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Ottawa, Alberta, block appointment of Blood Tribe police chief

The Blood Tribe in southern Alberta is without a police chief after federal and provincial officials blocked the appointment of a suspended officer.

LETHBRIDGE — The Blood Tribe in southern Alberta is without a police chief after federal and provincial officials blocked the appointment of a suspended officer.

Officials from the two governments stepped in after the Blood Tribe Police Commission appointed Sgt. Allen Eli-Wolf Tail to the job.

Eli-Wolf Tail had been suspended with pay for more than a year.

Blood Chief Charles Weaselhead says federal officials had threatened to withhold further funding for the tribal police service beyond March 30 unless Wolf Tail was removed.

He says and an interim chief from an outside police agency is to be appointed until a permanent replacement is found.

In order to continue receiving federal money for policing, the tribal council must also introduce conflict-of-interest guidelines that prohibit immediate family members of active tribal police officers from serving on the police commission.