Residents Mary Lee Booth and Darrell Markin have finished serving on the Board of Police Commissioners and are reflecting on the positive developments they’ve seen during their five years.
Booth and Markin served several terms from 2019 to 2023 — both were also members before that — and have stepped down now that their time is finished. Both spoke about their experiences following the conclusion of the board’s meeting in late December.
The Board of Police Commissioners is an important body and does important work, while it is blessed to have great leaders like Chief Rick Bourassa, said Booth.
Furthermore, she has been impressed with the calibre of officers who have served over the years. She has noticed that the demeanour and approach of police have changed since the 1990s when she first began working in the community.
“So I really appreciate that because we want to continue to treat people as people. And as we know, there are more people that are hit with unfortunate times and the police are in contact with them daily,” Booth said.
Booth added that she appreciates officers showing compassion to hurting people even though they themselves have hard, stressful jobs and put their lives on the line daily.
Two initiatives that Booth appreciates are the Police and Crisis Team (PACT) and the Tactical Response Team (TRT). With that former, she likes that an officer is paired with a mental health professional since that allows the force to engage with vulnerable people. With the latter, she likes that the agency has a dedicated unit to handle situations involving weapons.
“When something goes off the tracks, it’s just really important that we have some local way to respond. And that keeps everybody safe,” she added. “… now we have the ability to respond right away rather than waiting for hours for Regina to come help us.”
Markin explained that he originally didn’t know what to expect when he joined but grew into the role and learned more than he expected. He thought Moose Jaw was lucky to have a police chief like Bourassa, a supportive senior leadership team and a professional group of officers.
Furthermore, he thought residents were lucky to have the police force they did based on the community’s size. Also, he noted that the agency has many young members who have plenty of potential.
While the board signed a new three-year deal with Bourassa in 2023, Markin said the force would have a new chief in a few years and many capable, “second-to-none” individuals could take on that role.
The 2024 budget process was slightly more difficult than in past years, but Markin praised city council for approving the police service’s request since it allowed the force to continue progressing and growing.
“So, it’s an important service and it’s one of those ones where we don’t want to take it for granted, that’s for sure,” he added.
One of Markin’s favourite memories was helping grow the Moose Jaw Police Service and its complement of officers from roughly 56 members to 64. He also enjoyed helping create a strategic plan that offered a vision for the future.
Markin again praised Bourassa, highlighting the police chief’s professionalism and the wisdom he imparted. The outgoing police commissioner thought he could use some of that education in the future.
The new incoming civilian police board members are Patricia Martynook and Nicole Swanson. Meanwhile, Coun. Crystal Froese joins Coun. Doug Blanc as a council rep, while Mayor Clive Tolley is automatically appointed based on sections in The Police Act.
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