6 Saskatoon police officers suspended after 2 separate incidents

Saskatchewan’s police watchdog is investigating an incident that led to the suspension of five Saskatoon police officers.

A sixth officer is also off work due to an unrelated incident, Chief Cameron McBride confirmed at a news conference Friday.

The police did not make any public statement regarding the suspensions. Instead, they held the press conference in response to media questions.

WATCH | Saskatoon police chief confirms 6 officers have been suspended after 2 separate incidents:

McBride said SPS did not notify the public about the suspensions because “there is an ongoing internal investigation and the facts are not fully understood. It would be imprudent to provide details about something we do not fully understand.”

“In fact, every staff member deserves justice and due process,” he said.

He added that suspending a group of officers is not the norm.

“This hasn’t happened in a while and is unusual.”

McBride did not provide any details regarding the officers’ ranks or ages, what led to the suspensions or why the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) was involved.

The civilian-led agency is supposed to provide oversight of police departments and is called in “when a person is in police custody or suffers serious injury or death as a result of or as a result of the actions of a police officer,” according to its website. allegation of sexual assault or interpersonal violence.”