NCJ Number
76374
Date Published
1980
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Some of the important literature on policing on Canadian Indian reserves is reviewed, and various alternative forms of on-reserve policing are discussed.
Abstract
Option 3B, so designated in the 'Task Force Report on Policing on Reserves,' is a reserve policing alternative that provides for an Indian police branch of an Indian contingent of an existing police force. Where this alternative has been used the greatest problem has been a shortage of manpower due to lack of money. Autonomous Indian police forces have been proposed under the following forms: (1) constables under the authority of an Indian Police Commission made up of the chiefs of the member reserves of the tribal council, (2) constables under a police commission dominated by reserve residents but with members providing input from outside law enforcement personnel, and (3) the incorporation of a reserve as a municipality or county with its own police force. Evaluations of each of these alternatives have yet to establish any one of the structures as preferred. In Alberta, Option 3B has been politically undermined, even though it was conceptually solid and held potential for constructive development. The current trend in Alberta is clearly toward autonomous Indian policing. The lesson of the failure of Option 3B in Alberta is that no policing program should be implemented in haste and without careful consultation with all parties involved; otherwise, a sound concept may falter from lack of effective planning and grassroots support. Future developments in the structure of on-reserve policing should involve the withholding of judgment about a project until the stipulated period of evaluation has ended; partisan adoption of proposals without comprehensive discussion with all involved parties should be avoided. About 20 references are provided.