A Saskatoon woman who filed a complaint after spending a weekend in a police cell says she’s happy with a new matron program but hoping to see more changes soon.

Sheila Crittin spent a weekend in a Saskatoon police cell last year after she missed a court appearance. She was set to appear in court as a witness to a car crash, but missed the date because she was working in Calgary.

A warrant was issued for her arrest and she was taken into custody when she was getting a routine criminal record check.

She filed a formal complaint after the three-day stint in holding and called cell conditions deplorable. She was made especially uncomfortable with male guards checking in on her while she was in the cell, she said.

“The whole situation was bad, but that in particular was really degrading,” Crittin said Wednesday.

The complaint sparked a pilot program in which a matron now checks on female inmates over the weekend.

“I think that’s a real positive step forward for the female inmates,” Crittin said, noting she wants to see other changes as well.

Crittin suffers from severe anxiety and said she did not have access to her medication while she was being held. She wants to see people with mental health issues be better accommodated while in custody.

She also wants to see inmates receive safer care when being transferred to court. She said gloved guards handcuffed her to a bloodied woman when she was transported.

“They were all gloved. I felt I should be entitled to be protected too,” she said. “I’m just asking for some protection — whether it’s myself or any another inmate. If you’re at risk, then why aren’t we?”

Police chief Clive Weighill did not comment Wednesday on Crittin’s safety concern, but said new rules are being implemented that limit the amount of detainees who can be handcuffed together while being transported. The new rules state only two people can be cuffed together.

He also said male constables were performing cell checks in the past because of staffing issues.

"What would happen in the past is that we would have the female special constable do the checks on females, but on busy nights the male constable would end up doing them,” he said. “So now we've done away with that on the weekends, which are our busy times, and we'll have a female matron there."

The matron pilot project began in January and is set to end in March. Weighill is expected to issue a full report on the project in three months.