Regina police chief open to civilian oversight body

As some of his officers investigate an RCMP-involved shooting near Turtleford, Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray said Thursday he’d be open to a different form of oversight.

During an appearance on Gormley, Bray said he believes the province is headed toward having an independent body to examine serious incidents involving the police.

“We’ve had these discussions at the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police meetings,” Bray said. “We embrace and welcome any sort of oversight mechanism that the provincial government would like to bring in.”

Currently, however, Saskatchewan police investigate each other when there are police-involved shootings or alleged assaults involving officers.

Bray noted the province is one of only a handful in Canada that doesn’t have an independent, civilian oversight body to do those investigations.

In Western Canada, for example, Alberta has the Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), B.C. has the Independent Investigations Office, and Manitoba has the Independent Investigation Unit.

Saskatchewan’s justice ministry is in the middle of looking at examples across the country that could be emulated here.

Bray maintained that the process in Saskatchewan is independent because a police force in a separate city will investigate another when called to do so.

Regina police members currently are in the middle of investigating an RCMP-involved shooting that happened in the Turtleford area earlier this week.

“We’ve sent quite a few officers up to that location to conduct that investigation,” Bray said. “It’s going to take obviously a few days to put together all of the details and then be able to provide that independent investigation.”

In August, Moose Jaw police stepped in after a shooting involving a Mountie left one man dead on the Fishing Lake First Nation.

And on Thursday, the Saskatchewan RCMP asked the Prince Albert police to investigate allegations of assault against a Mountie from the Battleford detachment.

Bray said work like that takes up valuable time and resources for police forces. He also conceded that “these are tricky cases,” because one police unit is investigating another.

Some crime numbers jump

Bray said recent data shows the number of serious assaults in Regina is down, but incidents of attempted murder are way up. In fact, Bray said, the number of attempted murders has increased by more than 200 per cent year over year.

“We’re not talking big numbers, so when you go from nine to 25, that equates for a significant increase,” he said.

In his mind, more charges are indicative of how assaults are happening in the city.

“If I punch you or shoot you, the outcome is different and the corresponding charge is different,” Bray said. “Our attempted murders are a direct reflection of the fact that we’ve got a significant firearm issue in the community.”

He pointed out that handguns aren’t a major problem in Regina. In fact, he estimated that 95 per cent of firearm calls involve long-barreled rifles or shotguns, imitation weapons or homemade weapons — not handguns.

Meanwhile, property crime numbers in Regina are “trending very high,” Bray said. Many of those are crimes of opportunity, like when someone tries the door handle of a car and finds it unlocked.

“We’re seeing overall our property crime is up 14 per cent from this time last year,” Bray said, “and that’s really being driven by mostly theft under $5,000, which is predominantly happening in theft from autos.”