The ink is just starting to dry on the renewed partnership between the OPP and the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service.
OPP Northwest Region Superintendent Ron van Straalen and NAPS Chief Claude Chum officially sealed the deal at a media conference Tuesday. The upgraded agreement between the two police services is meant to continue a longstanding co-operation the forces have had with one another.
The changes to the upgraded agreement allow both police services to assist each other more easily, which includes resource sharing.
Chum said the original agreement was written up 14 years ago but hadn’t been updated to reflect modern day police work.
“Police do work together and we fight crime together,” Chum said. “It reflects respect to our First Nation people regarding their culture and traditions. We have been working under an expired agreement for some time now, this has been in the works for a while now, and it addresses all sorts of service issues and support issues. OPP are our biggest partners and back up.”
The updated agreement helps police bring in resources faster so officers can work more efficiently, he said.
van Straalen said the former agreement had limited explanations on the role each police force played whereas the recent agreement expands on the language and makes it clearer.
Everything from what makes up a specialty unit to receiving help from NAPS officers is made much clearer, he said.
“It’s fairly common for OPP and NAPS to work together,” van Straalen said. “We have communities that either boarder each other or connected through family or tradition with each other.
“I know for instance in Big Trout Lake is about 20 miles away from Wapekeka First Nation. NAPS looks after Wapekeka but sometimes there’s an issue where they are looking for assistance or we are and then it’s one police force as opposed to two.”
