RCMP say gun-related calls on the rise in Moncton area

MONCTON – Codiac RCMP say gun-related calls have gone up nearly 50 per cent so far this year.

“Since January of this year we’ve responded to 32 gun-related complaints where we actually saw a firearm or somebody else saw a firearm or an imitation thereof,” said Inspector Jamie George. “In comparison to the same period last year the first three months of last year we had 19 calls.”

On June 4th, 2014, three officers were killed and two others were wounded while responding to a gun-related call in Moncton. Inspector George says what happened that day continues to reverberate with residents and police officers.

“The events of June fourth 2014 have certainly raised a lot of awareness among the public in Moncton and certainly among the RCMP as well,” he said.

One of the latest calls happened in downtown Moncton on Sunday evening. Photographer Daniel St. Louis took pictures of the police response outside his studio.

“They sealed off the streets the best they could around here and the guns they pulled out were heavy-duty ones,” he said.

The call turned out to be firecrackers.

St. Louis says he understands the department’s caution, but admits seeing large numbers of police respond with heavy-duty weapons can be hard to watch.

“Once you have police presence and the whole buzz of all the cars going around and blocking off and guns coming out for sure and there’s an uneasiness for sure,” he said.

Psychologist Dr. Charles Emmrys says what’s happening is a normal reaction.

“What was dangerous in Moncton was a guy walking around with a gun so anything that even resembles that is going to be reacted to more strongly than before by the citizens of this city,” he said. “This can last for months even years and it’s a natural protection mechanism.”

But Dr. Emmrys says adjusting to the new normal can be difficult.

“There’s a cost to having a better-equipped police force in that the police officers are scarier,” he said. “It is more unusual it is more difficult to get used to.”