KENORA — Treaty Three Police Service is committed to addressing the concerns of First Nations that have complaints about the quality of policing, Chief Cheryl Gervais said Tuesday.
Gervais, who became chief of police last November, was speaking in particular to concerns raised by the chiefs and councils of Grassy Narrows First Nation and Wabaseemoong Independent Nations.
“Treaty Three Police Service was really created to deliver culturally responsive service to our communities,” she told NWONewswatch.
“I acknowledge the concerns that are brought forward by those leaders, and at the end of the day, we take these concerns very seriously.
“We are committed to working with them on addressing these concerns and staying true to our mandate of being culturally responsive.”
Gervais added that she and leaders from Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong are meeting to discuss the situation.
Treaty Three issued a public statement last week saying it is addressing concerns through community engagement, open communication and “efforts to achieve equitable funding” from the federal government.
The statement was in response to concerns raised by the leadership of Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong.
Grassy Narrows Chief Rudy Turtle told NWONewswatch his First Nation northeast of Kenora has seen slow response times from the police and “they’re hardly in the community.”
The concerns of Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong “are not new concerns,” Gervais said. “They’re to some extent consistent across all our communities in the Treaty 3 area.”
She said the police service is actively addressing those concerns through community engagement, open communication and, as stated last week, “efforts to achieve equitable funding” from the federal government.
