Saskatchewan Party leadership candidate and former RCMP Sgt. Rob Clarke aided police in the arrest of a man who was allegedly breaking into vehicles.

Clarke said he was a passenger in a truck driving in downtown Saskatoon on Friday when he saw a person on a bike trying to break into cars and told the driver to pull over.

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“I saw him trying to get into the vehicles, trying to get into the cargo boxes of the vehicle,” Clarke said over the phone on Sunday. “I just prevented him from going anywhere.”

Clarke said the individual was apprehended by Saskatoon police on Spadina Crescent and he provided them with his statement.

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“I want to thank those two individuals, the couple that was walking by when I stopped that individual. I didn’t know what to do next, I didn’t know how to call someone or call 911 while I was dealing with that individual. It was very awkward, very difficult,” Clarke said.

“It’s not about me, it’s just about community safety… these Good Samaritans, this couple, called 911 and the response time from the Saskatoon Police Service was phenomenal. They were there very quickly and they acted very professionally so I have to tip my hat to the Saskatoon Police Service.”

Rob Clarke with Saskatoon police officers at the scene of the arrest on Spadina Crescent. Mike Urick / Supplied

Clarke, an 18-year veteran of the Saskatchewan RCMP, attained the rank of sergeant within the force before his work in politics.

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“(I was) just trying to stop someone from actually breaking into a car or trying to steal anything. My training kicked in, I don’t know why, but it’s just one of those instincts you just don’t ever seem to forget or lose,” Clarke said.

“You’re always looking and surveying your environment when you’re driving down the street or if you’re in a crowd. It’s one of those things that’s hard to describe and I think the law enforcement officers will totally understand this — you’re always looking for something … if you see someone acting suspicious, it’s going to pique your interest.”

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Clarke has released a package of justice reform policies that includes increasing the amount of support staff for police.

“What I see is police really need more support staff and that’s one of my policies. You see currently across the country, for every four police officers there’s one [stenographer]. Here in Saskatchewan, we have six police officers and only one support staff or one [stenographer],” Clarke said.

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“So if you get more support staff, what’s going to happen is you’re going to see more police on the ground and they can go out and help respond to complaints a lot quicker and hopefully that was the case [Friday] night.”

“I’m thinking, overall in Saskatchewan, with good adequate support staff you’re going to get the members away from the paper pushing and data entry and on the street more and visible policing actually does help reduce crime and that’s what I want to try.”

Clarke is running against Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Ken Cheveldayoff, Alanna Koch, Scott Moe and Gord Wyant for the Saskatchewan Party leadership. The province’s next premier will be chosen on Jan. 27, 2018 at a leadership convention in Saskatoon.