 | |
| Author | Paul Palango |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Random House Canada |
Publication date | 12 April 2022 |
| ISBN | 9781039001275 |
22 Murders: Investigating the Massacre, Cover-up, and Obstacles to Justice in Nova Scotia is a 2022 non-fiction book by Canadian writer Paul Palango. The book documents the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks and critiques the police response to the two day incident.
The book is written by Nova Scotia-based writer and former journalist and editor Paul Palango. [1] [2] Palango has written three previous books critical of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) [1] and prior to publishing 22 Murders, he wrote several articles on the attacks, that were published in Maclean's , Halifax Examiner , and Frank . [1]
The book was written following Palango's receipt of information from a concerned Orangeville resident who had been listening to the police communication via a radio scanner at the time of the attacks. [1]
The book was published by Random House on April 12, 2022. [3] [1]
The book documents the police response to Gabriel Wortman killing 22 people on the 18th and 19th April 2020, in Portapique. [4] Palango presents the actions of authorities in a critical light, highlighting his perceptions of their failures. [5] He is critical of both the immediate response to the killings and the subsequent investigation, which he describes as a "cover up". [2] Criticism is levied at the RCMP for using Twitter rather than the phone-based Alert Ready system to warn nearby communities. [2] Palango is also critical of the RCMP for not setting up roadblocks, and for their choice to seek assistance from a neighbouring provincial police force some hours away rather than the most proximate municipal police forces. [2]
The book was the third most popular non-fiction Canadian book in May 2022. [6] Lawyer and writer Douglas J. Johnston, writing in the Winnipeg Free Press , praises Palango's research and analysis but also notes that the criticisms of the police are "largely circumstantial and conjectural". [2]
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 provinces and territories, over 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. The RCMP is commonly known as the Mounties in English.
The Emergency Response Team are police tactical units of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police based throughout Canada and are mainly part-time teams. According to the RCMP, the ERT "is a group of highly-trained RCMP members capable of employing specialized weapons, equipment, and tactics to resolve extremely high-risk situations." The ERT is also mandated to assess the situation and determine whether extreme danger or the presence of small arms cannot be easily resolved by RCMP officers on general duties or by other police forces throughout Canada. The ERT offers consulting services to its fellow officers such as firearms files and shootings that involve police officers.
The Halifax Regional Police (HRP) is one of a number of law enforcement agencies operating in the Halifax, Nova Scotia; the other primaries being the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Forces Military Police. The city also is home to a small detachment of the Canadian National Railway Police.
Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contrast to the United States or Mexico, and with the exception of the Unité permanente anticorruption in Quebec and the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia, there are no organizations dedicated exclusively to the investigation of criminal activity in Canada. Criminal investigations are instead conducted by police services, which maintain specialized criminal investigation units in addition to their mandate for emergency response and general community safety.
Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams are Canadian counterterrorist, counter-foreign interference, and counter-espionage units operating under the auspices of Public Safety Canada. These federal investigative teams were formed in 2002 in response to the September 11 attacks.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has a history dating back to 1873 and has been involved in several high-profile controversies.
Rehtaeh Anne Parsons, was a 17-year-old Cole Harbour District High School student who attempted suicide by hanging at her home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, on April 4, 2013, leading to a coma and the decision to switch her life support machine off on April 7, 2013. Her death has been attributed to online distribution of photos of an alleged gang rape that occurred 17 months prior to her suicide, in November 2011. On a Facebook page set up in tribute to her daughter, Parsons' mother blamed the four boys who allegedly raped and released images of her, the subsequent constant "bullying and messaging and harassment", and the failure of the Canadian justice system, for her daughter's decision to die by suicide.
Roland John Thornhill is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Dartmouth South in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1974 to 1993. He is a member of the Progressive Conservative.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is the civilian oversight agency in British Columbia, Canada responsible for examining and investigating incidents involving on or off duty municipal police officers, Stl’atl’imx Tribal Police Service, Metro Vancouver Transit Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers based in BC, Special Provincial Constables, Special Municipal Constables as well as Auxiliary & Reserve Constables that result in death or serious harm.
The D Division is the division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police responsible for federal policing in Manitoba and, at times, northwestern Ontario. Headquartered in Winnipeg, the division is commanded by Assistant Commissioner Scott McMurchy and consists of 1089 police officers and 438 support staff.
Claudia Chender is a Canadian politician, and leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party since June 25, 2022. She was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2017 general election, and re-elected in the 2021 general election. She represents the electoral district of Dartmouth South.
On April 18 and 19, 2020, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings and set fires at sixteen locations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, killing twenty-two people and injuring three others before he was shot and killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the community of Enfield. The attacks are the deadliest shooting rampage in Canadian history, exceeding the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, where fourteen women were killed.
Paul Palango is a Canadian author and investigative journalist. Palango worked as a journalist and editor for The Hamilton Spectator and The Globe and Mail. He has written four non-fiction books about policing in Canada, including 22 Murders.
On September 4, 2022, Myles Sanderson killed 11 and injured 18 people in a mass stabbing at 13 locations on the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Some of the victims are believed to have been targeted, while others were randomly attacked. It is one of the deadliest massacres in Canadian history.
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, an international outlaw biker gang, has been involved in multiple crimes, alleged crimes, and violent incidents in Canada. The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) has designated the Hells Angels an outlaw motorcycle gang. Hells Angels MC have been linked with drug trafficking and production, as well as many violent crimes including murder, in Canada.
The Nova Scotia Youth Centre, commonly known as Waterville, is the only youth correctional centre in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Opened in 1988, the facility is operated by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice in the rural community of Waterville, Kings County.