YEAR IN REVIEW: COVID vaccinations a turning point for officers in 2021, Cooper says

Ask Saskatoon Police Chief Troy Cooper what he’s most proud of in 2021 and he’ll say the dedication and tenacity of his officers.

Dealing with a second year of COVID-19, fighting burnout and going into situations they couldn’t control, he says officers rose to the challenge time and again.

“I have this incredible source of pride for this service; the women and the men that work here through some of the most trying environments imaginable and doing it without a break,” he said.

“You can’t patrol from home. We were here (and) we were present. And even when there was highest risk, we had the least sick leave.”

For Cooper, the year began on a stressful note: In mid-January he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Vaccines weren’t available to police officers in Saskatoon for a few months and, by that time, officers were starting to burn out.

“We’ve had staffing challenges because of things like protests, officer injuries and just fatigue,” Cooper explained. “I can tell you that 17 per cent of the time our frontline response are calling out overtime. So this is exhausted staff being called back into work on 17 per cent of the shifts. It’s not sustainable.”

What he’ll remember most about the past year, though, is when vaccinations became available to his staff.

“The mental stress on our frontline staff being asked to go into situations that were not controllable and risk either contracting COVID or being asked to self isolate — the feeling of relief when we were allowed to have our staff considered a priority, that’s something I’ll take with me for sure,” he recalled.

Cooper wasn’t at the front of the vaccine line, though. In fact, he said he held off getting vaccinated because he didn’t feel deserving, sitting in an office where he could control his environment.

“And here I am asking my own staff to go and put themselves at risk, and tell them, ‘But you’re not eligible for this protection.’ And so I actually didn’t get vaccinated,” he said. “I know that’s probably not advisable, but I just couldn’t do it until our staff were allowed to get vaccinated as a priority.”

Currently, just under 94 per cent of more than 700 SPS staff have been fully vaccinated. The rest undergo testing every week.

Firearms, fentanyl, police budget

Police took more guns off the street in the past year. Cooper says 339 were seized by police, including handguns and airguns that can shoot pellets or BBs.

“That changes how you approach your call. That changes how you interact with the community,” he said.

The frequency with which police had to respond to drug overdoses and deaths has also increased over the last year. According to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, up to Dec. 2, there were 56 confirmed deaths from drug overdoses in Saskatoon. Provincially, 211 deaths have been confirmed, with another 195 suspected.

“Our officers are more and more responding to overdoses. Some of them are fatal. And that weighs certainly on the mental health of the frontline staff,” Cooper added.

In early December, Saskatoon city council also approved the SPS’s 2022 and 2023 budgets at nearly $120 million and $124 million, respectively. They will include funding for 12 new officers over the next two years. And 40 officers will also don new body-worn cameras beginning in 2022.