The Province of Saskatchewan is proud to celebrate National Police Week from May 9 to 15.
“We are proud to work in partnership with police agencies to serve and strengthen our communities, and we take this opportunity on National Police Week to thank Saskatchewan’s police officers and recognize all their hard work,” Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell said.
Government partners with police agencies around the province to deliver a number of programs and services to our communities. These programs keep citizens safe, support victims through police-based victims services, protect the most vulnerable, and assist those in need.
“Police services keep our highways and roads safe, support victims of crime, assist those in mental health crisis, and much more – and this year they have done all this under extraordinarily challenging circumstances,” Tell said.
Recent partnerships between government and police include initiatives such as the Saskatchewan Crime Watch Advisory Network, the provincial Protection and Response Team, and the Saskatchewan Gang Violence Reduction Strategy.
“Saskatchewan’s police officers deserve recognition for the work they do in communities across our province to provide support and assistance to those in need,” Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police President Rick Bourassa said. “The founding principle of policing is that ‘the police are the public and the public are the police,’ and we must always keep that in mind to advance our shared vision of a safe, harmonious and inclusive province.”
Government also provides approximately $15.7 million annually to municipal police services to fund 130 municipal police positions and targeted policing initiatives. This includes positions within the Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) units, Police and Crisis Team (PACT) units, Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan and more.
This year’s budget includes additional funding of $110,000 to support the creation of a new PACT unit in the Estevan region, and $243,000 to enhance the capabilities of provincial ICE units.