Bigger building in works for Kugluktuk RCMP

RCMP in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, can look forward to somewhat less cramped quarters for officers and detainees now that work has begun in full force on expanding the local detachment building.

Construction on an addition to the RCMP detachment building began last year but was delayed due to foundation issues. Work recommenced on April 27 and will continue until early August. It will add two holding cells, more office space and a secure prisoner bay.

The five officers who work in Kugluktuk, a hamlet of about 1,300 located 430 kilometres west of Cambridge Bay in western Nunavut, have been dealing with not enough office space and overcrowded detention cells in the current building, which was built in the 1980s.

Sgt. Chris Bewsher, who is in charge of the detachment, said officers once had to put up with 12 detainees in one of the detachment's two holding cells.

As women and men cannot stay in the same cell, and young offenders cannot be detained with adults, Bewsher said the two additional cells "will allow us the ability to have a cell suitable for every type of prisoner we bring into this facility," he said Thursday.

Bewsher said the detachment will also have, for the first time, a secure bay that will allow RCMP to drive prisoners inside a garage, where they can be walked into a cell safely and privately. In the past, officers have had to lift intoxicated prisoners up the detachment's stairs, he said.

"We are looking forward to having the extra space at the building, and that's because Kugluktuk detachment has one of the largest prisoner counts in the Nunavut territory," Bewsher said.

"As well, we have a very large youth court docket, one of the largest in the territory, so we need the extra space to facilitate the prisoners that we bring into our facility."

Kugluktuk Mayor Derrick Power said the detachment expansion will make it easier for both detainees and the RCMP, but he would like even more cells in the building.

A new detachment building was promised four years ago, but that project was delayed a year later by a capital spending freeze at the RCMP.