A Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners report is highlighting the large amount of arrests for public intoxication in the city.
The report said 17,802 arrested suspects were brought into SPS detention between Jan. 1, 2022 and Aug. 31, 2023 with 5,558 (31 per cent) of them booked for public intoxication.
It stressed that with these arrests there were no criminal offences made but, instead, people in a vulnerable state with nowhere to go.
“Except for the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) Brief Detox Unit (BDU), the SPS has nowhere to take intoxicated individuals who are unable to care for themselves. Detention remains the lone alternative to the BDU. The BDU only has 15 beds available, with 6 of them earmarked for their social program. Between February – August of 2023, the BDU was at 120 per cent occupancy, resulting in an average of four people refused admittance nightly,” the report read.
It was noted that the closure of the Lighthouse’s stabilization units of 30 to 33 beds meant there was nowhere else to take intoxicated complex-needs people and that the Emergency Wellness Centre wasn’t able to handle them either.
The report gave a demographic of who the arrested were, showing that 69 per cent were men, 52 per cent identified as homeless, 85 per cent were Indigenous, and 64 per cent were between the ages of 20 to 39, with the next largest age group being 25 per cent who were between the ages of 40 to 59.
It also took a look at people who were repeat offenders getting arrested the most.
The person who had been arrested the most for drug intoxication was a 52-year-old Indigenous woman, who had been arrested for intoxication 37 times.
The top person in Saskatoon being arrested for alcohol intoxication was a 48-year-old Indigenous man who had 252 intoxication arrests.
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It was noted that the average age for people being arrested for public intoxication with alcohol was 44 and the age for drug intoxication was 29.
The report said drug induced psychosis was seen in every individual they arrested with drug intoxication, but visible mental health concerns were only seen in 10 per cent of people using alcohol.
“At present, people are largely left to their own devices upon release, with the SPS providing what system navigational help it can.”
It was recommended that improvement of care could come from partnerships with community groups to have transportation from the detention centre to a home, shelter or social service, having priority admittance to community support locations and same-day appointments with the province’s Ministry of Social Services for help.
“Over the past year and a half, 31 per cent of arrests made by the SPS were for intoxication events, translating to 15 persons in custody per day. Increasingly, the characteristics of those arrested include higher numbers of people using drugs, and being arrested at a younger age. This increase in drug use has seen a corresponding increase in violent offences by those individuals.”
Case studies were also supplied along with the report, giving a look at some of the people arrested for public intoxication while still protecting their identity.
One case study looked at a 29-year-old Indigenous man that police dubbed “Jeff.”
A history was given about Jeff, with police saying he first identified as a gang member in his early twenties, but was no longer welcomed by the gang due to his erratic behaviour when he was high.
The study said Jeff was often found sleeping in apartment building hallways, in bushes or at encampments.
He was arrested several times for mischief and theft charges, but police said his behaviour got more aggressive and violent as time went on, eventually trying to fight police officers — biting an officer in one instance.
Another case study looked at a 52-year-old Indigenous woman they dubbed “Sara.”
It said police had several interactions with Sara since January 2022 from passersby not able to give her assistance due to her erratic behaviour.
The study said Sara never committed any violent offences due to her drug use and mental health, but her erratic behaviour would often scare people when she attended community supports.
Sara was taken into custody over 39 times simply because these other supports weren’t able to manage her.
Police noted Sara’s health was seen to be declining while in custody. She was also taken to get a mental health assessment several times after she had sobered up, but the study said her mental health struggles continued.
It was noted that her arrests would allow her to get a forensic assessment and she would have access to extensive mental health care, but her application wasn’t successful and she was released back into the community.
The study ended saying that Sara died this year at the age of 52.
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