The Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) will hire eight new officers using almost $1 million from the provincial government, increasing the total number of provincially funded positions from six to 14.
However, while this funding will help address “social disorder concerns,” the province says it still won’t fully fund the MJPS’s internet child exploitation (ICE) unit despite repeated calls from the police chief and Board of Police Commissioners.
More than 20 people filled the police service’s multi-purpose classroom on Sept. 9 as MLA Paul Merriman, minister of corrections, policing and public safety, announced that Moose Jaw was receiving $952,000 to recruit more members.
The eight new officers will allow the MJPS to increase its presence in public areas and focus more on child exploitation and serious crime prevention, detection and response.
These officers will join six other provincially funded members already with the MJPS; two are in Police and Crisis Team (PACT) units and four focus on traffic safety.
This money is part of the government’s recent $17.1 million dole-out to address public safety and give agencies new enforcement tools.
Specifically, $11.9 million will help hire 100 new officers, $2.7 million will support 14 new officers with Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN), and $2.5 million will support the Saskatchewan Police College during the next three years.
During the news conference, reporters asked Merriman when the province planned to fund the MJPS’s ICE unit, considering it already supported other units elsewhere in Saskatchewan.
“In conversations with the chief, this has been brought forward to me several times. We do have ICE units based out of Saskatoon and Regina that work on a provincial level that do move around the province based on what is going on,” he said.
“I think the officers that we’re bringing forward here today is certainly complementary to front-line policing, but we also understand there is a lot that has to be done,” he continued, “so that’s a proposal that the chief has brought forward and that we’re considering under a review of our budgetary process.”
Merriman acknowledged that Moose Jaw’s police board had been asking the province to fund the community’s ICE unit “for years,” but pointed out the eight new officers — the largest one-time addition recently — will provide more help all-around.
Chief Rick Bourassa said discussions are still required about how the MJPS will divide the officers amongst its units. However, the recruits will support the priorities of protecting children, maintaining safety in public spaces and preventing and disrupting serious criminal activity.
“… as we go through our budget process, you’ll hear more about where we end up,” he said. “And, of course, we will be communicating back to the province to ensure we’re meeting the priorities the province has set for that.”
Those areas have been identified at the provincial level and locally through a community survey and regular data, Bourassa continued. Residents have expressed their concerns about safety downtown, so the MJPS will use these new officers to address those worries.
While the police service could always use more officers, it appreciates that the province has gone from funding three members in 2013 to 14 today, the chief said. This will help the agency address “criminal disorder and social activity” while supporting people in need.
“There’s never … the exact perfect number, but this is really good news for our community,” Bourassa added.
Mayor Clive Tolley said he and council let the police chief and police board handle requests to the ministry about full funding for the ICE unit and trusted their efforts.
Meanwhile, he said this announcement was “one of the best days” Moose Jaw has had recently for provincial funding. He noted that residents are concerned about online child exploitation, new school-zone speeds and ensuring the downtown and area parks are safe for tourism, so these measures will go a long way to helping that.
“I’m very excited and thankful for that,” Tolley added. “And we look forward to the staffing and the training and everything to take place in the future to make that happen.”
