Hopes for fewer safety incidents with new Saskatoon police transit team

Saskatoon’s new transit police team is expected to enhance safety on busses, based on local reaction.

At the end of last week, city council approved the new team for a total cost of $1.6 million during budget deliberations. It will consist of four officers, a sergeant and a vehicle in 2026, with another four officers and vehicle added in 2027.

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While it “sounds like a lot” of officers, Robert Clipperton, the media spokesperson for the Bus Riders of Saskatoon, said to get the necessary coverage in shifts, “it’s not as much as you might think.”

Clipperton explained how busses run from 5 a.m. until around 1 a.m. seven days a week, 365 days a year.

“The other thing is recognizing that at peak periods in Saskatoon, at any given moment, there’ll be 90 or so busses on the road on over 40 different routes,” he said.

So, combining the length and breadth of coverage required, the new transit police team is potentially going to be “spread pretty thin,” according to Clipperton.

Even so, he said this is good step forward towards improving safety on busses.

That’s especially since the current Fire Community Support officers don’t work until the late night hours, he said, which are the times when “social unrest” is most likely to happen.

Darcy Pederson, the president business agent of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615, also had positive things to say about the new team, sharing how he felt “gracious and thankful” for council’s approval.

“I know our operators are excited and can’t wait to see [the team] out there,” he said. That’s because as soon as those officers start working, “we can get transit as safe as we possibly can.”

Pederson explained how having uniformed officers on the bus has proven to be effective in the past, saying how “the times that they were riding, there was very little taking place.”

So, having a more permanent presence should make an impact.

“People are going to think twice about whether they’re going to cause issues on the bus and whether they’re going to ride without a fare,” Pederson said.

He also said by having these officers, it will hopefully make response times for transit incidents faster.

While last month, Pederson spoke about the possibility of introducing peace officers, he since learned the option wasn’t a possibility in Saskatchewan – and this team “is actually better” than what he had in mind.

But, “if this is not enough, I don’t know what the next step is,” Pederson said.