Police officers in Prince Albert will soon be able to check the welfare of a person in custody through a health monitoring radar, like the one pictured from the Sarnia Police Service. (Photo courtesy: sarniapolice.ca)

By paNOW Staff

in-custody care

Prince Albert Police Service, Sask. Marshals partner to implement biometric monitoring in cells

May 12, 2025 | 5:00 PM

It’s an added level of security and protection for both prisoners and police.

Out of the 30 jail cells at the Prince Albert Police Service, 12 of them will soon be equipped with biometric technology that will monitor heart rate, respiration, and body motion of detainees in real time. The system, provided by GT Global Services Inc., activates only when a cell is occupied, alerting officers to potential medical issues. It doesn’t touch the inmate; instead it’s attached to the ceiling and pulses into the room. It can even monitor an inmate who is under a blanket or mattress.

Prince Albert will be among just a few other services in the country to use the system.

“For an organization such as ours, when we’re continually dealing with individuals that have complex needs that are suffering from mental health and addictions, it’s a very big liability for the organization to have people locked up in a jail cell,” said P.A. Police Chief Patrick Nogier. “So, this equipment in particular is going to alleviate and mitigate some of that risk that we assume by virtue of having to do the job that we do.”

The implementation and use of the system will be cost shared between the Prince Albert Police Service and the Saskatchewan Marshals Service, marking the first official partnership between the two agencies. If the Marshals arrest someone within the municipal police jurisdiction, they will be lodged in cells at the city detachment.

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“The total cost of the system will probably be somewhere in the vicinity of about, depending on installation, between $50,000 to $75,000 and then annual costs which will be absorbed by the P.A. Police. So, that’s the offset over the next few years – we’ll be able to use their facilities and there won’t be anything billed back to the Marshals and both of our agencies will be benefiting from the system that is safer for people that are in custody,” said Richard Lowen, Deputy Chief of Enforcement for the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.

The Regina Police Service has been using the biometric health monitoring system since last year. (Regina Police Service/Screenshot)

Lowen implemented the same technology in Estevan, where he previously worked as the chief of police. It’s currently used in Nunavik and a handful of police services in Ontario including Thunder Bay and Sarnia. The Regina Police Service started using it last year.

“The decision to adopt biometric monitoring technology follows a comprehensive review of detainee care practices prompted by a tragic incident in August 2023, in which a male detainee’s death highlighted the critical need for enhanced monitoring capabilities,” the police service explained in a statement at the time.

In 2021, the Prince Albert Police Service experienced three in-custody deaths within a matter of weeks. One of those incidents resulted in a veteran officer being charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life, however the charges were eventually stayed by the Crown.

The system is meant to supplement; not replace the physical checks officers must perform.

The Prince Albert Police Service has a paramedic working in the cells seven days a week between 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. The sergeant in charge of detention will work with the medic, if they are available, to assess prisoners when they arrive at detention to determine who will enter a cell equipped with the biometric health monitoring.

Nogier said the technology will be implemented soon.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com