RCMP Watch

Betty Ann Adam, Saskatchewan News Network

A member of the RCMP was caught in the net of a Saskatoon police vice sting last Thursday, the RCMP has confirmed.

The man is charged with one count of communicating for the purpose of prostitution, said Alyson Edwards, spokeswoman for the Saskatoon Police Service. The man’s name will not be released until he has made his first court appearance on March 30, Edwards said.

The member, who has more than 20 years of service with the RCMP, remains on active duty but will not do investigations on any similar offences, said spokesman Sgt. Brad Kaeding.

The RCMP will do a code of conduct investigation separate from the criminal investigation being done by the Saskatoon police, Kaeding said.

“This is not something that happens all that often,” Kaeding said. “This is the first time in recent memory, meaning at least five or six years,” he said.

“We have many people working for the RCMP in many different capacities, coming from many different backgrounds … Sometimes those folks find themselves in positions such as this,” he said.

Prostitution is tied to other types of crime, said Alice Farness, a community activist who speaks to men attending the prostitution offender program.

“Where the hookers are, the drug dealers are, the gangs are. It just feeds off it. … Prostitution is the lifeline to all other criminal activity. The johns of course are the top of it. If it wasn’t for their money and their big vehicles and them coming, we wouldn’t have prostitution,” she said.

Prostitution destroys the neighbourhoods where it exists, drawing never-ending traffic to streets and alleys.

A neighbourhood with prostitution will often also be littered with hypodermic needles since those selling sex are usually high on drugs, she said. “It makes our neighbourhood absolutely dangerous,” she said.

Saskatoon police regularly conduct stings, with half being directed at catching the men buying sex and half at catching those selling it, said Sgt. Debbie Altrogge, head of the vice unit.

In 2005-2006 Saskatoon police arrested 62 men and seized 48 vehicles. So far this year, they’ve arrested 13 men and seized 10 vehicles, Altrogge said.

The buyers come from every area of society and occupation, Altrogge said.

“Labourers, professionals, including doctors, lawyers and yes, police officers,” she said.

Saskatoon police are also involved in an initiative to help young people escape the sex trade. Operation Help gathers a team of police, youth outreach worker, social worker, addictions counselor and aboriginal elder to meet with the youngster to try to address the root problems leading to the street.

Adults in the sex trade may also be eligible for the program if they have demonstrated sincere efforts to exit the lifestyle, Altrogge said.