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Assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore says she’s been removed from her position as the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP following anonymous complaints.
“This decision was made by the Senior Executive at National Headquarters,” Blackmore wrote in a message to Saskatchewan RCMP employees. “I have been informed this action is being taken as a result of anonymous complaints made against me.”
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The message was shared anonymously with 980 CJME, and multiple sources confirmed its authenticity. The Saskatchewan RCMP’s communications team declined to comment, instead referring the matter to the RCMP’s national headquarters. 980 CJME has reached out for more information.
Rhonda Blackmore has served as the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP since 2021. (Saskatchewan RCMP/X)
“Everything I have done in my career, and in the last 4+ years as the Commanding Officer of ‘F’ Division has been done with integrity and in an effort to demonstrate accountability and transparency,” Blackmore wrote.
“As your Commanding Officer, I have tried to make decisions that are in the best interest of public safety and the employees in ‘F’ Division. I have pushed hard for issues that negatively impact the division to be addressed with changes that make things better.”
Blackmore said she has “no idea” what her future holds.
“It is all very uncertain,” she said in the letter. “I have worked very hard over the past almost 30 years to have a reputation of standing up for those around me and advocating for positive change. It is who I am and I won’t apologize for doing what is right to improve things in our Divison and our organization.”
Blackmore said it was “an honour and a privilege” to work alongside Saskatchewan’s RCMP officers.
Blackmore, who grew up on a farm near Hanover, Ont., took on the top role at the Saskatchewan RCMP in April of 2021 after serving in various posts around the country. She first joined the RCMP in 1995, and spent the first seven years of her career in Saskatchewan, policing in Assiniboia, Regina and Buffalo Narrows before she was transferred to the RCMP’s national headquarters in Ottawa in 2002.
While in Ottawa, Blackmore worked with the RCMP’s Operational Policy Unit, National Division Emergency Response Team, Criminal Intelligence Directorate of National Security Investigations, National Use of Force Program and the Mounties’ Contract and Indigenous Policing Executive Team.
An excerpt from a letter Rhonda Blackmore sent to Saskatchewan RCMP employees. (Submitted)
In 2013, she was appointed officer in charge of the National Police Intervention Unit, overseeing the implementation of a number of recommendations from the MacNeil Report after the deadly shooting of three Mounties in Moncton, New Brunswick.
“She also managed the implementation of the National Crisis Intervention and De-Escalation training and the introduction of new, less-lethal intervention options,” the Saskatchewan RCMP’s website noted.
Blackmore was praised for her leadership in the aftermath of the 2022 stabbing attacks on the James Smith Cree Nation, and was also a regular guest on the Evan Bray Show, appearing most recently on May 23.
