Safety officer presence deemed ‘a success story’

Local leaders are commending the work done by First Nations safety officers with wildfire evacuees in Brandon over the summer.

Working with Brandon police, safety officers from four First Nations reduced calls for service, addressed neighbourhood concerns and provided citizens with safety based on cultural understanding, the Southern Chiefs Organization said.

“When our northern relatives were far from home and facing fear and uncertainty, FNSOs provided culturally safe, trusted support,” SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said on Wednesday.

“They reduced pressure on local police, deterred criminal activity and — most importantly — helped citizens displaced by fires feel secure in unfamiliar surroundings.”

The safety officers arrived in Brandon in May with the first evacuees and left at the end of August.

They worked for about 20 hours a day, mainly at hotels where evacuees stayed, as a link between police and the community.

“This partnership with local police, governments and the Red Cross worked because our people were at the centre of the response,” Daniels said.

The safety officers who worked in Brandon were from Long Plain First Nation, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Skownan First Nation and Waywayseecappo First Nation, along with SCO’s Mobile Crisis Response Team, SCO said.

Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates said the safety officers functioned much like cadets and were a “tremendous assistance.”

“This was a success story. The benefit of having the FNSOs here … it provided a safe space, a comfort for evacuees to speak with an agency that they’re familiar with,” Bates said Wednesday.

Many of the communities evacuees came from already have safety officers present, he said, and that helped make them approachable for people staying in the city.

Safety officers also detained people at hotels when needed, which also proved to be a help.

“If we did not have FNSOs directly on site at a number of those establishments, many of those low-level disturbances or conflicts would have invariably escalated to more serious criminal incidents,” Bates said.

He said communication between safety officers and BPS allowed FNSOs to intervene on minor issues like disturbances.

“We appreciated all the work that they did to intervene in situations that were not escalated serious public safety matters.”

When safety officers left Brandon temporarily at the beginning of last month to deal with issues in their home communities, Bates said their short absence was noticed.

“That absence was felt within the city of Brandon, not just by our service, but by the neighbourhoods and the citizens that noticed a significant spike in disturbances and disruptions of their peace and security.”

Between July 3 and Sept. 15, there were 663 people detained in Brandon detention facilities. That’s up from a five-year average of 400 detainees during the same period.

“We lodged about 40 per cent more detainees this summer than we have any time over the last five years. So certainly, our work volume increased this summer,” Bates said.

“I won’t accord that specifically to the evacuees, but certainly when you’re dealing with additional populations in town and all the public safety considerations surrounding those populations, there is extra volume there.”

Bates said the number of people detained was also inflated because BPS recently added paramedics to the detention facilities. People being arrested can now be treated by those paramedics instead of at the hospital. That frees up police officers who had to stay at hospitals sometimes for hours while people were being treated.

“I would say that’s the biggest contributor to the 40 per cent increase in our detention numbers over the course of the summer,” Bates said.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the safety officers had a positive impact on the city.

“The FNSOs were very good at communicating with residents. They were very present communicating with the evacuees and the residents that were down here from the north,” Fawcett said.

“It was a very positive initiative to have them out here assisting. I really didn’t hear anything but positive feedback on the role of the FNSOs.”

Daniels said most of the funding for safety officers comes from First Nations themselves, with “very little” coming from the provincial and federal governments.

“We call for a permanent FNSO regional program with funding support from the Government of Manitoba and the Government of Canada,” he said. “This summer proved what works.

“The path ahead is clear: governments must commit to sustained First Nation-led safety programs so that our people’s security never depends on short-term fixes or broken promises.”

Bates said having FNSOs in Brandon will be important for future evacuations.

“Their presence is a pillar that is absolutely necessary if and when we get into these types of situations again.”

There are currently about 300 evacuees in Brandon. At its peak, the city hosted more than 1,400 evacuees.

The Red Cross said 32,600 people from more than 12,500 homes were registered as evacuees across the province as of Sept. 11.

The Red Cross didn’t respond to questions about how safety officers helped during evacuations.

Voicemails left for an FNSO representative weren’t returned by press time.

» alambert@brandonsun.com