As the 10 inaugural members of the Sask. Marshal Service were sworn in by a provincial court judge, they sat after saying their oath. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

First class graduates

Saskatchewan Marshals graduate first class of officers

Apr 24, 2025 | 5:12 PM

None of the first class of nine graduates for the Saskatchewan Marshal Service is new to graduation and none are new to policing.

As the Marshal Service – newly formed and almost ready to put boots on the ground – prepares to start the work of actual policing, Chief Rob Cameron said it was a historic moment as the veteran officers swore new oaths to a new service.

“A very exciting day. You know, seeing our first class of marshal’s graduate and do their swearing in ceremony and particularly with their families and all these folks present that, you know, the support is tremendous,” said Cameron. “It’s a very, very positive day for us and we look forward to, now, the work ahead.”

The provincial government decided in 2022 that it would create a new police service, whose job it will be to help other services such as the RCMP and municipal forces, when it comes to complex investigations, warrant enforcement and rural crimes like chemical or cattle theft from farms.

Its main office is in Prince Albert and Thursday’s graduation ceremony was held there. Members of other police services including the Prince Albert Police and the RCMP were on hand.

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“Recruitment has been good,” said Cameron and they continue to see interest from new or already serving officers across Canada.

One of those officers is Marshal Noah Greene who moved from Coquitlam and a posting in the lower Mainland with the RCMP. He has also spent time with the Surrey Police.

Saskatchewan was on his radar already because his younger brother was playing university football here and Greene was impressed by what he saw.

“It was such a beautiful province, and everyone was super friendly and nice,” he said, as a first impression after helping his brother move.

A friend sent him some information about the Marshal recruitment drive, so he talked to some of the management and decided to go for it.

“After spending most of my career on the front line, to get the opportunity to go and make a significant difference in the province, it was just something I couldn’t turn down,” said Greene.

He isn’t too worried about the range of issues from gang activity in cities like Prince Albert to the possibility of investigating fertilizer thefts.

“I think at the beginning the huge focus is on, you know, just making communities safe as they can. So, you know, for one community it may be cattle theft where that is just such a huge thing that they have going on that that’s what they need to be dealt with,” he said. While Greene is from BC, another new Marshal came from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and some were former members of PA Police or the RCMP.

Cameron said the next class will be a recruit class that will start in July and they still plan to have 50 officers working by the end of the year. The maximum they can hire is 70.

The first sub-office for the Marshal Services has been decided in North Battleford but after that, negotiations are still ongoing.

The plan is to have suboffices spread at strategic points around the province with the main base in Prince Albert.

Cameron has expressed confidence all along that he could find good, highly qualified veteran officers to start the service off, lured by the promise of more complex investigations.

According to members of the graduating class from Thursday, that confidence was justified.

“This is the right group and this is the right group to carry this front line organization forward,” said one of two class valedictorians, Josh Peterson.

“One unique thing that we have, apart from the other police services that we all worked at, is we have the ability to set the tone. We can set the expectations of what we want the organization to be. As front-line members, we will exhibit that example every day.”

A bump or two has happened along the road, including an issue with one member under investigation, but overall, the first group is feeling strong.

“There’s a lot of very strong morale. There’s a lot of excitement about going to do their work and getting out there and making a difference. Really, you heard from our valedictorians today, they’re bonded as a team, they’re bonding as officers, and they definitely felt the support in the room. “

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social