On Tuesday, members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team were called to the Bank of Montreal in Saanich for a bank robbery. Two suspects were killed and six police officers were injured in the incident. In the following days, police released few details and information about the suspects, what weapons they used and the timeline of events are still unknown. Benjamin Morgan, director and chief executive of the Center for Crisis & Threat Communications, says that while it’s natural to want to know more, there are potential reasons why police aren’t revealing more. “There are so many questions we want to know. Why and who was in our community? What are they doing here? Who are they?” Morgan said in an interview with CHEK News. “I don’t suspect that this is being withheld just to keep everyone wondering, I’m sure there would be some logic behind withholding this information at this time.” READ MORE: Explosive devices found at Saanich bank shooting scene destroyed: police Morgan says that while he is not involved in the Saanich investigation, there are common reasons why details are withheld in investigations like this one. In the U.S., information about active shootings or other high-risk situations is often released shortly after the incident, and Morgan says there are a number of reasons why Saanich robbery investigators can’t do the same. “Certainly the laws, privacy laws, etc. they’re a little different in the U.S. than here in Canada,” Morgan said as one possible explanation. “If the family members of the dead have not been identified yet, that may be one of the issues. [The information] it can be a really important part of research.” Another piece is in BC, when the Independent Investigations Bureau gets involved, Morgan says police departments are limited in what information they are allowed to share. READ MORE: ‘I grabbed my cell phone and called 911’: Woman trapped inside Saanich bank with gunmen recounts terrifying experience “In this case it was certainly such a large incident with injured officers, with fatalities, I suspect the Saanich Police Department must not release that type of information because it is now in the area or in the IIO investigation process. Morgan said. “So I imagine in many cases the Saanich Police Department will be limited in what they can share.” Additionally, Morgan says that during investigations it’s important to share only verified information, because sharing information and then having to correct it later can erode trust in institutions. “A very important piece of communication, especially in situations like this is trust,” Morgan said. “And if organizations like the Saanich Police Department rush to provide answers without really understanding all the different levels and all the different subtleties and end up with some misinformation that can erode trust.” READ MORE: Three officers involved in Saanich bank attack remain in hospital, investigation continues However, Morgan says that in crisis situations in the absence of official information, the community can fill the gap with rumors and speculation. “As long as the authorities don’t provide information, the community will jump in with their own speculations, which can be very damaging and very challenging for many different organizations,” Morgan said. “We saw that during the Boston Marathon bombing, where it took authorities three to five hours to actually engage in that conversation, and that void was filled with all kinds of speculation and accusations that really led investigators astray. direction”. When crisis communicators choose what information to release and what not to release, Morgan says there are a few considerations. READ MORE: Police describe car with ‘multiple’ explosives involved in Saanich bank shooting First, all information that will affect public safety must be made public. He says while the situation is ongoing, the information will focus on things like telling people in a certain area to evacuate or avoid an area. The second concern is determining how much should be released in order to obtain information from the public or potential witnesses, while withholding enough to preserve the integrity of the investigation. “What I mean by that is if we’re sharing the weapons that were used, it was ‘x’, if the investigating police agency is interviewing a potential suspect or someone they believe would have information, if all the details were made public, then if I was the suspect being interviewed, I could have easily said ‘oh yeah, those are the guns we used,’” Morgan said. “Where right now the only people who know what weapons were used were the people involved in the actual incident. So it’s a very delicate balance.” READ MORE: Some Shelbourne Plaza business owners now allowed to return after bank shootout Rob Gordon, professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, says investigators may also still be looking for a motive. He says banks don’t often have a lot of cash on hand, so a robbery is unusual. “It was a very unusual bank robbery for a suburban bank,” Gordon said. “It has to be a very smooth operation, so not a lot of that happens. I mean, bank robberies in that Butch-Cassidy kind of tradition are a thing of the past.” Given the weapons and explosive devices, Gordon believes they were targeting the bank’s vault and safes. “I think what you might have is some opportunists who had some inside knowledge and decided it was worth it to take that money,” Gordon said. -With files from April Lawrence
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