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Four years after its formation, Saskatchewan’s Provincial Protective Services (PPS) agency is hoping to clear the final hurdle in a form of recognition called the “gold standard.”
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) is conducting a final assessment of the different functions that were rolled into PPS in 2022. It currently includes approximately 480 members.
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Conservation officers, deputy sheriffs, highway patrol members, Wascana Community Safety Officers, and others were putting their best foot forward at the Conexus Arts Centre, showcasing their equipment and tools such as tranquilizer guns, portable metal detectors, impairment detection devices, and drones.
A display of contraband items seized by deputy sheriffs at Saskatoon court. (Geoff Smith/980 CJME)
Even Neo, the highway patrol’s new drug-sniffing dog, was showing off.
If PPS is successful, it will be only the third agency in Canada to receive accreditation. The others are the Winnipeg Police Service and the Camrose (Alta.) Police Service, although the Saskatchewan highway patrol was previously recognized before PPS was formed.
“I think what it does is it helps us attract people to want to become part of Provincial Protective Services, because it’s essentially the gold standard across North America,” Community Safety Minister Michael Weger told reporters, “and so knowing that we’ll be CALEA accredited is just one more reason to for someone to come and be involved in Provincial Protective Services.”
PPS is using national advertising to recruit new members.
Weger said accreditation comes with other benefits, saying it’s been found to reduce the potential for liability and reduces insurance costs.
“It’s a set of very high standards that they’re required to follow, and so when it comes to training and operations, they’re meeting the highest level that we could be expected to meet,” he said.
The assessment by CALEA has been underway since February. PPS executive director Jeff Rowden said representatives were conducting interviews, and a debrief was planned for Wednesday.
“They come to specifically look, to make sure you’re walking the talk,” Rowden said.
“So they actually open up and look at our policies and speak with our members, do interviews, and they pick specific categories that they review to determine to make sure that we’re doing what we say we’re going to do.”
Once it’s done on-site, CALEA will review its findings before making a final decision.
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