Police chiefs in Saskatoon, Regina reflect on 2025

As the year comes to an end, reporters from 650 CKOM and 980 CJME sat down with the police chiefs in Saskatoon and Regina to discuss some significant moments and highlights of 2025.

In Saskatoon, 650 CKOM reporter Mia Holowaychuk sat down with police chief Cam McBride to reflect on a busy year.

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• Three Saskatoon cops fired following investigation into ‘off-duty gathering’

The following transcripts have been edited for length and clarity.

650 CKOM: What was significant for the Saskatoon Police Service in 2025?

MCBRIDE: It’s gone really well. I tell a lot of people 90 per cent  amazing and 10 per cent there are some to navigate through that are maybe not that great or not that pleasant, but 90 per cent is honestly fantastic.

Things that I really looked forward to at the beginning of the year were our warrant-enforcement unit – the development of that – and the development of our intimate-partner violence response team. Both of those initiatives we’ve got up and running, and they’re demonstrating their usefulness. They’re showing tremendous success.

At the beginning of the year I believed that those were going to be great things, and now as the year has gone on and we’ve developed those programs, they’ve been really, really fantastic.

Probably one of the highlights for me was going to the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Denver, and the Saskatoon Police Service was acknowledged with an award for excellence in criminal investigations, and that was pertaining to the Mackenzie Trottier file and the landfill search. It was just an opportunity to see how we compare to police organizations, not only locally but internationally, and to sit in a place like that and be acknowledged for the work that we do was absolutely tremendous. It reminded me in a very real, tangible way that we have to be caring for the victims of crime, because we were acknowledged for really, really good police work, but it also drives home the fact that there are significant things happening in Saskatoon, and we can’t just accept accolades without acknowledging the families and victims who are part of it as well. It was just a really, really emotional opportunity to share that with some of our staff and to be present there.

What are you most proud of this year when it comes to the Saskatoon Police Service?

MCBRIDE: What I am most proud of is within very, very difficult circumstances or within very difficult moments in time as our members deal with very critical issues in the community, the resilience, the professionalism and the camaraderie of our staff and the ability to work through those very difficult things and support one another. Every single day I’m struck by the quality of people that we have working here, and the way that as a very large organization we come together to ensure that all of the pieces of what we do are looked after every day. It really, really amazes me.

Lorilee Davies became Regina’s first female police chief earlier this month after previously holding the role on an interim basis. She took over permanently following the firing of former chief Farooq Sheikh. (Geoff Smith/980 CJME)

Lorilee Davies was officially appointed chief of the Regina Police Service earlier this month after holding the role on an interim basis since April. She officially took over after a selection process following the firing of former chief Farooq Sheikh.

980 CJME reporter Geoff Smith sat down with Davies for an interview to look back at how things changed for her in 2025 and how the police force has been dealing with crime in the city.

Read more:

• Regina Police Chief Farooq Sheikh fired with cause following investigation
• Council narrowly approves Regina police budget
• Lorilee Davies named Regina’s first female police chief

980 CJME: What kind of year was it for you to have started in one role and ended it in another one?

DAVIES: Being in the acting role for that many months, I think that I have a good handle on where we were for the year and things we wanted to focus on for priorities. But it is a little bit different in this role now because I can be thinking strategically, long-term.

Let’s shift gears and talk a little bit about crime numbers, down in most categories. Do you think that reflects a safer city?

DAVIES: Yeah, I think so. We’re seeing those numbers trending down basically across the country, and so that’s obviously good news for everybody. I think we’ve had a lot of success in terms of big drug seizures, holding people into account who are bringing drugs into the community, and those have a ripple effect. You can never measure how much you’ve prevented, but I think that that’s been a success for us. And even our gang interdiction, that work, the people that are tied in with a lot of violence in our community. The fact that those specialty units have really been working at a high level of efficiency in holding people accountable is really important.

–with files from 980 CJME’s Geoff Smith and 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk