Patrick Nogier was sworn in as Chief of the Prince Albert Police Service on Nov. 29 by Justice Gary Meschishnick of the Court of Kings Bench. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

New chief sworn in

Prince Albert Police Chief Nogier starts tenure with goal to re-build trust

Nov 29, 2023 | 5:28 PM

Newly-sworn in as chief of the Prince Albert Police, Patrick Nogier said he will work on re-building trust between the service and the community.

A series of incidents in the last year or two have led to a lack of trust between the community – particularly its Indigenous residents – and the police. Nogier said that is his major challenge.

“I won’t ask for their trust. I’ll show them that trust. It’ll be through the dialogue, it’ll be through communication, it’ll be through a willingness to look through their perspective. That’s the only way,” he said.

Nogier started as acting chief earlier this year on a six-month secondment from the Saskatoon Police Service and spent some time thinking about it before accepting the job permanently.

Prince Albert is a smaller community but faces the same challenges as larger centres when it comes to social problems including addiction, homelessness, violence and gang activity.

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“That then becomes a challenge. That last three to five years that I’ve got in my policing career, I can work out of my comfort zone and really try to contribute to a community that needs it. Or I could have stayed somewhere where I would have been more comfortable, I just felt this was the right fit.”

He said that before his six month secondment, he would not have chosen to move to a smaller service with a smaller budget but after being offered the job, reconsidered that position.

He has family ties to Batoche and Prince Albert and will move with his wife and children.

Nogier was sworn in by Justice Gary Meschishnick of the Court of Kings Bench and welcomed by Grande Chief Brian Hardlotte of the Prince Albert Grand Council along with Glen McCallum, head of the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan.

Chief Nogier was gifted a blanket as part of his swearing in ceremony. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

As part of his commitment to working with Indigenous leaders, Nogier said he and other PAPS leadership will participate in a sweat next week.

Janet Carriere, chair of Prince Albert Police board of commissioners said the board has confidence in Nogier’s abilities after watching him work for six months.

“He walked into the police service, and he could already see the things that needed to be done. He did some little tweaks and a few little things that could be made better. He brought the morale up almost immediately and that was key because their morale was very low,” Carriere said.

The Board of Commissioners knew they would have to hire from outside the existing service as that was one of 45 recommendations from a provincial review into the service.

The review was the result of several incidents involving PAPS officers that led to suspects dying and an infant being killed in a domestic situation. Officers had responded to a call from the mother but failed to make sure the toddler was safe before leaving him in his father’s care.

Carriere said that one of the things the commission liked best about Nogier was his character.

Janet Carriere said the Police Commission chose Nogier because of his integrity and leadership skills. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

“He has really great leadership skills and integrity. He’s not a boss, he’s a leader and there’s a really big difference there and I see that in him,” she said.

Nogier said that PAPS has many members that want to do good things and improve the community.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make Prince Albert a safe place to live and people want to come here. And we’ll be good at it,” he said.

He also has a priority to make sure the community sees the commitment to transparency while still knowing that not everything officers do can be made public.

“There are some really good people that want to do the right things. We’re just going to build on that.”

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com