Sûreté du Québec won't order officers to remove offensive symbol from uniforms

Despite repeated calls, the Sûreté du Québec won't order its officers in Val-d'Or to stop wearing a symbol deemed intimidating by Indigenous people.

Almost two years ago, officers in the northwestern town and all over the province started wearing a red band with the number 144 for the Val-d'Or detachment on their vests.

It was a show of support for eight officers who were suspended in Oct. 2015 following allegations by Indigenous women that they were mistreated.

A high-ranking member of the provincial police acknowledged the red bands caused anxiety among Indigenous communities, but said the SQ will not force officers to remove them.

"It's clearly seen as an affront for them, for communities, especially in Val-d'Or," said Capt. Paul Charbonneau, interim director of discipline and legal services, while testifying at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (known by its acronym, MMIW) in June.

Charbonneau made the statements in June, but there was no media coverage until CBC asked one of the MMIW commissioners about the red bands during hearings this week in Quebec City.

Bernard Jacob, a lawyer for the inquiry pointed out there are eight stars as well on the band, to symbolize the eight suspended officers.

We prefer to convince [officers], not force them-Capt. Paul Charbonneau

"We're aware there is an issue of trust right now and that wearing the bands is a factor," said Charbonneau.

CBC News contacted provincial police, but the force will not comment on anything which comes up at the MMIW public inquiry.

Accusations 'hard on the morale'

Charbonneau told the MMIW commissioners that officers don't see the band as a symbol directed at the 12 Indigenous women who originally complained of discrimination, but instead, as a way to support their colleagues.

"You have to understand that inside that detachment, it was hard on the morale of the police officers."

MMIW lawyer Jacob asked Charbonneau five times why top brass won't order a stop to the "offensive" practice.

"We prefer to convince them, not force them," said Charbonneau, who said the force is trying to raise awareness among its troops about the harmful impact of wearing the bands.

He said there have been "several meetings" with staff who wear the bands, and some have stopped.

"We're multiplying the meetings in the goal of raising awareness among officers about the effect the sign on a uniform can have.

The goal is to get them to understand, said Charbonneau.

Radio-Canada captured a photo of two officers in Val-d'Or wearing the bands, less than a week after the judge presiding over Quebec's Indigenous Inquiry called on the force to act because the bands were described as "intimidation and provocation" by several witnesses.

Two officers on that team can be seen wearing the red band.

Charbonneau said no one working in that detachment wears the band anymore.

Another type of band also exists in Quebec, said Charbonneau. It has the words "thin blue line." He said it's in support of police officers who are facing criminal charges.

"I have high hopes that with the two inquiries, and with time, people will stop wearing the bands," said Charbonneau, who has worked in several regions with a high Indigenous population.