Prince Albert police union says force is understaffed, needs more money

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The president of the union that represents Prince Albert city police officers wants the different levels of government to address concerns about understaffing amid an increase in calls for service.

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In a media release on Thursday, Prince Albert Police Association president Const. Nolan Carter said not much has changed in the decades since the union made a similar plea for more money.

“The City of Prince Albert needs change, The Police Service needs change, The Community needs change. The Prince Albert Police Association and all of its members are asking for change,” he wrote.

“We are simply trying to make people aware of what we are facing and we face these issues not only as a service but as a community.”

About 30 years ago, the union issued a missive called “Breaking Silence” as a direct message to residents, sharing concerns about staffing levels, funding for in-service training, short-staffed shifts and other shortages affecting officers’ ability to focus on proactive policing, including school liaisons and foot patrol.

Carter’s release said as few as five cars are available on a shift covering the entire city, and there is no mandatory minimum of two officers per car at night.

“The Prince Albert Police Service does not have enough members for this,” he wrote. Police struggle to be proactive, but are “very much reactive” to situations due to lack of staff, he added

“The calls for service in the City of Prince Albert are so great that there is realistically very little time to be proactive.”

Carter said the union recognizes public expectations are high, but added that policing is expensive and “at times the Prince Albert Police Service is not delivering on those expectations.”

The union suggested that if the provincial government’s planned marshal’s service isn’t implemented, the province could direct some extra funds to Prince Albert police instead. The union also wants a proactive plan to address the crime rate, drug and alcohol addictions and homelessness in the city.

In an interview, Carter said members are searching for direction, feeling everything has been put onto police with not enough other services that can help. He gave the example of finding people who are unsheltered in frigid conditions, but when detox or shelters are full, officers are told detention isn’t the appropriate place for them. He said officers feel stuck because they don’t know what their options are if everywhere else is full.

“And that’s just one little piece of the puzzle,” he said.

Responding to the union’s release, police communications staff pointed to their own previous releases on calls for service and factors behind the trends. For example, a year-end review showed police received more than 46,000 calls in 2022, compared to 45,566 in 2021. The year-end statement said police responded to more violent crime, assaults and robberies last year, a higher number of which involved weapons.

Last year, the force added 12 new recruits, a 19-year policing veteran and a community safety officer, the previous release noted.

Prince Albert police currently have 105 of 106 positions filled, with the open position being a document server. A police spokesperson said Chief Jonathan Bergen successfully lobbied city council in 2021 to add four new police officer positions for the Proactive Policing Unit, which was the biggest one-time increase since 2005.

The Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety said in a statement that the province continues to invest in RCMP and city police services and its investment in the Saskatchewan Marshals is an “in addition to” approach, not an “instead of” one. It said no funds will be diverted away from existing police or the RCMP.

The StarPhoenix has contacted the city’s board of police commissioners for comment.

Prince Albert city police operations have come under scrutiny since the death of a 13-month-old boy, Tanner Brass, last February and three separate in-custody deaths in late 2021. All are subject to investigations by the Public Complaints Commission.

In November, the province appointed former Edmonton police chief Rod Knecht to review the Prince Albert force’s “challenges, needs, relationships and operations.”

*This story has been updated with comment from Prince Albert police and the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety

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