NIPAWIN — During March the Nipawin RCMP responded to nine calls for service in relation to the Public Health Order, despite this, no charges have been laid.
“More and more have come in,” said Cpl. Josh Martin. “We’re just pushing compliance. There haven’t been any formal enforcement since February. By formal enforcement I mean actual charges.”
The majority of the calls were in relation to non-compliance, including people refusing to mask in local businesses, gatherings in households and people refusing to isolate at the Assisted Self Isolation Site.
Provincially over the month of March, the Saskatchewan RCMP received 300 complaints for breaking the Public Health Order and issued 17 offence notices.
While all officers within the Nipawin RCMP were given the option of getting the vaccination through the Saskatchewan Health Authority, according to a report to Nipawin council, not all officers have chosen to take it.
“Over the past year, members have responded to dozens of calls for service pertaining to COVID,including being responsible for arresting, lodging and transporting COVID positive people, some of which are not known positive until days after contact,” Martin told Nipawin council at their meeting on April 26.
“As a result, the recent change to vaccine roll-out was an incredible welcome one and I am pleased to report that on April 16, the majority of the area’s RCMP officers received their first dose of the vaccine.”
While this is a case for most, Martin added that some officers refused it.
“We had a couple that chose not to, but that’s a personal choice that they have.”
Overall, the Nipawin RCMP had 285 in the Nipawin service area and 205 calls in the Town of Nipawin during the month. This is slightly above March 2020, which had 221 calls in the Nipawin service area and 158 in the Town of Nipawin.
