Thunder Bay, Ont., police look to Sask. to improve Indigenous relations
Police in Thunder Bay, Ont., are looking to their counterparts in Saskatchewan for ways to work to improve relationships between police and Indigenous people.
"We had a number of challenges here in Thunder Bay," said Chris Adams, director of communications with the Thunder Bay Police.
"We realized that we had to make some changes and look at some ideas on how we could better improve the trust between our police service and the Indigenous community that we serve."
Adams said they decided to look to Saskatchewan because of similarities between the police forces and the issues they face.
"There obviously has been similar history in Saskatchewan as far as relationships go and the trust factor between police and Indigenous persons," he said.
Saskatchewan programs
Adams said he found that Saskatchewan's police services had a number of programs aiming to improve that relationship.
The Thunder Bay Police noted that the Regina Police Service sponsors and participates in a powwow aiming to connect with Indigenous communities.
In Saskatoon, the Thunder Bay representatives sat down with two elders working with the Saskatoon Police Service cultural resources unit to discuss outreach and how to better develop relationships with First Nations and Métis people.
They also met Prince Albert's chief of police, Troy Cooper, to discuss Prince Albert's mentoring program and what it's done in terms of recruitment.
"The mentoring program that's in place there — that ability to actually connect with young people and adults as well who maybe have considered policing as a career but don't have the life experiences that qualify them right away," said Adams.
"They've looked at innovative ways of actually mentoring these people through different alternative employment experiences ... and actually getting them the experience and helping them through the process."
In Thunder Bay
Following the visit to Saskatchewan in November 2016, the Thunder Bay Police Service established a sudden death committee to examine how the service handles every death, whether it was a homicide, an accident or by natural causes.
Adams said the police service is working on a change project with the Ontario Human Rights Commission to establish best practices and build confidence and trust. This comes following allegations of racism and systemic discrimination within the force.
"In order to do the job that needs to be done in law enforcement, you need trust and you've got to gain that, you've got to earn it," said Adams.
