Partnership will help Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY – CRIME NEWS – The Thunder Bay Police Service is continuing to reach out to build community bridges. Today the TBPS have announced a partnership between the Thunder Bay Police and the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre.

The Thunder Bay Police Service has been reaching out to build the relationship between the city’s Anishinabek people and the police. Deputy Police Chief Hay walked in the Full Moon Memory Walk this year. The police have been participating in a number of efforts to build more communications bridges as well.

The Domestic Violence Protocol

The Thunder Bay Police’s Domestic Violence Unit has been in operation since June 2013. Investigators have been working to assist victims of Domestic Violence to ease the process required to bring the matters before the courts.

As part of a grant received from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, a protocol has been signed between the TBPS and the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre (TBIFC) to allow for a coordinated response to domestic violence.

The protocol is a commitment to:

• Increase access to holistically, culturally safe domestic violence programs and services for urban Aboriginal couples and their children;
• Protecting victims’ rights;
• Providing an effective healing response for victims and offenders with a shared philosophy and a coordinated collaborative approach.
  The six officers of the TBPS Domestic Violence Unit and the staff from the five programs offered at the Indian Friendship Centre met today to be introduced to each other and discuss the new protocol.

This collaborative effort will see the TBPS domestic violence investigators making consent driven referrals for victims to the various program at the TBIFC. This will be the first step in connecting victims to services available to help deal with the complex and diverse underlying issues contributing to violence in relationships.

The protocol is expected to be implemented in the next few weeks.