THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Police Service and Nishnawbe Aski Police Service have entered into a historic partnership that will allow for more sharing of resources and officers in communities across Northwestern Ontario.
“We are all living in Northwestern Ontario and it’s important that we work together and are seen working together,” said NAPS chief Roland Morrison. “The time is now. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
Morrison, along with Thunder Bay Police Service chief Darcy Fleury, signed the framework on Tuesday at the Balmoral Street police headquarters.
The formal partnership will allow for the sharing of information and resources between the two police services, including working collaboratively on investigations and officers working in the respective communities.
Morrison noted that many people living in NAN communities visit the city of Thunder Bay and some may come in contact with the criminal justice system.
“The information sharing from Thunder Bay police to NAPS allows us to follow up on some of the people from our communities in the city of Thunder Bay and follow up and bring them back to the city to face justice,” he said.
“That is the important part of this collaboration and partnership. We had this success recently with one of the homicides that occurred. The information sharing allowed for the solving of that homicide.”
Both Fleury and Morrison said the formal partnership will benefit both police services and will be front line focused in order to address the social issues impacting the entire region.
“It’s very important that we work together,” Fleury said. “This is the first step in us doing that where we can put our resources together and do our best not only for the people living in Thunder Bay, but also the people coming to visit regularly and we can do our best to ensure they feel safe in our community.”
“This collaboration allows for that opportunity between our two services,” Morrison added. “This is going to be frontline focussed. We want our frontline officers to have this experience because they are the ones out there interacting with people on a daily basis.”
Any NAPS officers in the city of Thunder Bay will be working alongside the Thunder Bay Police Service and local officers will only be working in NAN communities when invited by NAPS.
NAPS has already established similar working relationship with York, Halton, and Peel Police Services. Fleury said the Thunder Bay Police Service will look at developing other partnerships as well.
“We have already had conversations with other agencies,” he said. “It is something we are open to as we go further on.”
The details of the partnership will continue to be developed with full implementation expected by late summer or early fall.
“It’s a great day for our services and we look forward to this new partnership going forward for years to come,” Morrison said.
