Resolutions

Whereas the policing model has changed for small communities with some full detachment offices being downgraded to the status of satellite offices; and Whereas for policing costs such communities are still charged at the per capita rate for a full detachment with full services; Therefore be it resolved that the SUMA lobby the Government of Saskatchewan to adopt a policy that creates a more equitable per capita rate structure for those communities with the diminished policing services provided by a satellite office.

The current policing cost formula was adopted by the Government of Saskatchewan based upon a recommendation from the SUMA/SARM Task Force on Policing and the Administration of Justice. The formula proposed to make a fair and equitable distribution for the costs of RCMP policing in rural Saskatchewan and to urban municipalities whose populations are under 5,000. The Task Force determined that because communities that have detachments within their boundaries receive a higher level of policing, those communities should be assessed at a rate higher than those communities without detachments within their boundaries. Over the past number of years, the RCMP implemented processes to relieve officers from administrative duties. In many cases, the RCMP was able to centralize administrative activities to larger detachments, relieving the smaller detachments of this function. With the transfer of those duties to host detachments, RCMP members in the resulting satellite detachments were freed to spend more time in the communities they policed. Creating satellite detachments did not result in members being removed from the communities, rather it increased the time officers have to dedicate to policing duties. The current formula has been in use for the past 12 or 13 years and it may be appropriate to revisit the formula to ensure it guarantees fairness and ensures sustainable RCMP policing into the future. The Minister Responsible for Corrections and Policing is open to discussions with SUMA and SARM on ways to improve the existing costing formula.