'Alternate police officers' start patrolling Saskatoon's downtown and Riversdale areas
Special constables will be working on outreach and referral services
Five new special constables are out walking the beat in the Saskatoon Riversdale and downtown areas.
The Alternative Response Officers (AROs) are part of a one-year pilot project working on outreach and referral services, and assisting regular patrol officers and members of the Traffic Division.
The new officers will connect with vulnerable people, find the support people need and regularly engage with businesses and citizens, according to a list of duties from the Saskatoon Police Service.
Other duties will include transporting arrested persons, providing assistance in detention, taking complaints from citizens, writing police reports. and participating in parades, ceremonies and public events.
The special constables, who are not fully armed, are meant to free up regular police officers to respond to calls for service.
The AROS have a distinctive uniform — grey shirts, special constable patches and distinctly marked vehicles — to tell them apart from regular officers.