Chief Nogier was gifted a blanket as part of his swearing in ceremony. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

PRINCE ALBERT POLICE

Prince Albert’s new Police Chief talks about the year that was and what lies ahead

Dec 27, 2023 | 5:00 PM

It was a big year for the Prince Albert Police Service with the largest shift happening in the top ranks in 2023.

On May 18, Chief Jon Bergen announced his retirement effective May 31.

During the press conference, Bergen cited several personal and defamatory attacks against himself and his team. Some of the examples included his wife and daughter cleaning up malicious posters that had been scattered across the city, as well as his daughter being followed around the city by members of the police service.

Bergen had also been the subject of two non-confidence votes by members of the police association over the past three years. The most recent one occurred just weeks after the death of a 13-month-old boy in February 2022, the launch of an investigation by the Provincial Complaints Commission (PCC) and the suspension of two officers.

On the same day that Bergen retired, an Interim Chief was appointed for Prince Albert Police: Patrick Nogier, a 30-year member of the Saskatoon Police Service and current Superintendent of the Criminal Investigations Division.

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In October, the Prince Albert Board of Police Commissioners announced that Nogier would be named the full-time Chief of Police and was sworn in on Nov 29.

In a year-end interview with paNOW, Nogier talked about the past several months serving as Chief and the specific areas he’s looking to address in 2024.

“It’s amazing how quickly time flies, especially when you’re putting in long hours, but we’ve seen some significant progress in a number of different areas,” he said. “We’ve really gained a lot of common ground and we’re really starting to push forward with new initiatives moving into 2024.”

When looking back at 2023, Nogier acknowledged the criticism the police service has endured, which included the results of an investigation by the PCC into Prince Albert police. The final report featured 45 recommendations for improvement including an annual strategic plan and clearly defined processes and training around discipline and human resources.

Nogier said that in January, they will release an operational plan, a yearly outlook that provides a specific direction for the organization with tactics and goals to fulfil.

“When you land as an interim Chief of Police, you’re just trying to get a true evaluation of the status of the organization and if there’s a need for intervention (and) if there’s a need for disruption that there’s need for communication, that’s what you’re trying to do within the first three to four months,” he said.

Nogier pointed out that the issues facing Prince Albert and the police service are not unique to the city as other police forces in western Canada are dealing with an ebb and flow regarding respect to police and the relationship they have with the communities they’re serving.

This includes issues like responding to homelessness, police interactions, including use of force situations, and officers being charged with criminal offences.

Nogier also pointed out a disturbing trend that showed up in 2023: assaults on officers.

“We’re seeing trends across Canada and in particular trends in Saskatchewan where results are up. When we were doing a dive in November, we saw that there were 42 occurrences that involved assaults against police officers in 2022 that climbed to 60 in 2023,” he said.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that officers are in a safe environment. We ask them to do a lot (and) we asked them to do it under trying circumstances, challenging times.”

Another alarming statistic that Nogier first presented to the media in September is the number of people fleeing from police when officers attempt to pull them over. This year so far, Nogier said there have been 424 occurrences where drivers had not stopped for police, a substantial increase from 2022. Many of those situations involved a stolen or suspected stolen vehicle.

Nogier said it’s not the number of incidents that are occurring but the increased danger it brings to residents.

“Not only are they putting the officer at risk and themselves at risk, but they’re putting everyone else on the roadway at risk,” he said. “We need to make sure that our response to Traffic Safety initiatives is as robust as it can be, and we are looking at enhancing some of those efforts into 2024.”

Circling back to the operational plan coming in January, Nogier said there are a few important issues they’re looking to tackle in the new year. This includes public safety, celebrating culture, community connections and leadership.

The past year also brought out the human side in the Prince Albert Police Service which included a couple of recent initiatives to give back to the community.

Earlier this month, members of the police force took part in the Hunger Games, in partnership with the Prince Albert Grand Council to raise food for the less fortunate.

“We’re successful in raising approximately $400.00 for those initiatives,” said Nogier who also talked about the success of the Shop With A Cop event where 25 students went shopping with local police officers to purchase Christmas gifts for their families.

Nogier is hoping to build on those initiatives and create more connections between police and the community in 2024.

“Making a connection between our profession and the community and then doing everything that we can to try and bridge the gap,” he said. “Have a better understanding, humanize the position in the uniform and that’s our going to be our goal moving forward.”

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panews@pattisonmedia.com