As of January 1st, there is now a civilian-led team in Saskatchewan which will investigate any serious incident involving police. Provincial legislation was passed in the fall for a Serious Incident Response Team which will investigate matters where serious injury or death may have occurred while in the custody of police, as a result of the actions of a police officer, or where sexual assault or interpersonal violence involving police are alleged.

Minister of Justice, Bronwyn Eyre says the legislation completes the transition to a civilian-led, independent police oversight body and brings Saskatchewan’s police oversight regime into line with most other Canadian jurisdictions. As part of the process, SIRT must include Indigenous representation through a First Nations or Metis community liaison officer in matters where the individual involved is Indigenous.