Siksika Nation to take over policing

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The Siksika Nation will take over most of the reserve's policing in September with the completion of a three-way agreement for local police services.

And the newly expanded Siksika Nation Police Force is scheduled to take control of police duties in 1994.

"The Siksika Nation welcomed the prospect of First Nations officers policing First Nations communities. That prospect is now a reality," Chief Strator Crowfoot said in a media release following the deal-signing ceremony with federal and provincial ministers.

Under the agreement, Ottawa and the 4,100-member band will share the cost

of training and operating the local police force.

Ten recruits graduated in February from the province's training college and are now into an 18-month field training program in communities on or near the reserve.

The Siksika Nation, 100 km east of Calgary, has had a small constable service since the 1970s to police minor matters. But limited funding kept the forces small. In 1989, when the band created the Siksika Nation Police force, the three-man service worked out of a trailer and drove a battered old van.

The new force will be made up of the 10 recruits and police chief Dan Kirby,

who has 15 years RCMP experience in Quebec and Alberta. The band will continue providing a police building.