FSIN Leaders Respond To Southend RCMP Shooting

FSIN Leaders Respond To Southend RCMP Shooting

Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 15:12

 

 

The FSIN is calling for changes to policing in the province in light of the recent shooting of a man by an RCMP offer at Southend.

 

Vice-Chief Glen Pratt says the FSIN is concerned with the number of shootings there have been in Saskatchewan, but he says he doesn’t want to blame anyone and won’t comment on the most recent shooting.

 

Pratt is proposing some solutions to the tense relationship between First Nations people and the RCMP, including a review of the training RCMP officers receive.

 

He notes a Mountie’s training is conducted over six months at the depot in Regina, and six months in the field — and the FSIN doesn”t believe that’s adequate.

 

He says there needs to be a specialized training partnership between the RCMP and the FSIN — involving cultural sensitivity, mediation and intervention training.

 

Pratt also wants a liaison created immediately to address the strained relationship between police and Aboriginal people, as well as a conference to talk about mediation and intervention.

 

He also wants the federal government to fund First Nations peacekeepers.

 

Meanwhile, the RCMP is refusing to confirm that the Mountie involved in the shooting in Southend has been removed from the community.

 

Spokesperson Sgt. Carole Raymond will only say that the force consults both the affected officer and the community in instances like this one.

 

Raymond acknowledges that potential public backlash to an RCMP shooting does carry a lot of weight in making a decision on the officer’s status.

 

Community residents, who don’t want to be identified, say the officer is no longer in Southend because of the community’s reaction to the shooting.