New Sask. marshals service 'completely unnecessary,' police union argues

The marshals service announced by the Saskatchewan government on Thursday is "completely unnecessary," according to the union that represents RCMP officers.

"It's disappointing to us," Morgan Buckingham, regional director for the National Police Federation in Saskatchewan, said Friday. "It's providing a duplicate segmented service."

Buckingham represents 1,350 members in "F" division in Saskatchewan and 350 members at the RCMP training depot in Regina.

On Thursday, Christine Tell, minister of corrections, policing and public safety, announced the new service, which would be fully operational by 2026, will cost $20 million annually and be staffed with 70 officers.

Tell, a former police officer and former head of the Regina Police Association, says the force would consist of experienced officers and offer a "higher level of policing."

She says the service would work to support existing forces while also conducting "proactive investigations," and handle everything from drug trafficking to cattle theft.

While the marshals service would fall under the umbrella of Tell's ministry, she said it would report "indirectly" to her office.

Buckingham says Tell and the provincial government made no effort to discuss their plan with existing policing organizations.

"It is really unfortunate to us that there was no consultation with the National Police Federation, the RCMP, the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police or the Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers," Buckingham said.

He said the RCMP and municipal forces are "highly sophisticated" that work well together.

"When you bring in another agency with different training standards, different intervention options, different lines of communication, different radios, it's going to lead to bigger issues when we're responding to events and may lead to an increase and risk to police and public safety."

Buckingham says the cost to taxpayers is significant: "The start-up cost for this will be very big and there's a lot of hidden costs."

Buckingham says the $20 million in annual cost cited by the province does not include start-up costs of training, vehicles, buildings, equipment, firearms, communications, and computers.

He cited the startup costs for the Surrey Police Service with 150 officers was $100 million. The British Columbia city has been working to transition from RCMP to a municipal service.