The matter of opioids and equipping police officers with Naloxone (or Narcan) kits came up at Thursday’s Sault Ste. Marie Police Services Board regular monthly meeting.
“We do have them,” said Chief Robert Keetch, responding to board member John Bruno.
“It’s an ongoing discussion with regard to the equipping of officers with them,” Keetch said.
“We very early on made a determination that officers we thought would be potentially exposed (to situations requiring use of a Narcan kit) were provided the training and provided the kits, so our ESU (Emergency Services Unit), our drug unit, our street crime unit have them, we have it in the cell area and we have it in the Courthouse.”
Keetch said many police services are “struggling” whether to equip all their officers with Naloxone kits.
“I believe Fire Services have it, EMS (paramedics) have it, they’re the primary responders who provide and administer it and we hope in many instances they’re the first response, so if it’s a medical call for distress, we would take that 911 call and immediately transfer it to an ambulance.”
“From our organizational perspective we wanted to ensure our members who would have been potentially exposed had it to ensure their safety and we have not rolled it out to all frontline staff.”
Keetch said Naloxone kits are certainly available but he and other police chiefs in Ontario remain concerned about the province’s SIU being called in to investigate if a person dies while receiving Naloxone from an officer (such scrutiny is not in place over police officers in other provinces, such as British Columbia).
Ontario Police Chiefs, Keetch told the board, are seeking an exemption for their services from SIU involvement in cases which involve fatal overdoses, Naloxone and police officers administering first aid with the kits.
Initially there was a cost involving Narcan (approximately $120 per kit), the Sault Police Service paying for those kits, but now, if all Sault Police officers were to be equipped with the kits, the cost would be potentially covered by the province, Keetch said.
The kits, Keetch added, cannot be exposed to very cold or hot temperatures, and each kit has a shelf life before expiring.
In other Police matters, the board discussed the possibility (but nothing finalized) of sending a local representative to a conference, to be held Apr. 18 to 20 in Niagara Falls and hosted by that city’s Police Service, of interest to members of Police Service Boards across Canada whose departments are going to be constructing new facilities.
The need for a new Police Service building was expressed by former Chief Robert Davies during his time as the city’s top police officer.
“I think it would be worthwhile if someone attends so we’re informed. I know we had those discussions about some of the renovations, but I would be supportive of someone going,” said board member Rick Webb.
“I would be very supportive of that because with all the infrastructure money that could become available in the next six months, for us to be ready and to have people educated on this situation, it might be quite prudent,” said board member John Bruno.
While a new Sault Police Service building is years away (if at all), the board did at least approve a new hire Thursday.
Constable James Bryson will begin his duties with Sault Police effective Apr. 9.
Bryson, a Sault native and former Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) firefighter, began as a Special Constable with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service in 2004 and 2005, graduated from the Ontario Police College (OPC) in 2006, employed as an officer with the Thunder Bay Police Service from 2005 to 2017.
Bryson is experienced in patrol services, a crime scene officer and a forensic identification officer, relocating to the Sault when his spouse accepted an employment offer in the city.
“We think this is a very good hire for the Police Service,” Keetch told the board.
“You’re going to hire a highly experienced officer without having to train. That’s a win with a capital ‘W’. We’re also in the process of interviewing another experienced officer, which we would recommend hiring, to bring us up to 134 (active officers).
With another officer due to retire in August, the service’s strength will be 133, two under the authorized number of 135 officers for the Sault Police Service, Keetch anticipating hiring two new recruits to be sent off to OPC in the fall.