New police force has big plans

Canada’s newest arm in law enforcement, the Treaty #3 police can best be described as a small force with big plans.
Most of the 55 members of the force were formerly officers under the First Nations Policing Program, which is funded by the federal and provincial governments, and administered by the Ontario Provincial Police.
In the Treaty #3 district, these officers now form a stand-alone force with a mandate to serve the 23 Ojibway communities in their jurisdiction, spread over nearly 140,000 square kilometres (53,000 square miles) of northwestern Ontario.
The Treaty #3 police service is headquartered in Kenora under Chief Brian Rupert, but has a detachment in Couchiching, headed up by Deputy Chief Ernie Jones.
Jones said this stand-alone police force for First Nations communities has been in the works for some time.
The nine reserves in the Rainy River District were eligible to receive a stand-alone police service in the early 1990’s, Jones said, but the possibility was not pursued.
“Five years ago, we decided to go Treaty-wide,” he said.
The need was clearly there. First Nations communities “didn’t feel like they had enough input into the police service,” Jones noted.
They felt disassociated with the police, who were simply strangers who would come on the reserves to arrest people, then leave. “You’d never see them again,” Jones said.
A survey conducted on reserves showed that people “would like to have [their] own police service that would be community-minded, with First Nations officers that can identify with the community, and the community can identify with them,” he added.
The force officially came into being on April 1 of this year, and had its inaugural ceremony on Aug. 5 in Kenora, with dancers and drumming.
Assembly of First Nations national Chief Phil Fontaine and Indian Affairs Minister and local MP Robert Nault addressed the officers and their family and friends.
Now, the force is looking to the future.
“Our goal is to become a very significant police service in this area,” Jones said.
As a new force, they hope to develop sergeants and detective constables to assist with investigations.
With its mandate to serve First Nations communities, the Treaty #3 police service plans to develop community service officers (CSO) to go into the schools and meeting places and to keep in touch with the public.
In the meantime, the OPP is there to lend a hand if they need it.
“During this time of transition, we’re working very closely operationally with them,” including “helping out with patrols, to coach them to some degree,” said S/Sgt. Hugh Dennis of the Fort Frances detachment of the OPP.
“I have every confidence the new police service will be successful,” S/Sgt. Dennis said. “They have some very, very committed people.”