Summer is always a busy time in the communities, and the summer of 2012 was no different. Although calls for service were relatively consistent compared to previous years, we were fortunate that there were very few serious/tragic events. I believe that this is a direct result of the positive relationship between community and your Police Service (D.O.P.S.).

The Police Service and its Members strive to remain active within the community throughout the summer. One of the key initiatives that helps to make this possible is the summer student program. Young people are hired to work with other community programs to provide constructive youth orientated community events and activities. This year, our summer students helped organize and partici-pated in the DOTC/Ranger Insurance/DOPS Footballl Jamboree, baseball challenges, boat and wa-ter safety, as well as assist with the community Pow-wows.

This year we had several of the summer students in uniform. Hopefully this sends the message to the young people in the communities that policing is a career option.

This year’s summer students were: Birdtail Sioux First Nation – Laila Smoke Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation – Cody Martin Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation – Harrison Kaszas Sioux Valley Dakota Nation – Jason Taylor

I will take this opportunity to acknowledge our Members’ participation in the Pow-wow activities. It is often difficult to balance day to day operational demands with participation in community events, such as Grand Entries at Pow-wows. The addition of a dedicated Crime Prevention Constable has certainly helped, and many have seen Cst. Aldyne Stevenson and our new Crime Prevention vehicle at community events.

I wish everyone a safe Hallowe’en.

D.A. (Doug) Palson Chief of Police Dakota Ojibway Police Service

Welcome to our Newsletter!

Fire Prevention 2

Crime Prevention Report 3

Halloween Safety 4

Contact Us 4

MFNPA Executive 4

Inside this issue:

Message from the Chief of Police

DAKOTA OJIBWAY POLICE SERVICE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

Vol. 4 Issue 11

September 2012

VISION STATEMENT

“Dakota Ojibway Police Service com-mits to be proactive in providing the

high standard of public service to the Communities and transparency

with respect to cultures, beliefs, traditions, and history of First Na-

tions people.”

MISSION STATEMENT

“Strive to ensure the safety, secu-rity, trust and protection of the First Nation Communities: Birdtail Sioux, Canupawakpa Dakota Na-tion, Roseau River, Sandy Bay and Sioux Valley. Uphold the highest standards of professionalism and to honor the cultures, beliefs and tra-ditions of the First Nations families and communities of which the De-partment services.”

New Crime Prevention/School Resource Unit at the DOCFS Cul-tural Camp Grand Valley.

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FIRE PREVENTION/SAFETY

FIRE SAFETY/PROTECTION TIPS

Make suRe all family members know what to do in the event of a fire. Draw a floor plan with at least two ways of escap-ing every room. Make a drawing for each floor. Dimensions do not need to be correct. Make sure the plan shows important details: stairs, hallways and windows that can be used as fire escape routes.

Test windows and doors—do they open easy enough? Are they wide enough? Or tall enough?

Choose a safe meeting place outside the house.

Practice alerting other members. It is a good idea to keep a bell and flashlight in each bedroom.

CONDUCT A FAMILY MEETING

Conduct a family meeting and discuss the following topics: Always sleep with the bedroom doors closed. This will keep deadly heat and smoke out of the bedrooms, giving you additional time to escape. Find a way for everyone to sound a family alarm. Yelling, pounding on walls, whistles, etc. Practice yelling “FIRE!”. In a fire, time is critical. Don’t waste time getting dressed, don’t search for pets or valuables. Just get out? Roll out of bed. Stay low. One breath of smoke or gases may be enough to kill.

BE PREPARED PLAN AHEAD

Practice evacuating the building blindfolded. In a real fire situation, the amount of smoke generated by a fire mostly will make it difficult to see.

Practice staying low to the ground when escaping. Feel all doors before opening them. If a door is hot, get out another way.

ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR FIRE SAFETY

Install smoke detectors. Check them once a month and change the batteries at lease once a year. Smoke detectors sense abnormal amounts of smoke or invisible combustion gases in the air. They can detect both smoldering and burning fires.

At least one smoke detector should be installed on every level of a structure.

Post emergency numbers near telephones. Be aware that if a fire threatens your home, you should not place the call to emergency services from inside the home. It is better to get out and place the call to fire authorities.

Make sure you have a safe fire escape method for all situations.

Space heaters need space. Keep Portable and space heat-ers at least 3 ft from anything that may burn. Never leave heaters on when you leave home or go to sleep. Children and pets should always be kept away from them.

Smokers need to be extra careful. Never smoke in bed or when you are sleepy.

Be careful cooking. Keep cooking areas clear of combusti-bles and wear short or tight-fitting sleeves when you cook. Keep the hands of your pots turned inward so they do not over-hang the stove. If grease catches fire, carefully slide a lid over the pan and smother the flames, then turn off the burner. If you stove plate catches on fire, douse the fire with baking soda.

Matches and lighters are dangerous. In the hands of a child, matches and lighters can be deadly! Store them where kids can’t reach them. Teach children that matches and lighters are tools and should only be used by adults.

Use electricity safely. If an appliance smokes or has an unusual smell, unplug it immediately and have it repaired. Replace frayed or cracked electrical cords and don’t overload extension cords. They should not be run under the rugs. Never tamper with the fuse boa or use the improper size fuse.

Cool a burn. If someone gets burned, immediately place the wound under cool water for 10-15 minutes. If the burn blisters or chars, see a doctor immediately!

Be careful of halogen lights. If you have halogen lights, make sure they are away from flammable drapes and low ceil-ing areas. Never leave the on when you leave your home of office.

LEADERSHIP IS ABOUT MAKING WISE CHOICES

1st Annual Flag Football Jamboree

1st Annual Flag Football Jamboree in Brandon and Portage La Prairie. Sponsored by Ranger Insurance, DOTC, DOPS and Yellowquill College. Basic Football techniques and round robin tournament with CFL Alumni players and other Manitoba coaches.

Law Enforcement Torch Run

URBAN TREATY

PAYMENTS 2012

Treaty Payments in Brandon Cst. Gerri

Beardy (RCMP), Cst. Krystle Whitecloud

(DOPS) Cst. Aldyne Stevenson (DOPS).

Jo-Ann Helgason Crime Prevention Coordinator

DOPS Community Activities

We had a variety of activities this past summer. Through Canada Summer Jobs we were able to hire 4 students to work as crime prevention students in our communities of Birdtail Sioux, Sandy Bay, Roseau River and Sioux Valley. We were able to try something new this summer with our eligible students and supply each with a “cadet” uniform. Students were able to accompany a regular mem-ber on ride alongs and check stops. (Photo of summer students on front page)

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CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITY/HIGHLIGHT REPORT

Sandy Bay Water & Boat Safety

Community Speed Watch in Sioux Valley in partnership with Brandon COPP.

Community Slow pitch chal-lenge in Birdtail Sioux.

DOPS Open House and Commu-nity BBQ in Roseau River.

Our water/boat safety day scheduled at Oak Lake Beach was unfortunately cancelled to the extreme wind conditions but hotdogs and miniature golf were still enjoyed by all..

DOPS participated with the Law Enforcement Torch Run in Bran-don. All proceeds raised went to support Manitoba Special Olympic Athletes. Thanks to all the runners!

DAKOTA OJIBWAY POLICE SERVICE

P.O. Box 37

Portage la Prairie, MB R1N 3B2

Office: (204) 856-5370

Fax: (204) 856-5389

Email: dops@dops.org

Website: www.dops.org

Birdtail Sioux Detachment

P.O. Box 44

Beulah, MB ROM 0B0

E911: (204) 568-4621

Fax: (204) 568-4552

Canupawakpa Detachment

P.O. Box 40

Pipestone, MB R0M 1T0

E911: (204) 854-2953

Fax: (204) 854-2364

Roseau River Detachment

P.O. Box 190

Dominion City, MB R0A 0H0

E911: (204) 427-3383

Fax: (204) 427-3389

Sandy Bay Detachment

P.O. Box 644

Marius, MB R0H 0T0

E911: (204) 843-7700

Fax: (204) 843-7702

Sioux Valley Detachment

P.O. Box 130

Griswold, MB R0M 0S0

E911: (204) 855-4400

Fax: (204) 855-4402

Kids love Halloween! They get to dress up and get free candy! What a perfect holiday! Give your kids some precious Halloween memo-ries that they'll have for life.

Here's some tips that we have just for you kids, to help keep you safe on Halloween night! Some of these ideas are called "common sense" ideas, that means that they are things that you should know and use every day in life. You are never too young to learn!

Never, ever go into a strangers house or even ring their door for treats unless your parents are with you and say that it's okay. There are some people in life that aren't very nice to kids and you have to be careful. Al-ways make sure that your mom or dad is within sight when you go out trick-or-treating.

Be careful when you cross a street. Make sure to look in both directions and make sure that there are no cars coming. If you have a little brother or sister with you, take their hand and help them get across the street, too. If the street has a stop light, wait until the cross walk light tells you that it's okay to cross now, but still check before you cross, look both ways.

If you are an older kid or young teen, and going out with friends, make sure that your parents know where you are going and who you are going with. This may seem like a pain but they are your parents and they love you. They just want you to be safe.

If you can drive, taking a bunch of friends to a party, make sure you have enough gas to get there. You don't want to run out on a dark street, all alone, like a bad horror movie!

If you parents give you a curfew, be home when they say. It builds trust between you and them and they are doing it for your own safety. If you are going to be late, call them and let them know.

Vandalism is never cool! Throwing eggs at cars and houses is not cool. Someone has to clean it up and it could be you, if you get caught. You can also be arrested and punished as a juvenile. So, don't think that it's fun only if you can get away with it. It's never the right thing to do! Think about how you would feel if someone did that to your house and how bad it would make you feel.

Hurting animals is never acceptable be-havior! Some people use Halloween as an excuse to hurt cats and that is just wrong! Not only is it illegal in most places to hurt or torture ani-mals and punishable by law, you should never hurt a helpless living thing.

Have fun on Halloween but keep it safe, have some good, clean fun and your parents will trust you for many Halloweens to come! Show-ing them how responsible you can be will give you a feeling of pride and make them see just how adult you really are.

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Manitoba First Nation Police Association Executive for 2012/2013: President: Jason Colon Vice-President: Matt Nicholson Secretary/Treasurer: Giselle Bell