Five SPS officers suspended with pay following off duty “incident”

Five Saskatoon Police officers have been suspended from their duties – with pay, after some sort of incident that occurred in mid-September.

According to a statement provided to 650 CKOM by Deputy Chief Dave Haye, the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) has now begun an administrative review under The Police Act, 1990.

“In addition to the review being conducted by the SPS’ Professional Standards Division, the SPS immediately notified SIRT of the incident and, following that notification, SIRT’s Civilian Executive Director accepted carriage of one aspect of the investigation,” the statement read.

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is a civilian-led unit responsible for investigating serious incidents involving police officers in the province, including municipal police, RCMP, conservation, and traffic officers.

According to SIRT’s website, “Investigations will occur when a person suffers serious injury or death, either in police custody or as a result of a police officer’s actions, or in relation to an allegation of sexual assault or interpersonal violence.”

That includes the actions of officers who are both on and off- duty.

SPS confirms the five officers and the incident are not connected to the investigation of three SPS officers by the Privacy Commissioner several months ago.

Commissioner Ronald Kruziniski’s report dated Aug. 27 found the three officers had accessed the personal information of nine people for personal and non-business related reasons.

Haye said because the matter involving the five officers is now under investigation, he can not provide any further details.