Aboriginal community reaches 'historic' agreement with Montreal police

Montreal police have committed to new training and a protocol to handle cases of missing and murdered indigenous women under a landmarkagreement signed today with the city's aboriginal community.

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The agreement will establish new training for police officers and teach them about aboriginal culture and history.

It will alsocreate a protocol to improve prevention and response to cases of missing and murdered indigenous women.

Police chief Marc Parent said he's hopeful theagreementwill help build trust between officers and First Nations and Inuit people.

"The missing person issue is a big one in Montreal," Parentsaid in an interview following Thursday's announcement.

"We want to work together to address this situation."

The agreement comes after months of work by the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network.

"There's very few other cities who have done this,and those that have done it were put together by the police"Nakuset, the co-chair of the network and the executive director of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, told CBC.

"This is the first time where the Montreal urban aboriginal community has met with the police, created something, and they're accepting it."

Nakuset said thecultural training in particular will help police work more effectively with the aboriginal community.

"Learning the history is going to bring a lot of empathy and a better understanding of what we've been through," she said.

She added that the protocol established under this agreement could be used as a blueprint for other cities.