Sask. police chiefs eyeing forced addictions treatment closely

New legislation, which would allow people with severe addictions issues to be forced into treatment, has drawn the attention of some police chiefs in the province.

Lorilee Davies is Regina’s newest police chief and is also the first vice-president of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police. She said there are a lot of opinions on legislation like this, but any police officer you talk to could think of at least one instance in their career where this legislation would have been helpful.

“I was talking to a member just last week who said, ‘I remember when I was working down in detention and there was a mom who would phone and say ‘can you tell me if my son is in your facility battling addictions’ … and just the frustration with not knowing who they could go to to help,” explained Davies.

The legislation would allow police or a peace officer, a justice of the peace, or a court order to force someone into treatment. The person would have to have severe addictions issues that are seriously affecting their life and relationships, are putting their safety or another person’s safety in jeopardy, or they’ve lost the ability to make their own decisions.

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Davies said the association has been having consultations with the provincial government about legislation like this for the past couple of years. She said they’ve been talking about things the chiefs wanted the legislation to take into consideration from a police perspective – including that this be a health issue, not a policing issue.

“We didn’t see any reason why people would need to be, for instance, detained in police facilities,” she said.

“Basically, I see us, if we are apprehending, taking them to a medical facility – whatever that might look like – and then that would be our role in that, and that’s where our role would end.”

She said officers already have the authority to take people to medical facilities under other circumstances, like under the Youth Detox Act and the Mental Health Act.

Davies said they haven’t gone through the legislation with a fine-tooth comb yet, but it appears it won’t just be police who have the authority to make these apprehensions.

“From a policing perspective, our worry is obviously how much does this add to our plate, but also balancing community safety as well,” she said.

Davies said she thinks the legislation could help in some certain situations, but it’s not going to work for everyone.

“But any options that there are for people to get on a path to recovery, I think, are a good thing; it’ll just be about figuring out which circumstance, or which on-ramp is best for people,” she explained.

The bill was introduced last week, just before the end of the fall sitting, it can’t be passed until the spring and would come into force sometime after that. The provincial government said it will continue working on the regulations in the intervening months.

Davies said she hoped the association could still have a chance to provide input as the regulations are worked on.