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Justice Reimagined: Exploring the experiences and wisdom of Indigenous police officers

Stories | 01.31.25

Angie Kermer, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, remembers once attending a potlatch — a large ceremonial feast celebrated by Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Northwest — with her mother when she saw a woman whom she once arrested.

“As police officers, we see people at the worst moments of their lives,” said Kermer, now an adjunct faculty at Adler University in Vancouver. “At the time of the arrest, I remember the woman was combative with us.”

Anticipating a confrontation, Kermer immediately made a game plan. They were all in line for food, and she placed herself between her mother and the woman she once arrested.

“Was I ever wrong,” Kermer said. “And I love being wrong sometimes.”

There was no conflict. Instead, the woman greeted Kermer with a simple message: “I know you were just doing your job.”

Today, Kermer said, the woman is doing well, staying sober, and has since been reunited with her kids.

“And we’ve become friends.”

This was among the stories shared by Kermer, who has deep Indigenous roots from the Leqá:mel/Stólō, Squamish, and Haida tribes, during a Jan. 22 Common Hour event in Vancouver.

She was joined by retired RCMP Officer Edler Calvin Swustus, of the Cowichan Tribes, to share their experiences as Indigenous officers serving their own communities. The RCMP is Canada’s national law enforcement agency, delivering policing services across the country, including more than 600 Indigenous communities.

Aptly called “Justice Reimagined: The Power of Indigenous Wisdom in Law Enforcement,” the panel discussion focused on integrating Indigenous knowledge and understanding into contemporary policing and justice systems. The thought-provoking discussion was moderated by Jason Walker, Psy.D., Ph.D., associate professor and program director of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Applied Psychology programs.

Swustus and Kermer joined the RCMP at a young age, and it immediately became clear that their Indigenous backgrounds influenced their work as officers.

“I’m so thankful that my community welcomed me the way they did, but they also challenged me,” said Kermer, who joined RCMP in her early 20s. Her father was also an RCMP officer.

Swustus, who joined in 1978, recounted the incidents and crimes he responded to — from domestic disputes and suicides to robberies and break-ins. Many of those he encountered were friends and other Indigenous individuals were living with the trauma and impact of Canada’s residential school system, which operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages.

And when the residential system finally closed, Swustus spoke of his work interviewing survivors, witnesses, and the attempts to hold those who committed abuse accountable.

“I had to keep my soul strong,” Swustus recalled. “And there is still so much trauma today.”

Today, although no longer with the RCMP, both continue to work and give back to their communities.

Kermer now leads her own consulting firm, In a Good Way Consulting, which integrates Indigenous practices with organizational strategies to break down systemic barriers and promote an inclusive justice system.

Swustus has shifted his focus to serve as a Cowichan Tribes Councillor, where he is currently deputy Chief. His leadership was pivotal in launching a renowned restorative justice program that promotes reconciliation. In various communities, he helped establish First Nations Courts, which are criminal sentencing courts for Indigenous People that use restorative justice and traditional ways to reach balance and healing. These courts involve Indigenous judges, lawyers, counsels, and elders to create plans that restore the mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health of the community and survivor of crimes, while helping the perpetrator take responsibility for their actions.

Although both Kermer and Swustus recalled many of the challenges facing Indigenous police officers working in Indigenous communities, the Common Hour was bookended with two stories that highlighted unexpected reminders of the importance of their work.

Like Kermer, Swustus also ran into someone he once arrested — a young man who had trespassed private properties and stolen a water hose and gas can. The man claimed his car had broken down and planned to siphon gas from other cars. After taking him back to the police station, Swustus told the man he could go home and wait for a summons to appear in court.

Swustus, however, decided not to escalate the man’s predicament further, and he was never summoned to appear in court. That was the last time Swustus thought of it until years later when he ran into the same man at a restaurant.

“He kept eyeing me until he finally walked up to my table and asked if I was Constable Swustus,” he said. “I lied and said ‘no.’ But the man said, ‘Yeah, you are. I remember you.’”

The man then shared his story of how that interaction had changed his life for the better.

“He waited a week for the papers summoning him to court, and he shared how bad he felt about the situation, saying he would never do anything like that again,” Swustus said. “Since then, he become a father, and he told me, ‘I just wanted to thank you for what you did that night and how you changed my life.’”

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