The objective for both the Saskatoon Police Service Traffic Unit and the Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan local team which includes Saskatoon Police and the RCMP is to reduce injuries through education and enforcement.
Traffic Staff Sergeant Nolan Berg told the Board of Police Commissioners on Wednesday in the annual report that overall, the results for 2019 were good.
There was a 41 per cent drop in accidents with no injuries last year, standing at just over 23-hundred.
There was a 9.5 per cent decrease in accidents with property damage, a 1.5 per cent increase in accidents with injuries at 605 compared to 596 in 2018 and there were 4 fatalities in both 2018 and 2019.
Commissioner, Carolanne Inglis-McQuay questioned whether the public realizes that the CTSS isn’t funded by Saskatoon taxpayers, it’s funded by the government.
Police Chief Troy Cooper answered that awareness is something they have been working on, and will continue to highlight.
He added that the partnership which has been going on for 6 years now is working, and it makes sense for the local police and the RCMP to be partners.

Another report to the Board was from the Saskatoon Police Service Vulnerable Persons Unit.
When Saskatoon Police respond to calls where it’s no so much a crime, but an incident with some of the city’s most vulnerable people, the idea is to keep them out of a jail cell and direct them toward some help.
That’s where the Vulnerable Persons Unit comes in.
Sgt. Jodi Earl is the supervisor of the unit, which was just formed last June, however its services aren’t new.
Earl explains that it joins together under one umbrella the Police and Crisis Teams, the Saskatoon Hub, the Strengthening Families program and Crime Free Multi Housing.
Because it’s now under one unit, resources can be shared with access to the police, health and mobile crisis databases.
Earl says the city’s vulnerable people have problems like mental health and addictions challenges and family violence.
The Unit involves other agencies like Child and Family Services, Mental Health and Addictions, school boards and income assistance, they are able to offer a more comprehensive service to get to the root of the problems.
The Police and Crisis Teams are a police officer and a mental health social worker.
The Hub is a group of community stakeholders including the government, school divisions and service agencies that are working together to get to the root of the problems.
Strengthening families is a skills-based training program for high risk youth and their families and Crime Free Multi Housing is a voluntary crime prevention program which property owners and managers can utilize in their buildings.