KRPF aims for three officers in every community

Aileen Mackinnon is now the interim chief of the Kativik Regional Police Force, which plans to add 10 new police officers in Nunavik. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

KUUJJUAQ—The Kativik Regional Police Force plans to hire 10 more police officers, so at least three will be assigned to every Nunavik community.

When staffing is complete, there will be 65 officers and 11 civilians working for the KRPF, according to information tabled at last week’s Kativik Regional Government council meeting in Kuujjuaq.

The beefed-up police roster will help in dealing with the rising number of criminal incidents, which have also increased in most communities, according to KRPF statistics discussed at the council meeting.

New KRPF statistics show the numbers of assaults, impaired driving, sexual assaults and overall criminal incidents have increased substantially in the region since 2007.

The statistics compare the numbers of cases during the first eight months for the past three years.

The statistics furnished to the KRG council only looked at assaults, impaired driving, sexual assaults and overall criminal incidents.

The statistics show that in Nunavik from 2007 to 2009:

• Assaults rose from 982 to 1,664;
• Impaired driving arrests rose from 123 to 401;
• Sexual assaults rose from 90 to 127; and,
• Total criminal incidents rose from 4,203 to 5,414.

Police have also become much busier. They responded to 4,232 calls in 2007 and 9,812 in 2009.

Highlights from the statistics presented for every community in the region show:

• Rising crime in Aupaluk (population 174 in 2006), where the total number criminal incidents, 128, is four times higher to date in 2009 than in 2008;

• Rising crime in Kangiqsualujjuaq, where assaults, sexual assaults and impaired driving files are up and total criminal incidents rose from 206 in 2008 to 362 in 2009;

• Rising crime in Kuujjuaraapik, where the total criminal incidents rose from 124 in 2008 to 352 in 2009, and in Tasiujaq, where total criminal incidents rose from 33 to 72 in one year;

• Highest numbers of total criminal incidents in Puvirnituq (1,362) and Kuujjuaq (1,016); and

• Decreasing numbers of criminal incidents in Umiujaq (down from 196 in 2008 to 51 in 2009), in Kangirsuk (down from 397 in 2008 to 386 in 2009), and in Quaqtaq (down from 257 in 2008 to 245 in 209).

The KRPF said it 2006 that it planned to slash the number of arrests as a cost-cutting measure.

But the police force is now lobbying the federal and provincial governments to approve a long-term funding agreement so that it can deal with criminal offences and develop prevention programs, such as cadets.

The tripartite deal between Canada, Quebec and the KRG, still under negotiation, would see the KRPF’s total annual budget rise by about $6 million to more than $16 million a year.

The KRPF is still on a one-year financial agreement to deliver policing services in Nunavik.

The police force’s total budget for 2008-9 stands at $20 million, according to a modified KRG budget presented during the recent council meeting.

Depending on the state of its finances, the KRPF also wants to renovate and expand its jail cells in Puvirnituq, Salluit and Inukjuak.