Josh Peterson is ready to hit the ground running.
On Thursday, Peterson and nine other individuals who comprise the first Saskatchewan Marshals Service graduating class in the province’s history, swore oaths of service in front of family, friends, and dignitaries at the Ches Leach Lounge in Prince Albert.
“I’m just excited to get out there and let the people know the Marshals are in the community,” Peterson told the media following Thursday’s ceremony.
“It’ll just be good to get out on the street and sort things out.”
Peterson may be new to the marshals, but he’s not new to policing. He’s a former 18-year member of the Prince Albert Police Service who wanted to join a police unit where jurisdictional boundaries weren’t affecting their investigations.
“Rather than waiting for something terrible to happen within the city limits of Prince Albert, now I can respond anywhere in the province that needs our help,” Peterson said. “I just really look forward to that.”
Peterson said the Marshals Service will begin by supporting “any police service that needs us” but will eventually begin conducting their own investigations. The goal is to focus on prolific offenders, or people with warrants.
“(We’re) trying to catch the people falling through the cracks,” he said.
Peterson and James Repesse were the co-valedictorians of a class that was sworn in by Judge Bob Lane. Like Peterson, Repesse is a longtime police veteran. He served 24 years with the Saskatoon Police Service before joining the marshals.
Repesse said the seven-week training course was “a big ask” for the first group of candidates, with some wondering if they would still be able to do it. Now that they’ve passed and graduated, Repesse said they’re eager to get to work.
“One of the things that I think we all have in common is that need to continue on with public service and to continue on with doing the job we love and have loved,” he said during his speech.
Officers like Peterson and Repesse say the first class of marshals is unique because it can “set the tone.”
“We can set the expectations for what we want the organization to be,” Peterson said during his speech. “As frontline members, we will exhibit that example every day, and as we hire on more people, they will be held to those standards.”
For guests and dignitaries in attendance, more police resources can’t come soon enough. Prince Albert Grand Council lead security advisor David Sanderson was among several Indigenous leaders and representatives who spoke. He said recent surveys show 60 per cent residents in PAGC First Nations don’t feel safe.
Sanderson spent 32 years with the RCMP before retiring, and said many detachments are badly under-resourced, and that makes it difficult for officers to respond to calls in a timely manner.
“They don’t have enough bodies to police the communities properly … so we’ve got to make some changes,” he said. “We’ve got to look at where we can make the partnerships better.”
Sanderson was happy to see the first class of marshals graduate, but said it’s only the start of what needs to be done. Ideally, he’d like to see more provincial support for self-administered Indigenous policing, which could partner with groups like the Marshals Service to combat drugs and gangs.
“I’m happy to see this graduation today,” Sanderson said. “It’s a start, but it’s a relationship we have to build on.”
Indigenous leaders weren’t the only ones raising concerns about understaffing in rural and remote communities. Judge Bob Lane was on hand to swear-in the first Marshals Service graduating class. Lane is retired from being a full-time judge, but still fills in other judges are on vacation or otherwise unavailable. On Thursday, Lane said there were some detachments in the north were one or two officers were covering an area meant for four or five.
“I really is a wonderful initiative that our government and Minister Tim Mcleod has taken to create this service,” Lane said during his remarks. “It’s going to pay off dividends in a very, very big way. As mentioned, the RCMP are terribly short staffed. They’re trying, but they’re terribly short-staffed.”
Recent graduates like Peterson said they’ve heard those concerns about understaffing, and are ready to help.
“We’re really excited to get boots on the streets and start making an impact in the community,” he said. “It was great to hear from the speakers earlier who talked about the need for that. We recognize it.
“Crime can be out of control sometimes,” he added. “We don’t have any control over that, but we do have control over how well we can respond to it and try and try to combat that. I just want to say ‘have faith in this group.’ This is a good group.”
