MOOSE JAW — The Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) opened 14 disciplinary files against its officers last year but only imposed remedial action on two members, a new report shows.
The Saskatchewan Police Commission (SPC) released its 2023-24 annual report earlier this year, with the document summarizing the organization’s activities and providing data about the 12 municipal police forces it oversees.
As of March 31, data showed the MJPS had 64 authorized police positions while it had 61 actual officers working. Based on Moose Jaw’s population of 33,665, the ratio of police officers to population was one officer to 552 residents.
Furthermore, in 2023, Moose Jaw officers fired their guns twice, with both discharges related to euthanizing animals. Also, officers twice used conducted energy weapons — commonly known as tasers.
In comparison, Saskatoon officers fired their weapons 13 times last year, with 10 incidents related to putting down animals. Also, The Bridge City’s members used tasers 30 times.
Meanwhile, the MJPS investigated 14 incidents of alleged disciplinary infractions amongst its officers and determined that only two members required remedial action to address those issues.
In comparison, Saskatoon had 131 total disciplinary investigations, with one member resigning or retiring and four officers undergoing remedial action.
Police Chief Rick Bourassa told the board that the agency must report taser use and all other uses of force when those incidents occur, not only to the provincial police commission but also to an in-house review committee.
“That review we conduct is to ensure all policies and procedures were followed and to make any corrections that need to be made if they weren’t,” he said.
Meanwhile, the number of alleged disciplinary infractions in 2023 decreased significantly compared to previous years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when residents complained to the Saskatchewan Police Commission about the agency’s actions, the chief continued.
The SPC’s 2020-21 annual report showed the MJPS opened 18 disciplinary files against its members in 2020, which included dismissing 10 members and finding no offence against the other eight.
In 2021, the annual report showed that the police service opened 18 disciplinary files and ordered one member to take remedial action while finding no offence against the 17 others.
In 2022, the annual report showed that the agency opened 18 disciplinary files and ordered two members to take remedial action while finding no offence against the 16 others.
“The goal of this police discipline is to correct, where correction is proper and is reasonable,” said Bourassa. “I did that twice last year; that’s a complicated legal process that requires the approval of a number of different bodies.”
As for officers discharging their firearms, the chief pointed out that most police across the province show “great restraint” when handling situations. He has performed statistical analyses in the past and found that officers “very seldom” use their weapons on people.
“That just goes to the training (and) to the de-escalation capabilities people have and to the great restraint that our officers have in a lot of situations where a firearm discharge could have been a possibility,” Bourassa said, adding there are usually “very few” incidents of use of force by police in Moose Jaw.
Bourassa told reporters afterwards that he would divulge information about officers who faced discipline only if they were fired or something happened that required a public hearing — like the Alan Murdock situation between 2019 and 2022. Otherwise, the agency handles most disciplinary actions internally.
As for “remedial actions,” these work to correct officers’ poor behaviours so they don’t reoccur, with consequences being anything deemed “reasonable,” from reprimands to fines to education to re-training, he added.
