Calgary Police add investigator to focus on missing Indigenous people

The Calgary Police Service is taking a step to address the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls crisis inside the city by hiring an investigator to their missing persons team that will focus solely on Indigenous people.

“He’s currently working with our Indigenous relations team and also just training to get acquainted with everybody, encircling some trust,” said Insp. Kevin Forsen with the CPS Major Crimes section. “A big thing is listening and learning.”

He said the officer filling the role isn’t Indigenous himself, as it’s against the CPS HR policy to eliminate a job candidate based on race.

Instead, the officer will look to learn from the community.

Indigenous Calgarians make up three per cent of the population, but make up 35 per cent of the almost 4,000 missing person cases Calgary police see every year.

“Through the history of Canada, Indigenous people have been told how we’re going to help them, and so in this role, we’re really focusing on hearing what they want and how we can support them,” Forsen said.

Indigenous community member Michelle Robinson says this helps to fulfill some of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

“It’s absolutely needed and necessary and it’s a part of the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) people,” she said. “Part of the Calls to Justice was also to work with policing that are already established in Indigenous (communities), so in this place it would be like Blood Reserve Tribal Police, as well as Tsuut’ina — they have a tribal police.”

However, she says there is still more to be done.

“Its been important to establish those connections as well and I think there’s been lots of learning and a lot of understanding,” Robinson said, “There still needs to be major changes done.”

Robinson adds that one of the biggest barriers police officers face is the inability to fully understand Indigenous culture and perspectives.

“Institutions claim they want to be doing this work and they want to uphold some of it, but they’re not willing to do all of it, which makes the sum of it, ineffective,” she said.