Despite a survey showing the number of aboriginal cops policing native communities has dropped by more than 20 per cent, an Akwesasne, Ont. police officer says the real problem is keeping staffing levels up, regardless of whether they are native or not.
Const. Robert White, founder and the former president of the Akwesasne Police Association (APA), said all of Akwesasne Mohawk Police's 26 officers are aboriginal, but the service is currently down four officers.
White says the service should have up to 35 officers by now.
A 2007 survey of all 788 native officers across the country shows the number of aboriginal officers policing native communities down to 55 per cent from 77 when compared to a similar survey taken in 1996.
The "change (is) most marked in the RCMP, but (is) also substantial in the SA (self-administered)" police forces of many native communities, according to the report.
White says there is a good reason why the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service (AMPS) doesn't have a full complement of officers.
"There's nobody kicking the door down to come work here,"White said. "Nobody wants a thankless job. They hear all the horror stories about the former chief of police that we had."
White declined to explain what he meant by "horror stories" as he is still in dispute with the police service.
Lewis Mitchell, the former police chief, resigned earlier this year after a dispute with membership went public.
White said when a job opens in the service, the administration tends to procrastinate in filling the spot.
But White is optimistic about the AMPS's future.
"I think things are going to start looking up now that there is a new (Mohawk) Council (of Akwesasne) administrator," White said.
Francis Sam was recently replaced by Sheree Bonaparte, who White describes as "really good."
"(Sam) wasn't too supportive of a police union coming in," White said. "He had a lot of control over the council. He saw me as threat. I very quietly felt the pressure."
White added that having all native cops working in Akwesasne works well for the territory because people "seem to be more cooperative with the officers."
According to RCMP Sgt. Patricia Flood, the RCMP's Cornwall detachment had four regular members out of 35 who identify as aboriginal as of June 30.
The RCMP doesn't police Akwesasne directly, but often works with AMPS in a variety of ways.
Flood could not say how the detachment's aboriginal officer numbers have changed over the years because the data was not available.
However, the RCMP has been employing aboriginal recruitment strategies since the 1990s by assigning divisional diversity officers who are responsible for building relationships with the various communities they serve in collaboration with recruiters.
The RCMP has attempted to make its officers "more culturally sensitive to aboriginals by developing services reflective of the aboriginal community, ongoing consultation with community leaders and through a responsive, effective, culturally competent police service."
The 2007 survey found progress in almost every other area of recruiting: officers generally have more education and experience, are better trained, and include more women.
But the face of native policing is becoming more non-native, as employment strategies apparently fail to engage more aboriginals on reserves.
Researchers are still investigating what factors might explain the decline in the number of aboriginal officers.