Where most police street checks happen in Saskatoon
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) says all of the 189 contact interviews conducted by its officers last year complied with policy.
"With the policy now firmly established, ongoing contact interview activities can be expected to continue at the new moderate levels but with very high policy compliance," SPS said in a report to the Board of Police Commissioners to be received as information at Thursday's meeting.
The SPS report, completed annually, comes after the Saskatchewan Police Commission introduced a new provincial policy on contact interviews in 2018. In a contact interview, commonly known as a street check or carding, officers approach members of the public for identifying information. The approach has been criticized for being implemented unjustly. In Ontario in 2019, a judge found that officers there have disproportionately stopped black and Indigenous people.
Under the Saskatchewan policy, the information officers aim to obtain must be more than general information common to the community and not related to a specific incident or offence. A member of the public's participation in a street check is voluntary and all street checks must be noted and submitted to the police database.
Authorized reasons for conducting street checks include:
- The lack of any apparent reason for the person to be in a particular area, such as a commercial or industrial area late at night when those premises are closed
- The person's actions, behaviour or demeanour raise a concern regarding their purpose or safety
- The person appears lost, confused, frightened or in need of help.
Under the policy, police cannot conduct a street check just because a person's location is in an area known to experience high levels of criminal activity and/or victimization. Police also cannot conduct street checks on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, gender or other grounds protected under human rights legislation.
Street checks in Saskatoon appear to have been concentrated downtown and along 20th Street last year, according to a heat map in the report. Smaller hotspots include 115th Street in Sutherland, the Idylwyld and 33rd Street area, and around Warman Road and 51st Street.
A heat map of street checks conducted by Saskatoon police in 2021. (Saskatoon Police Service)
The report says the number of street checks being conducted by Saskatoon police has declined following the implementation of the policy. In 2020, police conducted 239 street checks.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.