Watch above: The city revealed some successes under the new action accord designed to assist intoxicated people outside of detention. Wendy Winiewski talks to one mother though who said much more is needed.
SASKATOON – Four years after implementing the Saskatoon Action Accord, there’s been a decline in arrests related to intoxication. The city released numbers at a media conference Friday morning at the Lighthouse.
“If we go back about 10 years we had four deaths in our cell block all related to substance abuse issues,” said police Chief Clive Weighill.
“They were arrested for intoxication, they went to sleep, and didn’t wake up. The coroner’s inquests were held and in each and every case it was because they had ingested things before we arrested them, unknowing to us.”
The action accord launched to combat this and includes a stabilization centre at the Lighthouse where intoxicated persons can be taken instead. The statistics are promising.
In 2012, 2,019 people were arrested for intoxication and held in police cells. By 2013, the number had fallen to 1,879 and in 2014, it’s down to 1,742.
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“They do not belong in police detention cells when people have health issues,” said Weighhill.
Many intoxicated people are staying in the shelter’s stabilization centre instead, along with the brief detox unit (BDU).
“If our beat officers or patrol officers come across somebody that is not violent that can be housed at the Lighthouse, the Lighthouse will actually come and pick that person up and bring them here so once again we save time and resources,” said Weighill.
After an unprovoked stabbing incident at the Scotiabank Theatre in February, allegedly by a resident of the shelter, the Lighthouse has taken harsh criticism. Weighill defened the services provided there and says a re-deployment of 24 officers should help combat street level concerns.
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“We’ve had to pull people now from other operational areas to put back on the street so we’ve got a real dichotomy here. We have an increase in drugs and gangs and now we’re faced with having to pull people out of our drug unit, out of our gang unit, out of our schools, out of the traffic units, to put people back on regular patrol duty.”
The re-deployment will be decided on March 31 with all 24 officers expected on the street by July 1.
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