SASKATOON --
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) could have a new category of constable walking the beat this spring to assist in situations that don't require fully armed police officers.
"With the formalized advent in Saskatoon of 'tiered' policing, a new layer of public servant is created," SPS Insp. Darren Pringle writes in a report heading to the Board of Police Commissioners next week.
"This new layer, unarmed and possessing a different mandate from armed peers, is more likely to be immune from the discomfort that some community stakeholders feel in the presence of armed police," Pringle said.
The Alternative Response Officers (AROs) would be sworn in as special constables and would increase the availability of regular police officers, according to the report.