Sask. RCMP ‘proud’ of JSCN response, reviews recommendations

While the review of the Saskatchewan RCMP’s response to the James Smith mass stabbing gave 36 recommendations on how to improve, the division’s commander said she’s proud of their work.

“Despite the magnitude of the situation and the fact that things were unfolding rapidly and chaotically, it’s my opinion that the RCMP response, and that of our partner emergency services, was nothing short of outstanding,” said Commanding Officer, A/Commr. Rhonda Blackmore.

“Simply put, we are humans working in unpredictable conditions, and I will forever be proud of what our members and employees did in the face of such horrific circumstances.”

Criminal Operations Officer, C/Supt. Ted Munro echoed Blackmore’s sentiments on Thursday as the police service responded to the internal review of its incident response. 

“The communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon were forever changed by the tragedies that unfolded in September 2022. The Saskatchewan RCMP, a policing service, was also forever changed,” said Munro.

He explained that he was proud of the response and their ability to adapt to a tragic and complex situation.

The RCMP also answered questions about its response to the 14 recommendations directed to it from the two inquests held earlier this year.

“We’ve made a very concerted effort through criminal operations, led by C/Supt. Munro, to make sure that we implemented as many of these as quickly as possible as we could – some, obviously, take a longer time, but many of them are in effect,” said Blackmore.

However, Munro said it’s not as easy as flipping a switch.

“Most of them are a little complex because you want to do the research and to see how, if you implement one, it affects the other 83 detachments in the province,” he explained.

When the stabbing spree happened, Officer in Charge of Major Crimes, Supt. Joshua Graham said only Myles and Damien Sanderson knew what they were planning and what would unfold.

The recommendations

Several recommendations from the inquests amounted to adding more staff and expanding specialized teams like warrant enforcement and drug trafficking response.

Blackmore explained that those teams require experienced officers.

“The big piece that we’re working towards is making sure we can fill our frontline positions and then have more of our experienced officers moving over

to our specialized teams,” said Blackmore.

She said the RCMP is attracting more applicants and cadets to Depot, pointing out that they’re allowing people to choose which province they go to.

There were also a couple of recommendations for improving relations and trust between the RCMP and the James Smith Cree Nation. Blackmore said that’s something that should be happening with RCMP and all First Nations.

Blackmore gave herself as an example – she said she grew up in rural Ontario, so she’s comfortable on farms in southern Saskatchewan.

“But when you take me to a First Nation, like I was this week at James Smith Cree Nation, and I’m learning how to flesh a moose hide, or scrape a moose hide, things that I’ve never experienced before, you get a little bit more uncomfortable – and that’s where we need to go into those spaces where we haven’t experienced and learn those cultures and learn the practices of our First Nations,” said Blackmore.

The F Division Commander also talked about the emergency alert that went out in Regina, though we now know neither Myles nor Damien Sanderson were anywhere near Regina that weekend.

Blackmore said that was her call to put out the alert.

“I know now it was the wrong call, but at the time, I had to determine, do we get the information out there to a city that had a major event happening with the Roughriders’ game?” she said.

She said she’d rather have people who were a little nervous and on edge than people who got hurt because they hadn’t been warned.