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|publisher = [[CBC News]]
|publisher = [[CBC News]]
|accessdate = 2012-10-10}}</ref>
|accessdate = 2012-10-10}}</ref>

===Starlight tours===
{{Main|Saskatoon freezing deaths}}
The Saskatoon police has engaged in [[starlight tours]], the practice of taking aboriginal men to the edge of the city in the dead of winter and abandoning them.<ref name="dispatch">{{cite news
|url = http://www.uregina.ca/alumni/news-aen-nfrcdaafdis.htm
|title = New film renews community discussion about Aboriginal freezing deaths in Saskatoon
|work = Dispatch
|publisher = [[University of Regina]]
|accessdate = 2012-10-10}}</ref>

In January 2000, Darrel Night was dropped off on the outskirts of Saskatoon but was able to survive. The two officers involved were convicted of unlawful confinement in September 2001 and sentenced to eight months in prison.<ref>{{cite news
|url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/stonechild/timeline.html
|title = Neil Stonechild: Timeline
|publisher = [[CBC News]]
|date = November 3, 2005
|accessdate = 2012-10-10}}</ref>

Some other Aboriginal men that may have been subject to starlight tours are Rodney Naistus, Lawrence Wegner and [[Neil Stonechild]]. Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner died in 2000 and their bodies were discovered on the outskirts of Saskatchewan. However inquests in 2001 and 2002 into their deaths were unable to determine the circumstances that led to their deaths. The inquest juries made recommendations related to police policies and police/Aboriginal relations.<ref>[http://www.pch.gc.ca/ddp-hrd/docs/cat/2002/sk-eng.cfm Excerts from Third Report of Canada on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment]</ref>

Neil Stonechild's body was found in 1990 in a field outside Saskatoon. A 2003 inquest was not able to determine the circumstances that lead to his death.<ref name="CBC indepth">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/stonechild/index.html|title=Who was Neil Stonechild?|date=Nov. 3, 2005|work=CBC News|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|accessdate=15 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="Vue">{{cite news|url=http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=1764|title=Justice of the police|last=THRALL|first=CHRISTOPHER |date=April 7, 2005|work=[[Vue Weekly]]|accessdate=15 February 2010}}</ref> Two officers were dismissed from the Saskatoon Police Service for their alleged involvement in this matter. No charges have been laid in the death of Neil Stonechild. Their dismissal is presently under review and new evidence was recently presented (2007) suggesting that a criminal interested in preventing Stonechild from testifying against him was responsible. A friend of Stonechild who is currently in provincial jail talked to police and reported seeing his friend in the backseat of a car struggling with two native men, on the night Stonechild died, who have had problems with him. Indicating that the two officers had nothing to do with his death.

In 2003, police chief Russell Sabo admitted that there was a possibility that the force had been dumping Native people outside the city for years, after revealing that in 1976 an officer was disciplined for taking a Native woman to the outskirts of the city and abandoning her there.<ref name="Windspeaker">{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Saskatoon+police+chief+admits+starlight+cruises+are+not+new.%28inquiry...-a0105369747|title=Saskatoon police chief admits starlight cruises are not new|date=July 1, 2003|work=Windspeaker|publisher=[[Aboriginal Multimedia Society of Alberta]]|accessdate=15 February 2010}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 18:13, 11 December 2013

Saskatoon Police Service
{{{logocaption}}}
MottoNeque Timore Neque Favore
Neither by fear nor by favour
Agency overview
Formed1903
Jurisdictional structure
Legal jurisdictionMunicipal/Provincial
Operational structure
HeadquartersSaskatoon, Saskatchewan
Sworn members510 (2012)
Unsworn members134 (2012)
Elected officer responsible
  • The Honourable Gordon Wyant, Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Agency executive
Website
www.police.saskatoon.sk.ca

Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is the municipal police service in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and holds both municipal and provincial jurisdiction. Police Chief Clive Weighill is the head of the service. The deputy chiefs are Deputy Chief Mark Chatterbok (Administration), and Deputy Chief Bernie Pannell (Operations). The SPS operates in partnership and cooperation with the Corman Park Police Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

History

1910 Police Force

In 1882 the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) established a detachment in Saskatoon. In 1889, Constable Clisby of the NWMP was established as Saskatoon's first permanent police officer.

In 1903 Robert E. Dunning was made the first Chief of Police in the City of Saskatoon. In 1910 the first Rules and Regulations of the Saskatoon Police Department were approved.[1]

In 1977 the new police station was opened on the spot of the old station which was demolished. The current parking lot is where the previous building stood. An abandoned tunnel still exists underground stretching from the current parking lot, across 23rd street to the old post office. The new building cost roughly $5.5 million (1977) and has a floor space of 101,000 feet squared. In 2010 The city of Saskatoon drew plans to extend 25th street to Idylwyld Drive and this is to be the location for the new police station. Construction began 2011 and should be finished in 2013.[2]

International police peacekeeping operations

With struggling police forces worldwide there is a need for trained police officers to help training these forces. During 2009 and 2010 Constable Andrew Johnstone went to Afghanistan to train their police, and Sergeant Pat Barbar in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Other members of the SPS have worked in other countries for other UN operations, such as Sergeant Darcel Pittman and former Deputy Chief Keith Atkinson in Kosovo in 2000. They play widely varying roles within each mission, from patrolling streets and training police recruits to providing humanitarian assistance, ensuring security for elections and investigating human rights violations.[3]

Departments

Departments and special departments.[4]

  • Patrol
  • Traffic
  • Investigative Services
    • Major Crime
    • Targeted Enforcement
    • Personal Violence Section
    • Fraud
    • General Investigations
  • Investigative Support
    • Forensic Identification
    • Criminal Intelligence
  • Air Support Unit
  • Anti Graffiti Unit
  • Canine Unit
  • Communications
  • Community Liaison
  • Community Response Unit
  • Cultural Resource Unit
  • Emergency Response Team (ERT)
  • Explosive Disposal Unit (EDU)
  • Planning and research
  • Public Affairs
  • Public Safety Unit
  • Recruiting
  • School Resource Officers
  • Training

Structure

As of 2012 the SPS has 510 sworn officers, and 134 civilian positions. The ranks are as follows:[5]

Police chiefs

  • Robert Dunning (1905-1915)
  • George Donald (1915-1946)
  • Albert Milne (1946-1953)
  • James Kettles (1954-1977)
  • John Gibbon (1977-1982)
  • Joseph Penkala (1982-1991)
  • Owen Maguire (1991-1996)
  • Dave Scott (1996-2001)
  • Dave Matthews (2001)
  • Russell Sabo (2001-2006)
  • Clive Weighill (2006–present)

Inquiries

Accusations against the Saskatoon Police Service have resulted in public inquiries. One such inquiry is presently taking place (as of July 2006) and involves the investigation into the murder of a nursing student in Saskatoon in 1969. David Milgaard was convicted of this murder but was later cleared of this charge through DNA evidence which was unavailable at the time of his trial.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Susan Grant (2003)(SPS). "The memory Box:One Hundred Years of Policing in Saskatoon" pg5.
  2. ^ "25th Street Extension Project". City of Saskatoon. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
  3. ^ http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/po-mp/index-eng.htm
  4. ^ http://www.police.saskatoon.sk.ca/index.php?loc=divisions/district_map.php
  5. ^ http://www.police.saskatoon.sk.ca/pdf/annual_reports/2009_Annual_Report.pdf
  6. ^ "The Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard". CBC News. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
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