Criminal investigator training the 'right step' for Quebec's Indigenous police forces: chief

Students attend the Criminal Investigators Training course at the Quebec National Policing School (ENPQ). SOURCE: ENPQ

Two graduating classes at from the Quebec National Policing School (ENPQ) were a welcome sight to many in Indigenous police forces in the province.

Following a French class, 14 officers from nine forces in the province graduated from the Criminal Investigators Training program at the end of August.

"It's a step in the right direction," said Kahnawake Peacekeeper Chief Dwayne Zacharie. "It's something we've been asking for for years and years and years."

Zacharie said that due to Indigenous policing being considered a program and not an essential service by Ottawa and Quebec City, funding was not available for certain training programs.

This meant that investigators, including those on his force, would need to request assistance from surrounding forces for certain specialized types of investigation.

• READ MORE: Indigenous policing chiefs want funding gaps closed, and services considered essential
   

The 80-hour ENPC training program was a joint project with Ontario and included officers from the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, Eeyou Eenou Police Force, Listuguj Police Department, Nunavik Police Service, Kebaowek Police Department, Nunavik Police Service, Naskapi Police Force and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Police Department, in addition to Kahnawake's officers.

"[They] will now be able to start a police investigation file so that an expert investigator can continue and complete the investigation," the ENPC said in a news release. "In some cases, they will be able to take charge of an investigation within their police force."

ENPC communication officer Andree Dore said that investigative tasks include case management, approaching and communicating with victims, handling and preserving evidence, and becoming better acquainted with various authorizations and judicial mandates.

"This course completes the training of these officers who will be working on criminal investigations within their police service," said Dore.

Zacharie noted that in communities like his that have a police force, the local authority has jurisdiction and outside forces are only used when invited onto the territory.

The ENPQ said the training is one of four measures the Quebec Public Safety Ministry provided funding for in 2020 to improve policing practices for Indigenous policing "and combating violence against aboriginal women and girls."

The other three measures are:

• Promoting initial Indigenous police patrol training;
• Increasing access to professional development training for a greater number of Indigenous police officers;
• Offering members of Indigenous police forces (APCs) appropriate training in domestic violence, sexual assault and intra-family violence;

Another group will be trained in 2023-2024 and one more the following year.

"I hope that this is one of many steps to help First Nations policing to advance," said Zacharie, who is also a member of the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association.

The association has long lobbied the federal and provincial governments to consider local forces essential services, thus matching funding arrangements with non-Indigenous forces.

"It's unfair; it's a violation of human rights to think that the services that we provide to a First Nation community should be less and resourced and at a lesser rate," said Zacharie.

A federal First Nations policing bill remains in the quagmire of politics in Ottawa, with the most recent reports in August suggesting the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) had hesitations about the bill.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that his Liberal government would bring the law forward in 2020 and committed to co-develop the law with the AFN.

Zacharie admitted that navigating the politics and complex partnerships has been an arduous journey for the 36 Indigenous police forces in Canada.

"It's really, really labour intensive," he said.