Fredericton police moving in 'right direction' on language, says deputy chief

Fredericton's deputy police chief says the force has increased the number of officers who can speak "some French" over the past two decades, but proficiency is not a pre-requisite in hiring.

Martin Gaudet could not say why a mandatory review of language proficiency on the force has not been conducted since 2002.

Earlier this year, the provincial official languages commissioner, Katherine d'Entremont, upheld two complaints against the force about a lack of service in French.

D'Entremont criticized the force for not evaluating how many officers with French proficiency it needed to ensure people could get service from police in the language of their choice.

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"The key finding was that they acknowledged they had never set … to determine what they needed in terms of capacity," d'Entremont said in an interview in September.

Gaude could not say why this evaluation hadn't been done before this year but suggest the force had made progress anyway.

"Twenty-three years ago when I joined the force, there were three police officers spoke French, or had some French proficiency … fast forward 23 years there are 33 police officers that have some French," Gaudet said.

"We're moving the needle in the right direction."

There are 107 officers in the department and 19 civilian staff, he said. Twelve officers are officially bilingual but others can speak some French.

Greater focus on French

Gaudet said there is a greater focus on attracting officers with some level of French proficiency than there has been in the past.

"[The hiring] process says that bilingual proficiency or French proficiency is preferred and an asset," said Gaudet.

"Hopefully, maybe one day it'll be a prerequisite."

The level of bilingualism required at the force isn't up to d'Entremont, and her report was meant to help guide the force toward more bilingualism.

Gaudet said the level of bilingualism in the force is comparable to the level in the city.

"In the city of Fredericton, there's about a 24 per cent [rate] of bilingualism … and [the force] range about 24 to 26 per cent," said Gaudet.

Technology?

Gaudet said the force has used technology to communicate with people who can't speak English.

"Officers [attend] scenes where Arabic or another language … none of us know," Gaudet said.

"The officers [are] pulling out their iPhone and using Google Translate."

Gaudet also said this method isn't ideal because it's hard to emphasise and express nuance through a translation app, which is sometimes required.

"It's tough to do with Google Translate," he said.