Saskatchewan’s five rural police services are getting some additional funding from the provincial government.
Beneficiaries of the new Small Town and Rural Police Services Grant Program include Corman Park, Dalmeny, Luseland, Vanscoy, and Wilton, which will each get $10,000 per officer at their detachment. For example, the Corman Park Police Service will be getting $110,000.
Community Safety and Policing Minister Michael Weger says the detachments are free to use the funding however they see fit. Weger adds that higher rural crime rates aren’t what’s prompting this decision.
“As a province, we’ve been supporting policing throughout the province in the cities. With municipalities, we have the Municipal Police Service Grant. We have the SCAN initiative funding that we’re giving to other cities that have municipal police services, so it’s just advancing on that and also assisting with small town and rural policing.”
CPPS Chief Rob Duttchen says his share of the money will go towards training and professional development, general crime deterrence, road safety projects, and replacing old equipment.
“Only last week we learned that a new breath testing instrument is going to be coming online within two years. The equipment and the technology requires intensive capital management. Funding like this positions us well to life cycle manage our equipment and replace it before it becomes obsolete.”
The funding will be available this year and going forward through the Small Town and Rural Police Services Grant Program. This year’s total allotment was $190,000. The list of all five allocations includes:
- Corman Park Police Service – $110,000 to support 11 officers;
- Dalmeny Police Service – $20,000 for two officers;
- Luseland Police Service – $10,000 to support one officer;
- Vanscoy Police Service – $30,000 to support three officers; and
- Wilton Police Service – $20,000 for two officers.
