NAPS officers appointed as RCMP special constables

Twelve Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service officers have been appointed as special constables of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for a number of outlying islands in James Bay.
While the officers are not directly working for the RCMP, they will represent Canada’s national police force in investigations, when necessary.
The NAPS officers, eight officers and one sergeant from Attawapiskat and three relief officers from the northeast region, were appointed Jan. 27 in Attawapiskat by RCMP Superintendent Howard Eaton, with NAPS Insp. Roland Morrison in attendance. Eaton and Morrison also reviewed a memorandum of understanding on the issue of policing the islands with Attawapiskat band council.
The appointment solidifies an arrangement for NAPS officers to respond to investigations on Akimiski Island, which is located about 19 kilometres from Attawapiskat First Nation in the Mushkegowuk Cree community’s traditional territory but falls under the territorial jurisdiction of the RCMP.
The distinction was necessary to cover jurisdiction issues over the islands, which are not part of Ontario but in fact Nunavut.
NAPS Sgt. Jackie George explained the decision to have officers appointed to the RCMP was done to prevent delays in policing to the traditional lands of the Attawapiskat people. It was prompted by a sudden death investigation a few years ago.
That investigation was tangled by jurisdiction where NAPS was called, then its crime unit.
That unit would notify the OPP of an incident. And in the case of the island, the RCMP had to be called because it is their jurisdiction, George said.
“We don’t want the people of Attawapiskat to have to wait for a police response while using their traditional territory,” George said.