Secretary
Cst. Melinda Mintenko – Weyburn Police Service
Located in the heart of the southeast, and home of approximately 11,000 you will find the Weyburn Police Service. On Dec 1, 2000, after attending the University of Manitoba and earning a Bachelor of Arts and majoring in criminology, Cst. Mintenko began her career as the second female officer in the history of the department. Over time, Melinda has worked extensively with community agencies such as Schools, Social Services, Saskatchewan Health Authority- Mental Health, Child and Youth, Addictions, and Envision Counseling Service. She has initiated and helped develop community based programs that have educated individuals on the topics of cyber bullying, fraud and impaired driving awareness.
Some of her training includes; Applied suicide intervention, Responding to School Crisis, Forensic Child Interviewing, Advanced Interviewing techniques, Statement Analysis, Threat Assessment I and II, and trauma response, Rapid Deployment/Active shooters, Child Exploitation and human trafficking, Bicycle patrol, Viclas, OHS levels I and II, CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design), DARE instructor training (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), Effective Presentations, Cultural relations, & Emergency Preparedness.
In 2018 she was awarded the Chief’s Commendation for Community Policing for unfailing dedication to the betterment of the community through innovation problem solving and community partnerships and in particular for her initiative and development of a public awareness campaign, “This Ride’s on Us,” designed to reduce impaired driving in Weyburn and area.
For this same campaign, she was also awarded the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police Community Policing Award for Excellence in Policing for developing and strengthening community partnerships through her passion, professionalism and positive attitude. Saskatchewan Chiefs of Police Community Policing award,
November 2018, she represented Weyburn Police Service internationally by running the Rock N Roll ½ marathon in Las Vegas in full uniform and raising awareness for mental health and fallen officers.
She continues to be part of the Southeast community mobilization (HUB) which “brings partnering service providing agencies together to supply immediate and co-ordinated intervention to those individuals who are suffering from acutely elevated levels of risk.”
She has put together multiple community assessments to assist businesses in finding solutions for safety related issues by using her CPTED training (Crime prevention through environmental design). She continues to act as a training officer to new recruits. Today, behind the uniform she is a mother of three young children and a wife to a busy entertainer /paramedic who works around her schedule and shares all life’s responsibilities. In August 2018, she attended the International Women and Policing conference and was empowered by strong women around the globe and motivated further to help drive change. The years have brought with them many challenges, however, one thing has always remained the same for her and that is her love in helping her citizens.
Contact Melinda at secretary@swipsk.ca
