Little Pine First Nation and Poundmaker Cree Nation are a step closer to having their own police force.
A class of participants graduated last Friday from a community safety officer-training program at North West College. The six-week program give graduates some training to work as community safety officers, and they could work in a number of different capacities.
Of the students, eight are from Little Pine while 13 are from Poundmaker.
The training is one step in a process. For some, special constable status could be next, whereas others could go on to work in industries including security.
Jacob Pete, former police chief and one of the program’s organizers, said eight of the participants are returning to their home communities, while others could go on to other things.
Leaders of the neighbouring First Nations have found crime to be a problem, including violence and drug-related crime, while police response times can be long.
Pete said the next step in the process toward establishing a police force is submitting a business plan.
Some trainees could attend courses at Saskatchewan Police College or another program.
Community safety officers from North Battleford, Pete said, were “helping at the band level.”
“[The North Battleford CSOs] are happy with our fellows as well,” Pete said. “It’‘s a whole community-wide effort.”
