by Roy Dahl
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 22/97) - Gameti (Rae Lakes) is learning how to police itself.

In September, the community hired three public safety officers, responsible for providing community security. They've spent a month at the RCMP academy in Regina, learning how to defend themselves, how to solve problems and what to do in event of emergencies.

Now they're learning how valuable that training is in the community, as they deal with everyone from speeding snowmobilers to curious children asking questions about badges and street safety.

It's training needed in Rae Lakes, since the loss of their RCMP detachment to cutbacks several years ago, said band manager Lana Roeland.

"We're really happy the RCMP has been working with us on this project," she said. "This has been a priority of the council for several years."

A priority caused by the departure of their one local RCMP officer several years ago.

In the early '90s, the RCMP was hit with budget cuts that saw some 30 Northern positions disappear. That resulted in officers being transferred out of communities like Gameti. A situation that saw community policing being done out of larger centres like Fort Simpson.

However, people in the small communities often didn't feel safe, and councils across the North began to look for home-grown solutions.

"The band in Rae Lakes has taken a proactive approach to their security problem," said Gunther Laube, the community policing co-ordinator for the territorial Department of Justice.

"Rae Lakes can't enact bylaws because of the size of the community, and can't hire an officer, but they are trying something innovative."

The program is being used as a model for other communities like Gameti, he said, and if successful, Wha Ti and Tulita may soon follow suit.

"Their main job will be to ensure buildings are secure, and children are off the street at a certain hour," explained Brian Burell of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Burell said the officers will not have the same powers of arrest and detainment normally granted to police officers, but they will become "the eyes and ears of the RCMP."

The program is still in its infancy, explained Burell, and while there are details such as determining who supervises the officers, no one associated with the program is doubting its future success.

While the officers have now been on the job for three months, still learning the ropes of being local security officers, government and local organizers continue to meet to discuss officer roles and responsibilities.