(The Canadian Press)

By Nigel Maxwell

Police Response

Province launches new team to address gang activity and human trafficking

Nov 24, 2021 | 2:26 PM

In an effort to help target gang-related criminal activity entering the province, the provincial government plans to spend over $6 million annually on a new policing initiative.

The Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team (STRT) is a specialized intelligence-led enforcement team dedicated to addressing illegal weapons, drugs and human trafficking.

“The criminal activity that threatens public safety is oftentimes tied to the evolution of organized street gangs,” Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell said in a statement. “The STRT team will investigate illegal weapons, dangerous substances, and human trafficking entering the province through trafficking corridors to ensure the safety of our province.”

The STRT will be comprised of 30 RCMP officers, six municipal police officers, two criminal analysts, and three support staff, for a total of 41 new permanent positions.

They will have three offices strategically located in Lloydminster, Estevan and Swift Current.

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The government explained these locations were chosen based on their proximity to provincial boundaries and established trafficking corridors. Municipal STRT resources will be located in Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina.

“The team will be mobile and ready to deploy anywhere in the province to support other RCMP units and detachments, municipal police services, and intelligence and enforcement teams, in Saskatchewan as well as in Alberta and Manitoba,” the government statement said.

This initiative will cost $2.1 million for 2021-22 and approximately $6.4 million annually in each subsequent fiscal year. This is entirely new funding; no resources have been reallocated from other policing initiatives.

Response from Prince Albert’s Police Chief

In a statement emailed to paNOW, Police Chief Jon Bergen said the new STRT team will include two provincially-funded additional police members for the city’s police service, whose work will complement the continued efforts of the Prince Albert Police Service, and its service-wide focus on street gangs, guns and violence.

“Having an agile provincial team working closely with partnering agencies helps ensure police are able to respond both locally and provincially to crime,” he said. “The challenges facing police do not have borders and require a broader approach and one that allows us to maximize partnerships with other agencies and resources so that we can work together on our shared goals of reducing crime.”

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell