Privacy probe ends routine police sharing of info with Legal Aid

The Saskatoon Police Service stopped sending the personal information of people in its cells to Legal Aid Saskatchewan after the province’s privacy commissioner learned about the practice and launched an investigation.

In a decision handed down this month, Ron Kruzeniski said his office was conducting a separate investigation last summer when it learned the city police force shared “cell sheets” with the agency responsible for representing vulnerable people in court.

The cell sheets contain basic personal information — such as date of birth — about everyone held in police cells, as well as a summary of each person’s status, including whether they face criminal charges or will simply be released when sober.

“I find that SPS did not rely on consent of the subject individuals when disclosing personal information on cell sheets to Legal Aid,” Kruzeniski wrote, adding that both parties acknowledged the practice was unique in Saskatchewan.

“It wasn’t as if it was public, but it was leaving one organization that had it and going to another, and maybe some people wouldn’t have wanted it to go there,” Kruzeniski added Monday in an interview.

Police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards said the practice dated back at least to the 1980s, and the police force stopped sharing the sheets with Legal Aid because it was “well aware” of what Kruzeniski’s recommendations would be.

“It’s just another step that we took as part of the (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy) process,” Edwards said, referring to the provincial legislation that was expanded to include police forces on Jan. 1, 2018.

Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that everyone who is arrested or detained has the right to “retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right.”

In his decision, Kruzeniski said Saskatoon police already ask each person they arrest if he or she would like to speak with a lawyer; for that reason, Edwards said the police force does not believe the change will affect people’s access to legal counsel.

Under provincial law, Kruzeniski can conduct investigations and make non-binding recommendations. He said it was “significant” that the police force decided to end the practice before he could issue any recommendations.

Legal Aid’s Saskatoon office handled about 4,700 criminal and “duty counsel” files — which typically cover an accused person’s first appearance in court and subsequent bail hearing — last year.

The provincial agency declined to comment.