Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the big news stories and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
Regina’s Police Chief Farooq Sheikh said more people are getting the help they need by being redirected from cells to the city’s new complex-needs shelter.
“I’m really happy with it,” he said.
According to Sheikh, 101 people have been detained at the shelter since it opened in August, with seven people being kept in custody.
“They would have normally been in a cell for eight hours, or maybe longer,” said Sheikh. “They wouldn’t have gotten the support from trained people to deal with them accordingly.”
Inspector Shawn Fenwick agreed that the shelter is giving people more options for care.
“It’s diverting some of these detainees – a lot of detainees – from our detention area to the facility,” he said.
The shelter is a part of a $40 million provincial homelessness plan, which included funding for two 15-bed complex-needs shelters in Regina and Saskatoon.
“This is something that we can use to maybe turn the tide a little bit and give those folks some hope,” Fenwick said, emphasizing the importance of connecting people with proper medical assistance and counselling.
More cops on the streets
Regina Police Service is expecting to add to its ranks thanks to $3.8 million from the provincial government, which has been earmarked to hire 32 new police officers.
Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan’s minister of corrections, policing and public safety, said there are lots of opportunities to assist people coping with mental health and addictions issues.
Merriman said he has taken notice of homelessness in Regina’s downtown.
“You could see some people who were having some challenges,” he said. “Those people need to be helped. They can’t be on the streets. We want to get them attached to some type of services.”
Merriman said police were part of the puzzle when it comes to getting vulnerable people the services they need.
“It’s increasing police officers not just to make the community safe, but the individuals that are struggling, get them into the right place where they need to be, so hopefully they can make some better decisions,” he said.
The funding is part of a $17.1 million funding commitment from the Government of Saskatchewan to add and train more police officers, and introduce more enforcement tools to the province.
The funding includes $11.9 million for 100 new municipal police officers and $2.7 million to double the number of Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods officers from 14 to 28.
The Saskatchewan Police College will also receive $2.5 million in funding over the next three years.
