New police chief speaks on guns, pills and his immediate duties

Jerry Swamp only has one week of experience as police chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, but he brings 18 years of police knowledge with him to the position and of those 18 years, all 18 were spent in Akwesasne.

Swamp accepted the challenging police chief position offered to him by the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and Akwesasne Mohawk Police Commission. The two entities had been searching for a new police chief for several months following the resignation of longtime police chief Lewis Mitchell. The deputy chief at that time Steve Lazore becameacting police chief throughout the hiring process.

Swamp has been with the AMPS since 1991 after graduating from the Ontario Police College, where all Ontario police recruits are sent. His interest in policing had strongly developed when he majored in law and security at St. Lawrence College.

“I think the idea of policing is something that intrigued me,” Swamp said. “I always wanted to help the community and when the opportunity came up (to join AMPS) I applied.”

Swamp was an officer for four years before being made a detective and later sergeant detective of the crime unit at AMPS.

His immediate duties as police chief include finding qualified individuals to fill the positions vacated in recent months. Those positions include one detective, a sergeant detective and deputy chief, along with six officers, 2-3 of which will be hired in the next month. AMPS currently has a police force of 25 officers.

Akwesasne’s police chief by no means has an easy job and Swamp is familiar with the issues that currently affect the community. However, he believes that in some areas, Akwesasne is not any worse off than other towns, communities or reservations. However, he said Akwesasne experiences a vast variety of issues.

“It’s so spread out,” he said. “In most Native communities alcohol or domestic abuse is the problem. We have a variety here where it’s not just one issue.”

In part Swamp said that’s because AMPS officers are pro-active.

“We go out and look for things,” he said.

The illegal use of pills – selling or using – seems to be of growing concern to parents in Akwesasne, but Swamp doesn’t believe it’s a phenomena specific to Akwesasne.

“I think that’s a rising concern for every community,” he said. “Pills and the use of prescription drugs are one of the fastest rising crimes.”

As for gun control, Swamp agrees that there is a problem in Akwesasne with the possession of certain types of guns like assault weapons that have no use in the traditional hunting sense.

“Gun control in Native communities is always a concern,” he said. “Historically we’ve always been hunters and fishermen. But it’s the assault type weapons that have a concern to police. Those have no use when it comes to hunting. We’ve seized quite a few of those over the years.”

Though Swamp has many challenges ahead of him, he said he will have help from different areas of the community, his colleagues, as well as Mitchell and Lazore.

“I believe the previous chief and deputy chief will be a lot of help as mentors,” he said.