With new funding agreement in place, Nunavik police look to new hires

The Kativik Regional Police Force will be able to hire more officers and purchase more police vehicles and new communication equipment as part of the force’s new tripartite funding agreement.

Nunavik’s police force is funded by both the federal government (52 per cent) and the province (48 per cent).

But after the KRPF’s last agreement expired on March 31, 2018, it took a year for those parties to reach and sign a new agreement, leaving the force scrambling to maintain its services throughout 2018.

That tripartite agreement was finally signed at the end of March—along with a separate bilateral agreement with Quebec—covering the period of April 1, 2018, through March 31, 2023.

The new agreement provides $146,243,608 to the force’s operations, or an average of $29.2 million each year until 2023.

As part of that agreement, the KRPF will be able to gradually increase its overall number of policing staff from 65 to 89 over the five-year period.

By 2023, the KRPF should have 24 new constables, investigators, training officers and captains on the force, police officials told Kativik Regional Government meetings in Kuujjuaraapik this week.

That will mean more officers in most of Nunavik’s 14 communities, the KRPF said, and the ability to offer them a more flexible work schedule, with sufficient rest periods.

There will also be a dedicated KRPF officer to provide on-site training to new officers to the region.

The force is in almost constant recruitment mode due to a high turnover and now has funding to hire more staff.

In recent years, the KRPF has been looking to attract candidates from police training programs in the Maritimes, most recently through a recruitment drive in Prince Edward Island.

Other highlights of the new agreement include:

• The replacement of old vehicles and the purchase of 17 new police vehicles, bringing the minimum in each community to three. KRPF vehicles will now be replaced every five to seven years.

• The continued deployment of Taser devices to each of Nunavik’s 14 communities by the end of 2019, up to a total of 29.

• The replacement of the KRPF’s computer software and radio communication system.

Separate from the new funding agreement, the Quebec government has committed to build new police stations in Puvirnituq and Inukjuak by 2022.

The KRPF has also been in discussions with the Quebec government concerning the installation of video-conferencing facilities in at least two Nunavik communities, to facilitate long-distance court appearances and to help cut down on the transfer of detainees to southern jails.