NAPS replacing half of its problem detachments

Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service will replace more than half the detachments currently in need if the winter road season co-operates.
Fifteen detachments were identified as needing replacement, explained Sgt. Jackie George. Of those, eight – Mattagami, Wunnumin Lake, Fort Severn, Cat Lake, Webequie, Peawanuck, Fort Albany and Kasabonika Lake – received funds through Canada’s Economic Action Plan. Sandy Lake was able to upgrade its detachment separately as funding also came from Ontario.
George said if it wasn’t for the Action Plan, none of the detachments would likely be being replaced.
“We are funded as a program so there is no funding for capital building,” she said. “The buildings belong to the First Nations. We rent the buildings from the communities.”
Funding for NAPS is cost-shared between the federal government (52 per cent) and the province (48 per cent).
The Action Plan committed $15 million for critical policing infrastructure to address health, safety, and facility integrity issues in some First Nations and Inuit communities, explained Public Safety Canada spokesman David Charbonneau.
“This one-time funding to improve First Nations policing infrastructure was made available to communities currently receiving funding for police services under Public Safety Canada’s First Nations Policing Program,” the spokesman said in an email.
The Mattagami detachment has already been built and Wunnumin Lake is under construction. The others are waiting for delivery. They were each scheduled for construction last winter but were not able to be delivered because of the status of the winter roads.
George said NAPS tries to prioritize the detachments most in need of repair based on building conditions, number of occurrences in the communities and lock-up requirements.
“The officers are very much looking forward to the completion of these buildings,” George said. “New detachments improve our presence in the communities as they are a symbol of police presence, security and safety.”
The new detachments – though prefabricated – will be a step up from some of the previous thin modular units, explained Bill Salt, maintenance supervisor with NAPS.
“They are all built to the Ontario and national building code,” Salt said. “The walls are six inches thick and feature R20 insulation. These are not like the single wall trailers officers used years ago where everyone will freeze.”
They will also be more aesthetically pleasing with steel frame construction and brick exteriors, George said.