(Gatineau) Four new mixed intervention teams made up of police officers and community agents will be set up in Quebec to intervene with Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals struggling with certain social problems.
These teams will first see the light of day in Roberval, Chibougamau, Joliette and Maniwaki, municipalities served by the Sûreté du Québec. The Legault government will invest nearly 11.7 million over four years.
The Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, and the Minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs, Ian Lafrenière, made the announcement Monday in Gatineau.
“We are going to have police officers from the Sûreté du Québec who will work jointly with community workers who will be associated either with native friendship centers, CISSS or who will also come from native police forces”, detailed Mr.me Guilbault, at a press conference.
The new patrols will intervene with people grappling with a problem, for example alcohol and drug consumption, social disruption, frequent criminalization and homelessness.
These mixed teams, which are inspired by a formula that already exists in Quebec and elsewhere in North America, will aim to guide these vulnerable people to resources suited to their needs and to better intervene in a crisis situation.
The presence of community workers or native civilian liaison officers within these teams aims to have “more appropriate”, “more secure” and “more useful” interventions, explained the Minister.
“Because arresting and then prosecuting people who have mental health problems or other social problems is both ineffective and counterproductive,” she argued.
The mixed teams will play a preventive role in drug addiction, violence and sexual exploitation, in addition to improving cohabitation between homeless people and local populations.
“It doesn’t replace the police we know, it’s an addition. And what is interesting is the will of the communities, ”said Mr. Lafrenière.
These teams will be set up “as soon as possible,” said Mme Guilbault. Maniwaki’s could be in place by March 31, and then the other three teams will follow.
The project stems from one of the recommendations of the report of the Viens commission on the relations between Aboriginals and certain public services in Quebec. It aims to strengthen the bonds of trust between the First Nations and the police.
The initiative also responds to a recommendation of the Action Group against Racism.
The Chief of the Kitigan Zibia Band Council in the Outaouais, Dylan Whiteduck, has said that the mixed patrols are a “start”.
“I think that answers some of the problems we are facing,” said Mr. Whiteduck, who called on Quebec to work on the increase in cases of fentanyl consumption.
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