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The Saskatoon Police Service’s draft policy for contact interviews — also known as street checks — emphasizes to officers that members of the public aren’t obligated to participate in the conversation or answer questions; however, it doesn’t specifically require officers to pass that information to the people they speak with.

Police Chief Troy Cooper formally introduced the draft policy to the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners at its monthly meeting on Thursday.

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“Part of the issue of deep policing, the idea that officers have to present a card and read the rights and that sort of thing, it takes away from a conversation, it takes away from maybe a more respectful conversation that could occur, and so it’s not part of the current policy,” Cooper said after the meeting.

He said the Saskatchewan Police Commission may consider changing that in the future.

Cooper said officers still can and do explain to people that cooperation with a street check is voluntary in order to comfort them, since people are sometimes intimidated by police.