Manitoba First Nations Police Service gets $155K from crime confiscations to pay for equipment, training

The Manitoba First Nations Police Service is getting a cash boost to buy some new gear and provide training tofront-line staff thanks to busted criminals.

The provincialgovernment announced on Thursday it is providing$155,100from itscriminal property forfeiture fund to the MFNPS, which will spend it onsoftware and computer training, breath alcohol testers andtechnician training, forensic analysis and the use of drones in investigations.

"This funding will be dedicated to initiatives that otherwise would not be possible, at least not this year," MFNPS Chief Doug Palson said.

The agency also intends to use some of the funds to develop gang reduction strategies andassist in drug- and crime-related investigations, he said.

Thecriminal property forfeiture fund, which was created in 2009,seizes and liquidates criminal assets then puts the money towardpolice and community initiatives.

Thursday's announcement was made at theSwan Lake First Nation office inHeadingley, just west of Winnipeg. Swan LakeChief Jason Danielssaid the money will give safety officers "the tools that are required to curb the illegal drug trade in our community that's affecting our employees, our families, our children."

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen, who made the announcement, used the opportunity to call on the federal government for what he said isa lack ofsustainable long-term funding for First Nations policing in Manitoba.

The province sent a letter in July to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, asking for an equitable distribution of total funding from the federal government based on Manitoba's on-reserve First Nations population, Goertzen said.

"Currently, only about eight per cent of the totalFirst Nations funding [First Nations and Inuit Policing Program] that is coming from Ottawa is sent to Manitoba,despite the fact that 19 per cent of the total on-reserve population [in Canada] is in our province,"he said.

"That results in45 of 63 First Nations in Manitoba communities not receiving any dedicated funding from the federal government when it comes to First Nations policing. I truly believe the federal government does see this as an important issue and we'll continue to advocate."