Brody Langager
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Between April 2024 and this month, the same person was arrested five separate times and released with a court date they never showed up for, according to Saskatoon’s Warrant Enforcement Unit.
Sgt. Tom Gretsy with the Saskatoon Police Service said the person racked-up several weapon and gun-related charges throughout that time, and was on their violent offender list.
He said in one instance, they were arrested, released, then re-arrested six days later when police responded to a call where someone described a man attacking someone with a hammer.
This example highlights one of the 2,100 wanted people that Gretsy’s unit is tasked with finding, and why it can be challenging to reduce that number.
The Warrant Enforcement Unit was created in March based on recommendations from the inquest of the James Smith Cree Nation stabbings.
Five senior officers make up the unit, according to a report sent to the board of police commissioners. The team works with other police services in places like Prince Albert, Regina, Calgary and Edmonton.
Out of the 2,100 warrants in Saskatoon, Gretsy said about 1,000 of them could be related to a violent offence or someone with a history of violent offences.
He noted those people have either been arrested, are still under investigation, or couldn’t be arrested for other reasons.
They still have about 2,000 outstanding Criminal Code warrants, and that number fluctuates.
“We haven’t put a big dent in it, we’ve gone from 2,100 to 2,000 … it just regenerates too fast,” Gretsy said at Thursday’s board meeting.
He said last year, on average, Saskatoon police had 400 to 450 warrants come up each month.
“Sometimes as fast as we arrest and execute these warrants they come back up,” Gretsy said, adding that some people who are on the 1,000 violent offenders list have popped up for a third time.
The report said since March, 2,168 offenders have been actively investigated by the unit, 354 warrants have been executed, and 257 arrests have been made.
Chief Cam McBride said the federal government has been working on bail reform, but more work is still needed. He said Gretsy’s example shows why there is frustration towards the current justice system.
“That’s where we believe there needs to be very strict guidelines on who should or should not be incarcerated or remanded at any given time,” McBride said.
He noted people would be shocked to know how many offenders with a long track record of victimization are living in their community.
“For every high-risk offender in the community, the community is at risk.”
The issue of bail reform and how to deal with people who pose a risk to the community is an important topic for police services across Canada, McBridge said.
“Any time a charge is laid, the member who lays the charge is ultimately responsible to make sure that individual is either arrested, or that they are being searched for.”
He said it’s a big responsibility to place on police officers who are actively working and dealing with many different case files.
The Warrant Enforcement Unit was the answer to that issue, McBride said, because it’s dedicated to finding suspects who don’t want to be found.
