Saskatoon police asked to file report on detention of people with complex housing needs

There's a small group of people in Saskatoon that officers know well from their repeat visits to cells, but when they're released they have nowhere to go.

Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark put forward a motion during a Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners meeting Thursday afternoon asking the police service to file an in-depth report on the Saskatoon Police Service's interactions with them, hoping to better understand how to support them.

The motion requests police include information about how often individuals are being detained, details about their release and recommendations for case management and directing them to support.

According to police chief Troy Cooper, 79 people frequent detention cells, ranging from 10 nights to 140 over the past year.

"When we try to find supports for them, they're lacking in supports that are adequate for them," Cooper said. Some people refuse services, he said.

The people, he said, are often struggling with mental health or addictions and have more complex housing needs than others.

"This is going to take a co-ordinated effort with a lot of different agencies or partnerships."

Cooper suggested an interim report could be available in about two months.

Letter to province urging assistance

Jyotsna Custead, chair of the committee, had sent a letter to the province for the "urgent need for facilities and support for individuals with complex needs," sparking response from commissioners. 

"In 2022, calls for outreach assistance surpassed all other calls for service," the letter said, outlining those calls as related to housing issues, wellbeing checks and for mental health.

Those calls went out to the Community Support Program, which oversees five community support officers who patrol central Saskatoon on bikes or on foot, but who sometimes require police help. 

It's pulling police away from other issues, and with nowhere to take people, the problem goes unresolved, the letter said.

In response, the ministers from the province outlined investments in mental health, addictions and housing and recognized there is more to do. 

Police to audit hiring practices

A commission report on diversity, equity and inclusion also presented Thursday laid out the Saskatoon Police Service's failure to meet its goals for a diverse crew.

"We know there's value in diversity," Cooper said.

Saskatoon Police has been trying to diversify its ranks with more employees — both sworn officers and administrators — who are female, Indigenous, a visible minority or have a disability.

Cooper said Saskatoon police doesn't track staff members a part of the LGBTQ community, though an LGBTQ network was recently established for employees. It hasn't been able to meet standards laid out in 2019 by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

The report laid out subtle changes in diversity, mostly increases, from 2017 to 2022. 

Michele Arscott, with the Saskatoon Police Service, said the force is tendering an audit to learn about systemic barriers in their recruitment system, review its human resource policies and help layout changes.

"When we look at the policies that can change or the way police can reform to be better responsive to the community, it has to happen at a structural and policy level," said Cooper.

Recruitment could be affected by trust in police: report

Natalya Mason, an anti-racism educator and advocate, said the police force needs to address systemic racism in policing and educate its officers to make diverse communities feel safer.

Leading racially diverse populations to feel safer, both she and the report suggested, could help the police force recruit more diverse workers.

In recent years, advocacy groups have criticized police forces for targeting racially diverse populations, a criticism recently inflamed by the deaths of people in the United States like George Floyd, a Black man, and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman.

Mason said having a diverse workforce may increase public trust but that policing, among other industries, needs to examine how racism is embedded in its institution.

"Recruiting more diverse people to work in racist institutions ultimately ends in harm both to those individuals and also to the outside community," she said.

Cooper said police are given mandated cultural training and Saskatoon police are offered other related courses internally and as well as attending cultural events in the community.