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SASKATCHEWAN – The province’s newly created Provincial Protective Services Branch is up and running today and aims to give police more time to focus on protecting Saskatchewan residents.
The amalgamation of law enforcement sees Highway Patrol, Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods, Conservation officers, inmate transport, court security deputy sheriffs, and community safety officers with the Provincial Capital Commission operate as parts of a single organization. The PPS consists of approximately 450 employees and includes support and administrative staff.
"The transition to the PPS Branch is a major step forward in our ongoing work to ensure the safety and security of Saskatchewan communities and people,” said Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell in a prepared statement to media Friday.
Tell said a “tremendous amount of work" went into unifying the separate agencies into a single organization over the last six month. Plans for the PPS were laid out in the Throne Speech and falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety.
The creation of the PPS increases the ability of provincial enforcement officers to respond to public safety incidents and concerns and enable greater collaboration among provincial enforcement agencies and police.
In the long term, the newly created PPS means that RCMP will no longer have to transport prisoners.
“These duties will be fully transferred to provincial prisoner transport and court security deputy sheriffs in the PPS Branch, which will allow the RCMP to focus on their core-policing mandate,” said Noel Busse, spokesperson for Corrections, Policing and Public Safety in a statement Friday.
The province said they don’t expect service delivery by any of the agencies in the PPS to be affected. There are no immediate changes planned to the insignias, logos, or uniforms used by the various enforcement agencies.
This initiative supports Saskatchewan's Growth Plan goal of building safer communities.
