Two new policing initiatives are being introduced to reduce reoffending by high-profile offenders.
The Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team (WEST) will focus on warrant enforcement in the entire province. At the same time, the adoption of an Electronic Monitoring Global Positioning System (EM GPS) will reduce reoffending and help offenders reintegrate into the community.
Christine Tell, Corrections, Policing, and Public Safety Minister, said that this is a way for the province to be tougher on rural crime.
“We are aware that rural crime, in particular, more serious crime is up in rural Saskatchewan,” she said. “We’ve met with communities and the local RCMP in various areas throughout the province, and what we are finding is that very prolific or people who re-offend are in the communities with outstanding criminal code warrants.”
WEST will be based in Saskatoon and Meadow Lake and will work with RCMP and municipal police services. The team will consist of 10 permanent positions, including eight RCMP police officer positions, one criminal analyst, and one administrative support position. The team’s goal will be to focus on high-profile offenders who have outstanding warrants for their arrest or who are in violation of conditions imposed on them by the courts.
EM GPS will allow police to monitor offenders and identify when they have violated their geographical constraints. It relies on a network of satellites that tracks and records the individual’s location and movements throughout the day.
Tell said that these will be another tool in the toolbox for police to fight and possibly prevent crime.
“We are looking at people who re-offend and are prolific offenders. People who may be considered dangerous or a risk to public safety out on any particular warrant,” she said. “If they are out there committing crimes, I would rather have a unit of police out there picking them out on the warrant than to just leave them be and continue on with their criminogenic behaviours. They can be GPS monitored on probation or remand. It is just another aspect we as Saskatchewan haven’t necessarily focused on, the executions of the warrants in many years gone by.”
The province invests $370,000 in WEST in 2021-2022 and $1.6 million each fiscal year. EM GPS will receive $673,000 in 2021-22 and will have an annual cost of $1.3 million each year.
