(Prince Albert Police Service/Facebook)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Crime Numbers

P.A. police union wants more officers to help with heavy workload

Jan 16, 2023 | 12:00 PM

The high number of calls to Prince Alberts Police Service (PAPS) appears to be taking its toll on officers.

That’s according to Nolan Carter, the president of the Prince Albert Police Association, who explained to paNOW there were around 46,000 calls for service last year.

This is a slight increase from 2021, however, assaults were at a five-year high while the nine homicides over the past 12 months were just under what the city experienced last year and in 2020.

Unfortunately, Carter doesn’t believe there’s one specific answer that can severely drop the numbers. One thing that he does believe can help is more officers.

“The number of officers has not increased a lot in the last 20 years especially when you compare the calls that were attended,” he said.

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Carter added many officers are simply overworked and still take extra shifts to help out.

“With more members it would certainly spread the number of incidents that one officer would see each year,” he added. “If that happens then the goal would be less stress related mental health concerns among members.

PAPS recently welcomed its newest batch of recruits to fill vacant positions. They also created four new positions in 2020 which brought the total amount of positions with PAPS to 106. All but one are filled with the remaining vacant position currently funding a confidential document server.

However, Carter thinks that number is simply not enough.

“With more officers we can hopefully become more of a proactive police service which will in turn make the community safer for everyone. Members want to be proactive in the community, try to prevent crime and curb the increases but the calls that we attend just won’t permit that right now,” he said.

Carter also made it clear that he isn’t attacking the abilities of any officer, only that one person can only do so much. He fully believes every officer on the force is doing what they can to make P.A. as safe as possible.

Meanwhile, there may be a few things residents can do to help out PAPS.

Carter explained many of the calls officers have to go to can easily be reported online, allowing them to prioritize the severity of each situation. He added many crimes are also preventable such as stolen vehicles as many of those happen due to drivers leaving their keys inside the vehicle.

“There is no one solid answer for decreasing the incidents that the Prince Albert Police Service attends,” Carter added. “It has to be multiple things and multiple agencies including the community that come together and work together in order to bring our community from top three of the country’s most violent communities to being off the radar all together.”

PAPS Responds

While adding more officers would help the police service, it’s unfortunately not that simple.

The number of positions is determined by the Prince Albert Board of Commissioners and is funded by the city, provincial government, and Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

As mentioned before, PAPS created four new positions back in 2021 for a Proactive Policing Unit aimed at supporting patrol members. It’s being funded by a special $35 base tax on residents as part of a multi-year proactive strategy to address crime trends and high call volumes.

This new addition was the single biggest increase in the service’s history.

They state the heavy workload and their officers’ mental health continue to be top of mind.

Since July 2021, they’ve offered an in-house wellness strategy which includes support from a masters-level art psychotherapist, a certified counsellor, and a registered social worker who has worked with police members for more than 20 years. There is also a therapy-assist dog in the building as part of this program.

“Our wellness strategy focuses on helping members in responding to traumatic incidents and preventing occupational stress injuries such as PTSD,” read their statement. “Our wellness strategists are right in the building with us and provide information and opportunities to support mental and physical health and ensure anyone who wants to participate can access programming when and where they need it, without having to wait or make appointments.

PAPS claims this strategy is a leader among police services as only a handful of other agencies offer this type of in-house programming.

As for the heavy workload, they’re trying different tactics to reduce the numbers.

“In 2019, our Community Policing Unit was established to focus on high-visibility, proactive engagement in our community,” PAPS said. “In 2020, two Community Safety Officer positions were created to support our patrol division and reduce calls.”

They add they also continue to engage with community leaders and government officials to proactively promote public safety, while also participating on many boards and advisory meetings to discuss ways to support the community.

Much like Carter, PAPS believes the public can play a big part in decreasing the amount of crime in the city.

From reporting any suspicious activity to updating security surveillance systems to ensure clear, good-quality video and photos are available. Everyone should always lock their vehicles, sheds, and garages, while ensuring all valuables items are kept out of plain sight from passersby.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow