However, after consulting with a senior officer, police decided to enter anyway, Garland said. “The officer’s concerns for the safety of the young people were growing at the moment, with no response from inside the house,” he said. Police first entered Pike’s 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom, interrogating her without permission before her parents woke up. “Police asked the child his name and asked if he knew or saw the missing teenager. Police then asked if anyone else was in the house and turned to adults who were said to be upstairs,” Garland said. Pike said she first realized there were strangers in her home when she heard voices in the hallway outside her bedroom. Pike said she spoke to police, but made no attempt to search the rest of the house. “As soon as the police found out that the house and its occupants were not related to the missing young man, they apologized for the inconvenience and left the house at around 6 in the morning,” Garland said.
“I’re not going to let go of this”: Pike
Police officers are allowed to enter a home without permission in certain “necessary circumstances” – such as if they have a reasonable belief that a person is in immediate or serious danger. According to Garland, police entered the home because they were seriously concerned that the missing 17-year-old was in danger – although Garland was unable to say what the danger was. “I do not have the specific level of damage other than what was reported to the RCMP by the complainant, it was that the young man expressed concerns that he wanted to return home,” he said. “There were concerns about her safety at the time.” Pike said she was “hurt” after attending the RCMP press conference on Friday and did not understand why a complainant would give police a description of her home. “I’m not going to let that go. I feel like we’ve been targeted for some reason. I do not understand what is happening,” he said. Garland said the RCMP had not received a formal complaint about the incident, although Pike insisted it had filed an online complaint. “Everyone can agree that this could be a very worrying situation for the occupants of this house. We sincerely apologize for, you know, the disturbance, any of the effects it has had on them,” Garland said.
The burden of the police to explain the incident: PC opposition
Earlier Friday, Progressive Conservative justice critic Ellen Conway Ottenheimer said the incident was worrying. “The police have their weight. If they really had the power to enter the house as they did, we need to understand what circumstances justified it,” he said. Helen Conway Ottenheimer, a critic of Progressive Conservative Justice, said the incident was worrying. (Mark Quinn / CBC) Conway Ottenheimer noted that both police and residents were killed or injured during other incidents where police officers entered a house without permission. He called on Justice Minister John Hogan to ensure that police fully explain what happened. In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said the RCMP was holding a press conference. “It is inappropriate for the Minister of Justice and Public Security to comment on an issue like this,” the spokesman said in a statement. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
