The challenge of being a policeman on Mohawk territory

Being a police officer is a difficult profession. Being a police officer in a community where the chances are close to 100% of crossing paths with a person you have arrested in the past, is even more difficult. Welcome to the daily world of a Kahnawake Peacekeeper.

One recognizes them easily in the Kahnawake scenery with their imposing vehicles with their prominent red letters. Every day, the Kahnawake Peacekeepers assure the safety of the habitants of the native reserve, but also that of tens of thousands of motorists who take the Mercier Bridge on a daily basis.

Patrolling at home

For John Dee Delormier, a Peacekeeper for three years now, the most difficult aspect of his job, but also his biggest advantage, is to live and work in a community of 10,000 inhabitants such as Kahnawake. « It's certain that I am going to cross the path again of people I arrest, » he notes. I have had to arrest members of my own family. I didn't feel like it, but that's my duty. »On the other hand, the fact of knowing the people they arrest or to whose assistance he comes to, influences his way of intervening.  « We can understand the people we are dealing with. We can be acquainted with their family history, » Delormier explains. « For example, for a certain person, his father might have been in the native residential schools, he may have experienced some very difficult times, and perhaps had alcohol problems. I am going to take the time to go and talk to him. I may have grown up with him. »

A close-knit community

The most trying experience that he had to face in his short PK career up to now has been to find his lifeless uncle. « He had been dead for a week when we went to his house. There were three photos in his house, and one of them was a photo of my dad and me, » he relates. Delormier asserts that when such an event takes place, the Mohawk community quickly draws closer and both police colleagues and civilians will offer their support to the police officer who experiences such difficult moments.

In spite of it all, he would not change professions for all the money in the world. Before becoming a PK, Delormier was an elected Chief with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake.

« It's a lot easier to be a Peacekeeper than a politician, » he believes. The bureaucracy which surrounds political decisions considerably slows down actions, compared to police action, which is concrete and generally swift.

The training

To become a member of the Kahnawake Peacekeepers, each future police officer receives the same training as RCMP policemen, in Regina. With one key difference. « At the end, we don't swear an oath to The Queen, » he stresses. « When we return to Kahnawake, we pledge allegiance to our police chief. »

Tobacco and poker

It is known that the Kahnawake Peacekeepers do not intervene in businesses linked to tobacco and poker on the reserve's territory. Why not? According to Delormier, the PKs' mandate is to apply the laws of the Criminal Code, but also those in force on Mohawk territory. The tobacco commerce and gaming industry are considered legal on the reserve by virtue of Kahnawake Mohawk Law.

Allegations at Val d’Or

Asked to comment on the recent allegations of sexual aggression and abuse of power on the part of Surete du Quebec police officers towards native women in Val d 'Or, Delormier is convinced that a greater presence of aboriginal police officers would make an enormous difference on the territory. « The police there come from Laval, St. Constant or anywhere in Quebec and arrive in Val d 'Or.They have no idea of the reality of living in the North nor of the past of these people (natives), » Delormier emphasized.

« I know that these are only allegations up to now, but from the beginning my heart went out towards these vicims, because I am a native. The reality of being aboriginal in Quebec and in Canada is different from all other forms of minority, » he surmised.

Some numbers

$4.3 million :The provincial and federal governments finance the native police services. For the 2015-16 fiscal year, Kahnawake received $4,385,000 from the goverments for the Peacekeepers. Of this amount, $2,105,203 comes from Quebec.

22:Quebec has 22 native police forces that serve 44 of the 55 aboriginal communities in the province.

(translation: Dan Rosenburg)