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Will Arscott PHF
Stories
ROTATELLER
MEETING RECAP - 29th of October 2018
 
Submitted by Will Arscott
 
Policing In Saskatoon
Troy Cooper Police Chief City of Saskatoon
 
This week we had a traditional format meeting at the Bessborough. The meeting was the second meeting in a row that was very well attended. Thank you to all our members who made the effort to attend. Meetings are a lot better when there is a good turnout The meeting was presided by President Paul Gauthier.
 
Greeter - Heather Clysdale
Cashier - Avis Hardy
Set-up - Wayne McGillivray; Al Morton
Visitors and Guests - Mike Giesbrecht
Grace - Sung (John Davies has a grace ready for a future meeting)
Happy and Sad - Steve Wilson
 
O Canada was led by Wayne McGillivray as per usual
 
Grace - due to a late John Davies it was the song with a full Plagal ‘Amen” tacked on the end
 
Visitors and Guests -
Linda Petrow guest of Gary Rusu and Prospective member
Donna Gauthier - partner of our president
Vern Racz - guest of Will Arscott
New prospective member Parm
Troy Cooper -our guest speaker
 
Announcements
 
Bev Johnson was at the meeting. She looked good and we were all delighted to see her. She explained that she had taken several months of chemo in order to shrink her tumour. She had been warned that the chemo would likely be very unpleasant. The good news was that the chemo went far better than expected and she had a good summer at the lake. The bad news was that the tumour did not shrink and alternatives other than surgery will need to be explored. Bev feels she had really excellent care at the Cancer Center. Looking forward, she plans to continue with the standard treatments of chemo and radiation but also to seek out some wider holistic treatments. These other treatments may take her to British Columbia or Europe. We wish Bev nothing but the best and it was sure good to see her at our meeting. Hopefully, she can come as long as she does not feel too tired. In closing, Bev said she was a little tired but happy.
 
Jack Brodsky reminded us there will be an AGM and dinner to celebrate the 15th anniversary of RAP on November 22nd. This dinner will be held at the Crossmount Village with five club involvement. As a part of the dinner, the contributions of Clive Weighill will be recognized. Tickets are $50 per person and are available from Jack Brodsky. Jack had tickets at the meeting and they can be purchased at the Nov. 5th meeting. If you are planning to attend (and why wouldn’t you be on for such a celebration?) Please let Jack know so he can reserve a ticket for you.
 
King George School Joanne Fisher was not in attendance but the Xmas market at KG School is confirmed for Tuesday, December 18th. The money will be needed from the club to purchase bags and all are invited to start putting away items for gifts. Last year we did not have enough toys so these would be most welcome. Items such as mitts and scarves are also needed.
 
Food cards project This year’s program will be coordinated by Wayne Storozuk with Donna Gauthier as our order taker. Donna was at the meeting again this week. Please place your order with Donna. Sobey’s/Safeway cards were available at the meeting. Co-op cards have not yet arrived but will be here hopefully for next week. If you have a large order please indicate in advance so we can be sure to have a sufficient number of cards available.
 
Remembrance Day Traditionally the Rotary clubs of Saskatoon have laid a wreath at the civic Remembrance Day service. In recent years this has been missed. Our club will revive this tradition this year and pass it to other clubs in future years. President Paul will lay a wreath on behalf of all Rotary in Saskatoon. [the $75 expenditure for the wreath has been approved by the club.]
 
World Polio Day Event took place October 24th (Wednesday). In connection with WPD the Meewasin Club held a wing night at Sports on Tap. About 30 Rotarians attended with representation from all the clubs. It was a good time and it was agreed that it should take place again next year.
 
There has been an underwhelming response to the request for members to step up and undertake Rotary service. As announced there are open opportunities for Rotary service.
I) Due to the health withdrawal of Bev Johnson, we need a Vice-President 2018-2019
II) We also need a Vice-President 2019-2020
III) Rotary Foundation Director - 2019-2021
IV) Club Service Director - 2019-2021 - Steve Wilson is a nominee
V) Website administrator to replace Gordon Menuz
These positions could be taken by a single member or shared between two members. This might be appropriate for those that wish to be involved but know they are away for a period of the year.
Filling the vice-president positions is particularly important.
 
A huge thanks go out to Steve Wilson who has agreed to step up and join Dave Sundby as our Enchanted Forest Coordinators. This is a significant commitment and the club is grateful to Steve. We will soon be asked to sign up to be assistants for a night or two. Given the time has given up by Dave and Steve we should all be able to help for a night or two. This is an important project and raises about $8,000 primarily for Joy’s House of Hope and the Malawi project.
 
Salvation Army Kettles - Once again our club will help staff this Christmas tradition. We will likely do our bit on December 14th and 15th. Mike Giesbrecht has agreed to seek the needed volunteers. You will likely get an email asking you to take a time. Please help out as this is a project that benefits the local community and raises the profile of Rotary.
 
 
Happy and Sad Dollars - Steve Wilson
 
H Dave Sundby for spending two days at the coast with his parents and celebrating his father’s 88th birthday.
H Wayne McGillivray for Bev being at the meeting and for his friend Troy Cooper whom he has watched develop. Also, how about those Boston Red Sox?
H Gary Kerr for two weeks in Greece and a great time.
H Jim Weber for a two week River Cruise and for the rabbits in Silverwood still being brown.
H Maureen Torr for her brother and for her grant applications moving along.
H Peter Zakreski for the Lt. Governor of Saskatchewan officially endorsing the Hope for Malawi project. Congratulations!
H Gary Rusu for Wendy Cooper’s application for membership. It has been a while since we have had a travel agent as a member of the club. Also happy that Linda Petrow is to join the club.
H 20XHappy Scott Byers for being allowed back at the meeting and for celebrating Drew’s 70th birthday in Hawaii.
 
We were a very happy group again this week. In his talk, Troy Cooper mentioned how refreshing it is to see people being happy and thankful. It is quite unusual in his workday as he always seems to be dealing with problems and trauma.
 
Our Guest Speaker Troy Cooper - Saskatoon Police Chief.
 
Troy was introduced by Wayne McGillivray whom he has known much of his life. Troy grew up in the bush in Big River, Saskatchewan and was a kid there when Wayne was stationed there with the RCMP.
 
In his opening remarks, Chief Cooper recognized the value of RAP and the part our club plays in making the program possible. He said he always welcomes a chance to speak to Rotary because of its positive attitude. He said our Four-Way Test was a true citizenship test.
 
Troy started his police career in Prince Albert in 1987. He has been a policeman for 31 years. His early career started in patrol then drugs (his four years chasing cannabis were maybe not the most useful years of his career) and major crimes. In the second half of his career, stints in major crime and intelligence led him into administration. He comes to administration from the investigative side of policing. Over his career, he has earned various professional certificates and an MBA. He was police chief in Prince Albert before coming to Saskatoon.
 
 
Chief Cooper believes that Saskatoon represents the gold standard for policing in Canada. This opinion is based on two criteria: First, is the professionalism, transparency, and accountability. The second criteria are community involvement. These things have been built up over many years. [It has also helped that we have had some excellent police chiefs over the history of our force.]
 
Currently, there are 461 sworn officers and 198 civilian employees (including special constables). The force runs 174 vehicles which include one airplane. It is the only dedicated police airplane in the province. The cost is such that it must be justified with each budget. The total budget for the police is net 90.5 million. The police force has significant other revenues other than the city budget. For example, SGI pays for many special services in order to reduce their claim costs. These special revenues provide another 11 million or so into the total budget. The asking budget for 2019 is net 94.6 million. In recent years, the city has been adding a new population roughly equal to Humboldt each year. More officers are going to be needed to meet the growth in population and the expanding size of the city itself. Currently, 79% of the total budget is taken up with salaries and other personnel costs. Our ratio of 173 police for every 100,000 of the population is low for Canada.
 
Our force is a fully professional force. Modern police have to abide by a strict code of ethics. They have far more education both general post-secondary education and professional police education. Research and lobbying are increasingly important in modern policing. People costs are high and increasing. Ways are being found to use sworn officers only where they are needed and to use security personnel and civilian employees as much as possible. Advanced police education is particularly expensive and some of it requires travel to the United States.
 
The crime rate in Saskatoon is falling. This is particularly true of property crime. However, the population is also going up so the overall number of calls is going up. From 2013 to 2017 the number of calls increased from 75,000 to 81,000.
 
Part of the increased police workload is due to crystal meth. Meth is cheap and is the drug of choice in Saskatoon. With meth comes problems. One result is an increased number of calls related to suicide as meth creates psychosis and paranoia. Property crime is the sure result as addicts try to feed their addiction. Alcohol leads to violence but meth leads to property crime.
 
Demographics are important in the meth problem and we see the same problem throughout western and northern Canada. There is a vulnerable group and this problem can only be addressed over time with a holistic approach.
 
The legalization of cannabis will also create more work for the police. Much of it is likely to be related to impaired driving. Our impaired driving rates are still far too high. Also, resources will be needed to monitor the trade itself. Right now there are seven cannabis outlets in Saskatoon with none of them selling a legally produced product. It is expensive to train drug enforcement officers. The law has been changed but no additional resources have been given to the police to manage the situation.
 
Opiates are not a problem in Saskatoon yet. Opiates come from China and are expensive compared to meth. Opiates tend to spread inwards from the cost and we have been largely spared to date. Last year there were seven opiate-related deaths in Saskatchewan with five of those deaths in Saskatoon.
 
As the top administrator of our force, Troy faces organizational challenges. Some of these have to do with the traditional hierarchical structure of the police force. In the current world, the members facing the public are professionals and the organization needs to treat them as such. The police need to find organizational structures that will allow them to adapt more quickly to changed circumstances.
 
Changes in DNA technology will also change policing. DNA testing can now be done at a crime scene in a period as short as one hour. Also, new DNA tests will allow police to identify suspect traits (like hair colour) ahead to a suspect being identified. In the future, it will be possible to predict crime even before it happens using computer modelling. This will allow police to plan better strategies for their interventions.
 
There is also more policing being done on a regional basis. Some of this involves SGI buying time and resources from the Saskatoon Department for highway traffic enforcement. This is why you will see Saskatoon police vehicles in Wakaw or Watrous. SGI pays the full costs and covers it through their savings on claims. There will be more of this in the future.
 
Several questions were asked about needle pick-up and other matters.
 
Troy was thanked by Gary Rusu and the regular donation will be made in honour of Troy’s speech to Bethany Homes.
 
Adjournment
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