Province adds sheriff’s officers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/03/2017 (3213 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More court sheriffs are being trained in Manitoba as staff shortages elsewhere in Canada have raised alarm over court delays and even caused accused criminals to go free.

Fifteen new part-time sheriff’s officers were hired late last year, after Justice Minister Heather Stefanson told the legislature hiring had been put on hold while the government reviewed its spending.

Two sheriff’s officers were hired in February and six are in training, a Justice Department spokeswoman said in a statement to the Free Press.

There are three vacancies in the province’s pool of 102 full-time sheriff positions, and 110 part-time positions are filled as needed, the department said.

Sheriff’s officers are responsible for taking inmates to court, guarding them and maintaining security in the courthouse.

A sheriff shortage in B.C. led to two accused drug dealers having their charges dropped in late February. In two cases within a week in Victoria, accused drug traffickers were let go because there weren’t enough sheriffs to take them from holding cells into the courtroom to face their charges.

While that hasn’t happened in Manitoba, a spokesman for the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba said the Winnipeg courthouse has experienced court delays caused by a lack of sheriff’s officers who are available to transport prisoners on a given day. Scott Newman said the courthouse recently went into a lockdown — temporarily halting the transport of prisoners to and from courtrooms — because the number of accused awaiting court appearances exceeded the capacity of the holding cells in the sheriffs’ lockup.

“It’s getting more and more common, and it’s not just the sheriffs being short-staffed. It’s also an issue of the space at the courthouse not being sufficient for the volume of cases that we’re trying to put through,” Newman said.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, which represents sheriff’s officers, said despite few vacancies, the sheriffs are routinely logging overtime hours.

“The issue isn’t whether or not they are fully staffed, it’s whether or not they are adequately and appropriately staffed. Sheriffs are often required to work overtime to meet the unique needs of the courts and to ensure the smooth operation of the justice system, MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky said in a statement.

“Sheriffs have a dangerous job. They are responsible for transporting prisoners, the security of our courtrooms across the province. Working excessive overtime or even short-handed should never be an option when public safety is at stake. That’s why we will continue to push the government for more investments to help our sheriffs do their jobs,” the statement reads.

Sheriff’s officers in Manitoba are working more overtime — their combined overtime totalled about 31,629 hours in the 2015-16 fiscal year, compared with 29,784 hours in 2014-15 and 27,416 hours in 2013-14, Manitoba Justice said.

“Manitoba Justice manages sheriff’s officers and the need for overtime as much as possible, through appropriate scheduling and the use of part-time officers. However, a number of variables that can affect overtime — like weather, road conditions or the number of people being transported at any one time — are often outside our control,” the department said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemay