Saskatoon's chief of police will be in North Battleford next week with a goal of attracting more First Nations and Métis people to join his force.
The event, "Spend an Evening with Clive Weighill," will be at the North Battleford Library Lecture Theatre next Wednesday, Sept. 5 from 7 to 9 p.m.
The evening is meant to be informational in scope, with Weighill sharing the story of the Saskatoon police service and what has happened to policing in Saskatoon since the Neil Stonechild inquiry.
Stonechild was the aboriginal teenager who died of hypothermia in 1990 after Saskatoon Police picked him up and abandoned him outside the city in freezing conditions.
The Stonechild inquiry's report that followed in 2004 slammed Saskatoon police for its poor relations and treatment of First Nations. It called for several changes, including hiring more aboriginal police officers.
North Battleford Councillor Ray Fox talked to the Regional Optimist about the event and noted that a liaison worker with the Saskatoon police force had worked with the chief and was looking to bring him to North Battleford.
The chief and others from their department had previously gone into La Ronge for a similar talk there and they want to do something similiar North Battleford.
"The idea is they want to recruit First Nations and aboriginal people into the Saskatoon police force," said Fox. "They want them to know how they can apply and know that sort of thing, and what the rewards are for being a police officer in Saskatoon."
When Weighill was in La Ronge, he also spoke about the changes that have happened in the Saskatoon city police itself.
"There's been a fairly significant shift overall in attitude, just in that positive dialogue that's been created with the aboriginal population of Saskatoon and the city police in Saskatoon," said Fox.
Weighill also spoke about what has been tried and what they have done to make that journey to smoother communications.
Fox looks forward to a similar presentation in North Battleford and believes it will be of value to local residents looking to improve the crime statistics here.
"Those are things we have been talking about in North Battleford for some years," said Fox.
While Weighill's ultimate goal is to attract and recruit more First Nations and Métis people to the Saskatoon Police Service, the evening is not designed as a recruitment session. Instead, it's more of an informational session for those interested, with opportunities for questions and answers.
The evening's main message to First Nations and Métis people will be that the "doors are open to them," said Fox.
