From left to right: Insp. Jason COLON (MFNPS), A/Chief of Police Bruno ROSSI (MFNPS), Superintendent Michael KOPPANG (RCMP) and Chief Superintendent Rob HILL (RCMP)
The Manitoba First Nations Police Service celebrated National Police Week earlier this month, by sending out kind gestures to other forces in Manitoba.
Acting police chief Bruno Rossi came up with the idea to send out the plaques as a way to say thank you and says it was well-received.
“We took our patch and Winnipeg’s patch, then had the plaque made with some nice writing in appreciation for the partnership that we work with the police services,” says Rossi. “We did the same for the RCMP and the Brandon Police Service. So, the reasoning behind it was we appreciate the cooperation and partnership that these bigger police services offer.”
Usually, centres like the Brandon Police Service, the Winnipeg Police Service, and the RCMP offer their facilities for training, which makes a huge difference for growing the organization. Rossi says, two years ago, they were at 33 members but have since spiked to 56 sworn officers.
“If we needed to use Winnipeg’s range, we’d reach out to them to do our firearms practice. We do have our own instructors in a lot of these areas, but it’s just the facilities that were lagging in the province for our police service,” says Rossi. “With the RCMP reaching out to our detectives and having our detectives work with their major crime unit was fantastic. Our detectives learned a lot of things that they normally wouldn’t.”
Rossi says the working relationship they have with the Brandon Police Service is critical because they help supply Phase B police training, which entails learning the use of force, firearms, and driving techniques. He says giving out the plaque during police week was the icing on the cake.
“It’s good to have that relationship when you can call upon a bigger police service to lend a hand,” says Rossi. “They’re happy, they appreciated what we did, and with it being police week, it was a perfect time to do it.”
