Drones, airboats, cameras: Ottawa is providing $12 million to bolster police services in Akwesasne, a community on the American border where drug trafficking is high and where eight migrants headed to the United States earlier this year died
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At a news conference on Thursday, Akwesasne Police Chief Shawn Dulude said the various technologies are intended to help police patrol the territory due to a lack of manpower. “Like any other police service,” explained Mr. Dulude, “we have difficulty attracting young police officers to work in our communities.”
“Given this situation, it would be ideal to have a police officer on every street corner […] but we know that won’t be the case,” he said. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, present at his side, hailed the virtues of “strong borders,” the result of significant federal investment in fighting cross-border organized crime.
In an interview with the Journal de Montréal earlier this year, Mr. Dulude detailed the dynamics at work in the Mohawk community, whose members, particularly the youngest, are struggling with economic and social difficulties.
- Listen to the interview with Marco Mendicino, Minister for Public Security, on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show QUB radio:
“Criminal organizations, whether they’re from Montreal, Toronto or Ottawa, are targeting our region because they know they can prey there on young people who have some knowledge of the waters and shores that can be used to kill people across the border.” said the police officer.
Specifically, the funds Ottawa announced today could be used to install surveillance cameras “at community entrances and exits or along the river corridor.”
We recall that eight migrants lost their lives trying to cross the border into the United States by boat.
The investigation into this case is ongoing and there is nothing new to report, Shawn Dulude said. Last month, Akwesasne Mohawk Police seized two vehicles linked to the smugglers.