COVID, convoys and cameras: Bray looks back at busy 2022 and ahead to ’23

Regina Police Chief Evan Bray describes 2022 as a year of highs and lows.

Speaking with 980 CJME not long before Christmas, he said the year got off to a very hot start.

“We saw lots of challenge right off the start of the year,” he said. “COVID was very much still a thing (and) we had some convoy protests in our part of the city. We had an emergency shelter that was set up at the start of the year, so we got off to a very busy start in 2022.”

Bray says there were some positive trends the service saw throughout the year.

The city’s homicide rate is down at this moment to seven as opposed to 15 in 2021. Police also helped with the enforcement during a very successful Grey Cup Festival, which he noted resulted in no arrests of fans.

(Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

However, one story that dominated the headlines in 2022 for the Regina Police Service was what happened on the James Smith Cree Nation on the Sunday of the Labour Day long weekend.

That was when 11 people were killed and 18 injured after Myles Sanderson went on a stabbing rampage in that community along with the nearby town of Weldon.

Throughout that day, emergency alerts were issued by the RCMP to cellphones and radios throughout the province notifying them that Myles along with his brother Damien Sanderson were on the run.

While the James Smith Cree Nation is a three-hour drive away from the Queen City, an alert was issued later that morning saying a vehicle that could be carrying the Sandersons had been spotted on Arcola Avenue.

Bray says now that, from his point of view, he had to work hand in hand with the RCMP to get the information they needed.

He says that collaboration with the RCMP helped Regina police a lot.

“I think the one thing that made it a little easier from our standpoint is that the RCMP was very much in charge of that investigation,” he said. “Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore was really instrumental in leading that work, but it was when the suspect was potentially seen in our city that we became involved.

“A few things happened through that time. We quickly stood up an investigative team that worked very collaboratively with the RCMP and that seamless teamwork is something we do on lots of files throughout the year. The ability for us to work in an effective manner with the RCMP is something we’re proud of.”

He added communication with the public was also very important.

“The importance of regular communication with our communications team was an important part of it,” he said. “The community was hypervigilant and people were quite nervous and anxious. We saw that as a priority and it was something we tried to focus on through those few days.”

In order to keep people informed easily, Bray posted regularly to social media with any updates he had.

He said they investigated tips, but were unable to determine if the Sanderson brothers were in the city.

To this day, Bray doesn’t know if the brothers were ever in the city and mentioned the RCMP’s investigation could have that information whenever it gets released to the public.

Looking forward to 2023, the RPS will be looking forward to unveiling its new headquarter’s entrance to the public.

Bray said this has been a long time coming and notes it will help improve policing in the city.

“That’s going to be up and ready to go in hopefully March or April. That will move the public access areas including our front desk and reception area into our new building off of Saskatchewan Drive,” Bray explained. “It’s going to be very positive for our organization and our city. I think it adds to the efficiencies and effectiveness of the organization.

“Although we’re a big city and we’ve got some big city challenges, we’re not so big that we can’t all be in one location at our police service. So instead of having people farmed out at seven or eight locations across the city, having everyone back under one roof is going to a positive, efficient and effective way to provide police services to the city.”

Work on the project began in 2018.

The police plane is also now in the air. It got into the hands of the RPS a couple months ago, but police needed to purchase a part so that gas fumes didn’t block the camera used for catching people on the run.

Bray said the plane will help the RPS greatly and explained why it didn’t buy a helicopter.

“A plane versus a helicopter is really about cost. A helicopter is 10 times as much to purchase and operate. With technology now and the types of cameras and mapping systems, a plane is just as effective,” he noted.

“The fact that we were able to secure provincial and outside funding for the plane meant the citizens of Regina didn’t actually have to spend a dime on purchasing the plane or equipment.

“The plane is really about enhancing community safety and it gives us a bird’s eye view on some things that we know are challenges. It reduces use of force and the need for all kinds of potentially dangerous situations that unfold without a plane.”

Bray said the plane can be used to also help find people who might be lost and vulnerable in the community.

While there will be positive news in 2023 for the RPS, there is one challenge that stands out and that’s Bill-21. The bill being debated in the House of Commons right now is scheduled to come into effect on Oct. 30, 2023.

It will see potentially thousands of assault-style weapons banned in Canada, even if someone has legally obtained one through the proper registration and licensing prior to the ban.

Bray says many questions about that remain from his side of the table.

One thing is certain however: The Saskatchewan and federal governments aren’t seeing eye to eye on the bill.

“I think we’re still trying to figure that out ourselves,” he said. “There’s obviously some differences of political opinion between the federal government, who have initiated the buyback, and the provincial government, who are trying to prevent it from happening or limit the impact it’s going to have in our community.

“We’ve had constant meetings and we’ve gotten more set up for early 2023 to understand, ‘Are we as a police service expected to be involved in the collection of the guns?’

“Certainly, once the law becomes the law, we know it’s our job to enforce that law. But very seldom are we involved in an upfront administrative process.”

The Canadian government is currently willing to buy back some of the banned assault rifles from owners willing to hand them over.

“That’s not something we typically would get involved in, and so it’s our hope that we won’t have to be involved in that, but really focus on the law when the amnesty period is over,” he added.

He hopes both governments can come together and figure something out.