Secwepemc want to be included in provincial talks to modernize the BC Police Act
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SECWEPEMC TERRITORY, BC – First Nations in the region want to be involved in any discussion around changing the way policing is conducted in British Columbia. The request comes from Kukpi7 Wayne Christian, the Tribal Chairperson of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council.
In a public statement released Tuesday (June 30) afternoon, Christian calls for Secwepemc participation in any efforts to reform policing. “Without meaningful Secwépemc participation in the process of police reform, the RCMP will continue to uphold colonial state-sanctioned violence,” the statement reads.
The statement calls for a ban on the use of choke holds, unnecessary use of deadly force and qualified immunity. It says data collection, such as the use of body cameras, should become standard practice. And it demands Indigenous sensitivity training for all police departments, including First Nations officers who work as police officers outside their traditional territories.
It supports recommendations in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Final Report that calls for civilian and Indigenous oversight into policing matters. The report states, “Secwépemc peoples must be represented on Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP where police malpractice or assault investigation took place in Secwépemcul’ecw.”
