Early this year, the Rankin Inlet RCMP sent an invitation to students at Leo Ussak Elementary School — ranging from kindergarten to Grade 6 — asking them to take part in a contest to help name their police trucks.
The RCMP noted that they had partnered with Social Services, the Community Justice Centre and the Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Center in Rankin Inlet to provide prizes to the contest winners.
The police force announced on Feb. 18 that the following students won the contest:
Kindergarten: Horse Rider by August Bolt
Grade1: Great White North by Lillian Pilakapsi
Grade 2: Qamutik by Mason Iguptak
Grade 3: Polar Bear by Kesha Kolit
Grade 4: Arctic Hare by Katie Nordman
Grade 5-6: Northern Lights by Rhea Eecherk
The winning names have been printed as vehicle decals in Inuktitut syllabics and will be installed on the police vehicles this summer, Const. Alex Bolduc stated in a news release.
“The Name a Police Truck contest was an opportunity for the Rankin Inlet RCMP to integrate and celebrate Inuit culture in policing services, create bonds with local youth and foster community policing relationship,” wrote Bolduc.
He also provided information on the history behind naming police entities.
He said in 1873, the North West Mounted Police were created to police parts of Canada that included today’s provinces Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as the Northwest, Yukon and Nunavut Territories.
“Back then, patrols were done on horses and dog team, but by 1966 they switched to other methods of transportation,” wrote Bolduc.
“This naming practice only continued with RCMP horses and police dogs.”
