Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  My police service is responsible for 16 individual first nations in Ontario. We have a board, which has a representative from each one of the communities. The board identifies the priorities they feel the police service should be addressing in their community, and it's my job to

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I think a lot of effort has been made to try to bring down a lot of old beliefs in policing. One of the things we talk about is the residential school legacy. Police were viewed in those days as the people who came and took the children away. We're still living with that. We're s

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I don't think we have any evidence to show whether they're more comfortable reporting to a self-administered service or to the RCMP. I don't have any evidence of that, sorry.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I think it's getting better. A lot of work needs to be done. I was offered a common figure a number of years ago whereby a typical young women in this type of situation, in a violent home, often has 30 incidents of violence before she picks up the phone and makes that call to the

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I'll be honest with you: I have never heard of this, so it would be really difficult for me to comment on the effectiveness.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Absolutely.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I don't have an actual figure, sorry.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I could, absolutely.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I think our connection is with the larger associations, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Locally, many of our police services are involved with the local provincial-level association. Relationships are created, information is shared. With the creation and maintenance

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  That's a very good question. Currently, it's not a secret that many of our communities at times are in next to third-party management, where funding in a lot of our communities is limited, with so many mouths to feed and so little to go around. I think the priorities of a lot of

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for giving this opportunity to the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association to address you this evening. My name is John Syrette. I'm the police chief of the Anishinabek Police Service, but I'm also the president of the Fi

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Fourth, our relationship with aboriginal associations provides opportunities to speak with a unified voice on issues of concern that we all share, and bring consistent messages to our own communities. As police, we provide more effective front-line responses when we are open to