By Taylor MacPherson

Police Chief to form advisory committee of Indigenous women

Jun 26, 2017 | 2:00 PM

In an effort to improve the historically-troubled relationship between Indigenous women and police, Prince Albert’s Police Chief said he is working to form an advisory committee of local female Indigenous leaders.

The decision comes in response to a report by American advocacy group Human Rights Watch, which was highly critical of the treatment of Indigenous women by Saskatchewan police. The ongoing national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls will likely produce recommendations for police, and Chief Troy Cooper says he wants to be prepared.

“I’m going to form an advisory committee of local Indigenous women leaders,” Cooper told paNOW. “We know that the issues around Indigenous women are central to policing in our area right now, and so it would be helpful for us to have that kind of input.”

Since he first suggested the idea last week, Cooper said his phone has been blowing up with calls from residents who want to share input or get involved. Cooper said he has already contacted local Indigenous leaders about potentially sitting on the new committee.

Although Cooper said the lived experiences of Indigenous women put forward by the Human Rights Watch report are “undeniable,” he noted several of the report’s broad recommendations are already a focus for Prince Albert police. The report emphasized the indignity of male officers searching and frisking female suspects which the police in Prince Albert already have policies against, Cooper said. It also called for supplimental training in Indigenous history, which Prince Albert Police have already implimented.

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“We’ve been providing additional training around the history of Indigenous people,” Cooper said. “We’re still looking for more training and better training, and that’s not because of this report but because of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission call to action.”

In addition to ongoing training, the Prince Albert Police Service employs an Aboriginal Resource Officer and on-staff Elder to help ensure First Nations issues are treated respectfully by police on all levels.

Cooper said he believed the city’s police service is moving in the right direction, but added there always needs to be a desire to continue improving in order to ensure historic injustices don’t repeat themselves. An advisory committee of Indigenous women will be able to conduct policy reviews on subjects such as domestic violence, Cooper said, and will help the police navigate their response to the ongoing national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Cooper said he will continue canvassing local leaders for interest, and hopes to make the new committee a reality over the summer months.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 3:34 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, 2017 to correct a grammatical error.