Alleged vigilantism on Deer Island 'done out of desperation,' says local MLA

Conrad Cline says he’s one of several residents on Deer Island, N.B. who’ve recently had something stolen.

“People in general are just fed up,” says Cline.

A fuel tank, some fuel, and other supplies were recently taken from Cline’s rescue boat.

“I have it all identified and ready to do search and rescues,” says Cline, who’s been a volunteer with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary for over 30 years.

“When people go aboard a rescue boat, which is all identified as that, and steal the gasoline tank and the gas, they have no regard for human life, neither theirs nor anybody else’s.”

The RCMP says it’s looking for tips about incidents late Tuesday and early Wednesday on Deer Island, while also telling residents not to take policing matters “into their own hands.” 

The RCMP won’t elaborate on suggestions of vigilantism being connected to the incidents, which include a suspicious structure fire and one damaged vehicle. There were no reported injuries.

PC MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason says residents on Deer Island, Grand Manan, and Campobello Island have been voicing concerns about “ongoing criminal activity” for years.

“But it has really escalated in the last several months,” says Anderson-Mason. “Obviously individuals on the island felt they needed to intervene because they were not getting the response from public safety they were looking for.”

“But then the fear becomes that it is those individuals who will be punished, as opposed to those who have been engaged in ongoing criminal activity for such an extensive period of time.”

'PEOPLE HAVE EACH OTHER’S BACK'

Cline says frustration amongst Deer Island residents has been building to a “boiling point.”

“It’s sad that it had to come to this,” says Cline, who made note of the RCMP’s earlier confirmation that no officers stationed Tuesday night on the island.

Cline says Deer Island had a much more visible police presence when the RCMP had a Deer Island detachment. The closest RCMP is now located in St. George.

“If the higher ups in the police thought there wasn’t enough going on in Deer Island to warrant having police officers here, maybe the reason there wasn’t so much going on was because there were law officers here,” says Cline.

Anderson-Mason says residents are ‘keeping it very quiet’ when sharing any specific details about what happened late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

“It’s a very tight knit community,” says Anderson-Mason. “People have each other’s back.”

“I don’t think that this was done with ill intent, but it was truly done out of desperation. These are some of the kindest, nicest people you’re ever going to meet. They’re the kind of people who take care of their neighbours, because that’s what islanders do. And I think the actions you saw in the last few days are the exception, and truly done out of desperation.”

New Brunswick RCMP said it had no new information about its investigation, nor staffing concerns on Thursday.

Retired RCMP officer Sherry Benson-Podolchuck says the common knowledge of police staffing in remote areas, such as an island, is a problem across Canada. 

“Not having a police detachment or regular visits certainly gives people the advantage of doing whatever they want, free from any kind of immediate repercussion,” says Benson, in an interview from Manitoba.

Podolchuck says immediate steps need to be taken on Deer Island “to re-establish a sense of safety and to re-establish a sense that this is not a lawless community.”

“Because someone will get hurt.”

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