RCMP Watch

Heather Polischuk (Regina Leader-Post) - A Saskatchewan RCMP spokesperson said Mounties in this province haven’t yet considered the option of using special constables for high-risk calls in smaller detachments.

“I’ve never heard that mentioned as an option here although we are still considering what our options are,” said Sgt. Brad Kaeding. “We’re deciding what options may be available and that use of special constables has never been mentioned here at this point.”

Recently, a number of RCMP jurisdictions in Canada have said they are considering arming special constables to enable them to provide backup to regular members responding to potentially dangerous calls in remote locations. The proposal follows the deaths of two RCMP members who were killed within the last few months while responding to calls without backup. In October, Const. Christopher Worden, 30, was killed in Hay River, Northwest Territories, while responding alone to a late-night call. Then in November, Const. Douglas Scott, 20, was shot to death in Iqaluit, Nunavut, during an impaired-driving call.

Now the RCMP is looking at options to help solo members in locations where cost may dictate that the hiring of another full-time, regular member may not be a possibility. The Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia and Manitoba have already expressed interest in the proposal, which is still in its early stages, according to national RCMP and a senior official in the N.W.T. government.

Here in Saskatchewan, Kaeding said it is his understanding that special constables — if they are used here — perform lighter duties, such as transferring prisoners to and from court. He said the duties being proposed are “a different designation from anything that we have used in the past as a special constable.”

Even so, Kaeding said the safety of members in any location — remote or otherwise — is always a concern.

“The police in general, whether it’s RCMP or anybody else, we’re unfortunately in the business of going to calls that could be dangerous,” he said. “As we saw in Saskatoon on the weekend, there’s dangerous calls that get responded to all the time, (and) whether it’s a small isolated community or a big city, the danger inherent in police work is pretty much the same.”

Currently he said members working alone are expected to use “common sense” before responding to a call without first waiting for backup.

“It’s judging what information you have available to you to decide what your response level’s going to be,” he said. “So there may be cases where people go in a more immediate response, and there may be cases where people wait for additional assistance, so it totally depends on the situation and that is instilled in all the members right through training and then into the field as well.”