By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: NWOnewswatch.com

The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service is expanding its recruitment missions across Ontario and Manitoba to meet its mandate of 80 new officers per year, and the next stop is the Fort William First Nation career fair on April 25.

NAPS became the first First Nation police service to join the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA) in 2024, which has allowed them to secure the funding needed to expand recruitment.

According to recruitment constable, Mason Morriseau, NAPS recruitment officers will be travelling more throughout the coming months. The strategy, he says, is to attend as many events and to be as public as possible.

“We believe having a face-to-face, in-person impact is more meaningful than obviously having an online presence” he said.

While the majority of the recruits come from in-person sessions, many are found through social media outreach as well.

Morriseau said that NAPS has seen a high increase in applicants from southeastern Ontario, to communities west of Winnipeg.

It is a unique experience to serve with NAPS, according to Morriseau.

“The majority of our officers are community-based, so instead of jumping from call to call to call, where you might not see the same person once, we police smaller communities” he said.

“We’re able to connect with community members on a more personal level than just being an enforcer.”

Morriseau says that NAPS is about proactive policing rather than reactive policing, and that instead of only responding to calls, they stand as public faces that community members can turn to for more than just law enforcement.

In the first year as a recruit constable, applicants attend training first at general headquarters in Thunder Bay, before they move on to the Ontario Police College for approximately three and a half months.

After ‘post-training’ sessions in Thunder Bay, recruit constables are sent to one of the 34 communities that NAPS polices for five to six months of coaching, and are then ready to carry out the duties of an officer on their own.

According to Morriseau, some potential applicants raise concern over their proximity to NAPS flight hubs, although he says the travel is manageable. NAPS has flights out of Sudbury and Timmins in the northeast, and Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout in the northwest.

Officers work in a rotation of two weeks on and two weeks off in a system that Morriseau calls “pro-officer.” NAPS offers incentives including isolation pay as well as things like meal allowances and travel accommodations.