Erin Parenteau is PAPS' only Indigneous Resource Officer. (Submitted photo/PAPS)

By Teena Monteleone

Indigenous Resource Officer

Prince Albert Police Service’s Indigenous resource officer fulfilling a unique role

Jun 10, 2021 | 10:53 AM

Erin Parenteau has held the position of Indigenous resource officer (IRO) with the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) since 2017. During that time, she’s provided prevention and early intervention services and helps ensure Indigenous victims and their families receive culturally sensitive information and support during their involvement in the criminal justice process.

But for Parenteau, a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation, the position means so much more.

“It is important because it is in response to the Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and trying to bridge the gap between Indigenous people and the relationship with police. It’s important because we need more Indigenous people working as police and civilian members to help bridge the gap police have had historically,” Parenteau said.

The IRO position is provincially funded and one of six operated through police agencies in the province. A press release from the Prince Albert Police Service said the position carries a unique responsibility to be ready, knowledgeable, compassionate, and empathetic.

Parenteau is also an addictions and mental health counsellor. In addition to working with victims of crime, she educates police members and staff on Indigenous protocol and history, assists police in building on Calls to Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and was instrumental in helping to select two new Indigenous police elders for PAPS in May of 2021.

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“I can help provide our members, if they want to attend a sweat lodge ceremony for their own healing. I can help members of the community connect with traditional medicine if that’s what they want,” Parenteau said. “Following traditional practices or culturally relevant counselling, like seeing an elder, can really help because it’s connecting that person to their roots.”

Parenteau provides regular smudging of the new Eagle Staff displayed in the main boardroom at the PAPS main station. It’s a sacred symbol of the organization’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, respect and fairness.

“The Eagle Staff is the first one of its kind for this police service. We have a vision for why we want it. We want it for our members, so they’re connected to Treaty 6 Territory they serve and it’s a reminder of the history of this community and the first peoples of this community,” she said.

More eagle feathers will be added when Elders determine the service has earned one.

Parenteau’s Indigenous name is Dancing Butterfly Woman and with the support of the PAPS, she is working to relearn the Cree language she lost as a child after starting school. She said she enjoys being a voice for women and girls in the community and continues to work to change perceptions of police amongst Indigenous people.

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Teena.Monteleone@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MonteleoneTeena