Police arent the only answer: Watchdog suggests justice system can do better for Indigenous Peoples

The B.C. First Nations Justice Council says a report critical of the RCMP echoes what it has been saying for years. “We need trauma-informed police officers, we need culturally informed police officers,” said Judith Sayers, a director with the B.C. First Nations Justice Council, in an interview with APTN News. Sayers was reacting to a recent report from B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office [IIO], which oversees harmful police interactions with the public. The report, released earlier this month, detailed the handling of a 2022 call involving Rojun Alphonse from Williams Lake First Nation. The 36-year-old died by suicide following an hours-long standoff with the Mounties. The report said more than two dozen officers responded, who, after several hours of trying to speak with Alphonse, used tear gas to try and drive him out of a residence, but he was found dead a short time later. Willie Sellars, chief of Williams Lake First Nation, agreed a different approach is needed. “We would like to see meaningful change happen within the RCMP when you’re dealing with Indigenous Peoples, when you’re dealing with individuals suffering from mental health challenges,” he told APTN. The report found no evidence of racism, but Alphonse’s family and community members raised “significant concerns” about the level of police response and ongoing complaints of discrimination against Williams Lake RCMP. The report noted the case doesn’t meet the bar for a “charge assessment” but “raises bigger questions” about how police approached the situation involving an Indigenous person in a mental-health crisis. Sayers agreed. “We need to find ways for police officers to be comfortable in First Nations communities so they’re not nervous and tense,” she said. “And that comes with experience, of course, but also training with First Nations, MOU’s [memorandums of understanding] with First Nations, on how they should enter the community.” Jessica Berglund, the IIO’s chief civilian director, said she’ll refer the file to the RCMP and the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission [CRCC] for their assessment on whether changes to policy or training are needed. “The RCMP’s saying they do trauma-informed training now, but we haven’t seen any results from that,” Sayers added. “So, we’re not sure how much improved that is. We’d love to see that training evaluated and to work with them.” The B.C. RCMP told APTN it had reviewed the report. “The IIO BC report looked at the totality of circumstances involved in the incident and determined there are no grounds to indicate that any officers committed an offence,” Sgt. Vanessa Munn said in an emailed statement. “We will limit any further comment as we are mindful that the report has also been referred to the [CRCC] for the RCMP for their consideration.” Also, the CRCC confirmed it had received a copy of the report. “We can confirm that the BC IIO wrote to the CRCC to draw our attention to the report, and we are reviewing it,” the agency said in an email to APTN. “Our sympathies remain with the family and friends who lost their loved one.” Sayers noted there’s a bigger discussion to be had around when police should and should not be called – not only in B.C., but across Canada. She pointed to the case of Chantel Moore, an Indigenous woman who was shot and killed in her home by a police officer in New Brunswick on June 4, 2020. Police had been called to perform a wellness check on her. “Wellness calls, social services calls, should have psychologists, counsellors, people with community training to go in to deal with these situations,” Sayers said. “The police aren’t the only answer.” With files from The Canadian Press Continue Reading