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The Ontario government is funding a number of new improvements for officers with the Treaty Three Police Service in northwestern Ontario, including body-worn cameras, infrared cameras for search and rescue missions and much more.
“As we look to modernize law enforcement across the province, it is critical that we support First Nations police services,” said Kenora – Rainy River MPP, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Minister of Northern Development.
“These targeted investments will enhance efficiency, and give officers the tools they need to serve their communities and remain safe on the job,” adds Minister Rickford.
A total of nine police services and 18 First Nation communities who have policing by the OPP under the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program will receive the funding and equipment, as part of a $6 million initiative to better protect First Nation communities.
These enhancements include:
– Mobile Workstations – an information technology suite of equipment embedded within a police vehicle for remote access to records management system databases, the Canadian Police Information Centre and police services’ internal services.
– Infrared Technologies – thermal imaging cameras as an investigative tool to assist in suspect apprehension, evidence gathering and search and rescue operations by detecting heat radiation of persons or objects.
– Live Scan Machines – support the process of capturing fingerprints electronically and can be shared immediately with police services across the country, including the RCMP.
– Body-worn Cameras – devices that record interactions between community members and law enforcement officers.
– In-car Cameras – capable of recording all interactions between police and the public, including traffic stops and rear seat prisoner transportation.
– Automated Licence Plate Readers – a system of cameras and software that captures licence plate information and immediately compares plate numbers to a Ministry of Transportation database with vehicle and vehicle owner information.
“I am pleased to get this equipment into the hands of our frontline officers,” said Kai Liu, Chief, Treaty Three Police Service and President of Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario.
“Mobile workstations will increase community safety and police visibility by keeping officers on the road and in our communities. Video footage from our officers’ camera equipment could be streamed directly into the command centre during emergency incidents. That’s a major step forward in our police service, thus improving our crime prevention capabilities.”
The Treaty Three Police Service is a self-administered Policing entity under the First Nations Policing Program in Canada, and is responsible for 55,000 square miles of the Treaty Three Region. That includes roughly 20,000 residents in 23 First Nation Communities in NWO.
Beyond the traditional work of a police officer, the Treaty Three Police Service also initiates and supports projects throughout their 23 communities, including the Quenindizuin Project, the Not For Sale Project and the Supporters Survivors Program.