Shared approach to policing
New commanding officer at RCMP has vision for Nunavut
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 26, 2015
NUNAVUT
Chief Supt. Mike Jeffrey, Nunavut RCMP's new commanding officer, has a personal history with the territory.
RCMP Chief Supt. Mike Jeffrey returns to Nunavut as V Division's commanding officer. Two decades ago, Jeffrey served in Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq, then later in Iqaluit. - Michele LeTourneau/NNSL photo |
During his 29 years of service, Jeffrey has worked in many different provinces and territories.
But most notable for his new job as head of V Division is his time as a constable in Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq (known as Broughton Island then) in the early 1990s. After time away as detachment commander of Quebec's C Division, he returned as officer in charge of the Iqaluit detachment, then district advisor responsible for Nunavut's 25 detachments.
"I used to hear police officers talking, senior members, about 'I went to the North, it was the best part of my career,' and how the community rallied around them and how they were supported by the other members in the community," said Jeffrey.
"There's a nostalgia and pride about working in the North."
Jeffrey sees a developing Nunavut in transformation, more mature than it was when he was here previously. He said he sees a lot of progress, in the Government of Nunavut, in the education system, in families working together and trying
to make things better.
"Those are really good indicators that things are going to continue to get better for Nunavut," he said.
"I wanted to be a part of that transformation. I thought I could contribute to positive change for Nunavut."
Areas on the radar for improvement for him are more restorative justice and more prevention programs and education programs in regards to violence and bootlegging.
Jeffrey's main responsibility, other than ensuring policing is driven by the priorities of government and communities, is the quality of policing in the territory, with oversight of all officers.
With 142 people employed in 25 communities over a large geographical area, that job may be more challenging than in southern jurisdictions.
"It's very expensive, difficult to get all of the services that you would down south, such as mental health services, family violence services and other types of support services that you would get. So, as a result, often our police officers in communities are the first line of response to those kinds of issues."
However, with those challenges come opportunities. Officers often participate in a community in ways not possible in other jurisdictions.
"In Kugluktuk, for example, over the holidays the members and their wives cooked up a big feast, invited people to the detachment to come in and share a bite to eat and get to know them.
"Here in Iqaluit we held a Christmas dinner for the elders. We had about 70 elders. There are tons and tons of examples. The police officers go out of their way to ensure that they're becoming part of the community and it's about wellness."
Ultimately, says Jeffrey, people want to feel safe.
"In general, the majority of the communities we police in, the vast, vast majority of the people in that community are helpful, law-abiding citizens," he said.
"But like anywhere in the world there's a small core of individuals who for some reason do not want to comply with the laws and try to create problems for a community.
"What we need and what we do is we ask for the community's leaders to take an active role in promoting policing in their community - that's the mayor and the councillors - to help explain to some individuals who sometimes just don't understand that the police are in the community to help the community come together in a respectful way and they're not there to simply arrest people and take them out of the community."
Keeping people safe, he says, is a shared responsibility.
"And how they go about that, in the best scenarios, is when the community takes an active role at preventing stuff," he continued.
"So when they hear someone talking in the community about wanting to hurt someone or hurt themselves or do something bad, to have someone in that community counsel them, give them advice.
"Those are the best scenarios."
Jeffrey is looking forward to working with everyone, he says.
"Nunavut is getting better and better. I think it will continue to be better and better. Probably, one day, it will be like a little jewel of Canada."
