From left: Mayor Bill Powalinsky, Legislative Secretary Blaine McLeod, Chief Patrick Nogier and MLA Kevin Kasun at a re-announcement of provincial funding for police services at Prince Albert City Hall. (Image Credit: Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

CSO program

PA Police to bump up Community Safety Officer numbers  

Feb 6, 2026 | 3:08 PM

One of the changes on the Prince Albert Police Service’s radar is expanding the Community Safety Officer (CSO) Program – something that will be made easier with provincial funding.

The Government of Saskatchewan reinforced its commitment to public safety in Prince Albert by continuing to fund the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) enforcement initiative.

As part of this initiative, the Prince Albert Police Service will receive $833,000 to support the recruitment and retention of approximately seven officers.

“This funding reflects a strong and constructive working relationship between the Government of Saskatchewan, the City of Prince Albert, and the Prince Albert Police Service. From the police perspective, this is good news,” said Police Chief Patrick Nogier.

Nogier said CSOs will help reduce the workload for other officers and are an efficient use of dollars.

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There are currently two active CSOs working, and the plan is to bring that number up to five.  

Nogier said interest in the positions has been strong, and while CSOs don’t have identical training to standard police officers, they can do many of the same things.  

“Community safety officers play a critical role in modern policing. They allow us to respond more appropriately to social disorder, mental health, addictions, and complex needs situations,” he said.  

Not all calls require a response from a fully trained police officer, but still require a professional manner which is where Nogier said the CSO can step in. Doing that takes some demand off of front-line officers. Nogier said they will also play a part in the new Mobile Complex Needs Teams, which include an officer, a medic and a social worker who respond to people in crisis in public.  

The first team is already active and is the result of a federal grant.  

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The money announced today in a provincial news release is not new funding; it was first publicized just prior to the last provincial election. Prince Albert was allocated 17 officers, but Nogier pointed out it takes a while to go from hiring positions to officers on the street.  

“This investment is about capacity and sustainability, not instant increases to street strength,” he said. 

The municipal service has seven new officers coming on board this year, but that will just replace officers who have either retired or moved into other jobs.  

“This funding allows us to increase the number of provincially funded positions within our organization and, importantly, to expand on community safety officer deployment,” Nogier said. 

A potential issue for local police is if their numbers grow, so will the need for more space.

The Prince Albert Police Service has a current strength of 112 sworn officers. Once money is allocated, an application is made to the Board of Police Commissioners to approve the extra numbers.  

The Commission sets the numbers and makes the budget every year. Funding comes mainly from the City, but some officers are funded by the province.  

The commission has authorized a strength of 120 officers, but that represents a hurdle for police services who, across the board, are alredy facing recruitment challenges.

Nogier said his focus is making the service sustainable, and the extra money from the province will help with that.

“With this announcement, we need to get people that are specialized,” he said. More specifically, that means specialized in aggravated assaults, robberies and hate crime investigations.  

“We know we have to be better. Our response needs to be better and our aim in 2026 is identifying four officers that we can put into a general investigation section that can take that workload away from our frontline members.” 

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social