PROBING THE POLICE
Misconduct complaints in Saskatoon nearly double those in Regina, but only one case leads to hearing.
Saskatoon city police recorded almost double the number of disciplinary cases recorded by Regina city police in 2017, but only one Saskatoon case resulted in a hearing, according to the Saskatchewan Police Commission’s latest annual report.
The report, which covers 201718, includes cases involving allegations of police misconduct that were concluded within the calendar year. The allegations were made in complaints filed with the provincial Public Complaints Commission.
Provincewide, 123 discipline cases were concluded last year.
Saskatoon police concluded 63 discipline files, finding in 45 cases that no offence was committed. In 10 cases, the result was a nondisciplinary disposition.
In seven cases, remedial action was ordered, which could include any number of terms set out by the chief. These go on the officer’s record, but the cases don’t require a hearing.
Only one case in Saskatoon involved formal discipline and went to a hearing in front of a provincial hearing officer, who made a ruling.
Little information about the specifics of discipline cases is available to the public.
Saskatoon police Staff Sergeant Dave McKenzie leads the professional standards division, which investigates allegations of misconduct internally. With respect to major offences, no specific type of allegation is the most common, he said. McKenzie said he could not get into more specifics about the kinds of allegations made.
“If something is going to be resolved through a remedial action order — so there were seven reported by the Saskatchewan Police Commission that were completed in 2017 — those would have been major offences,” he said.
The allegations are either investigated internally or by another police service at the PCC’s request. The PCC can also conduct its own investigation and share the results with the police service. The commission reviews the investigations conducted by police services and gives recommendations.
“Yes, the Saskatoon Police Service has the potential to investigate their own members, but that would be solely at the direction of the Public Complaints Commission. They’re an impartial third party whose responsibility is to ensure there’s a fair investigation for both the member of the public or the victim and the police officer, so that’s their mandate,” McKenzie said.
The PCC may ask a police service to conduct an investigation because it doesn’t have the manpower and may rely on police to do a portion of the investigation on its behalf, McKenzie said.
In Regina, 33 discipline files were opened, and no offence was found to have occurred in 25 of them. Five cases resulted in non-disciplinary dispositions. In three cases, remedial action was ordered.
This is the second year information about disciplinary dispositions for municipal police services has been included in the annual report.
Rick Peach, executive director of the Saskatchewan Police Commission, said the information has never been hidden from the public. Until two years ago, it simply wasn’t included in the report.
At that time, the commission decided it would be appropriate to include it for the sake of transparency and enhanced accountability, he said.
Misconduct offences, both major and minor, are set out in provincial regulations, specifically the Municipal Police Regulations.
Major offences include improper arrest without good and sufficient cause, neglect of duty, or improper use of a firearm.
Minor offences could include anything from disorderly conduct or abusive language to discourteous behaviour.
The report does not detail what kinds of allegations were made in the disciplinary cases.
Non-disciplinary dispositions deal most frequently with errors in judgment, minor rudeness, “uncivil” language, “the sorts of very minor matters that don’t reach the threshold where the police member needs to be disciplined,” Peach said.
“Nonetheless, they ’re of enough concern that something needs to be done to address them so they don’t recur in the future.”
This includes counselling, guidance or advice for future conduct.
The report also outlines incidents of firearm and Taser use by police officers in the province last year. In Saskatoon, officers discharged firearms in six incidents relating to criminal offences, injuring five suspects, and in 10 separate incidents to euthanize injured animals.
In Regina, two firearms incidents were reported: one was an accidental discharge at a police firing range, and the other involved an officer shooting at a barricaded person when they saw the person point a firearm out of a window at an officer. There were no injuries in either instance.
In Saskatoon, officers used Tasers 20 times; in Regina, they used them 18 times.
If something is going to be resolved through a remedial action ... those would have been major offences.