Just over nine months after being sworn in as the Chief of the Saskatoon Police Service, Troy Cooper says a growing city and addictions are two key challenges the Saskatoon Police Service is working to address.
"In a drug strategy role, our role of course is enforcement, so we have added staff there,” said Chief Cooper. “But I think in the longer term we're looking to work with our partners, because we do understand that enforcement alone is going to be ineffective.”
Cooper says the police service will work to be on the same page as community partners regarding health and harm reduction initiatives.
The strategic plan for the police service will expire at the end of 2019, so over the next year, they’ll work to develop a new plan in time for 2020.
"Go into the community and try to find what it is that they want to see in their police, not just in the short term but in five years’ time, potentially ten years’ time,” Cooper said following a meeting involving the Board of Police Commissioners and the Mayor and several City Councilors.
Keeping up with city growth is also a focal point. Not only is the population larger, so is the physical city itself. Cooper says more staff will help, but the police service is also looking at ways to improve safety in areas around downtown, Broadway and Riversdale.
"Resources often get pulled away for other serious offences, and so we have to find a strategy that will allow us to make sure that we maintain a specific amount of resources in the downtown area.”
An operations review released earlier this year recommended altering shifts for better deployment of resources. Cooper says in addition to more staff, the police service is looking at ways to ensure enough resources are available for peak times.
