'Quite substantial': Regina police highlight impact of missing persons on vulnerable groups
A community forum hosted by the Regina Police Service (RPS) is educating people on the impacts various vulnerable groups feel when a person goes missing.
The forum is part of how the service is recognizing Missing Persons Week in Saskatchewan.
A panel featured community organizations representing new Canadians, the Indigenous population, vulnerable teens, youth and older adults as well as LGBTQ2S+ people.
“People in these groups are more at risk of going missing,” RPS Missing Persons Liaison Rhonda Fiddler told CTV News. “Many are seeking out support they need which leads them to leave their current situation.”
Many of the panelists shared similar experiences their respective groups feel when a person goes missing within their community.
“The impact for immigrants of a missing person can be on multiple levels,” one panelist said. “It’s huge.”
“It’s important for us to establish a connection with RPS,” Erica Beaudin, Chief of Cowessess First Nation and former director at Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services, said.
“The way policing was done in the past and the way relationships are with communities are very different than they are today,” Fiddler said. “But it’s those past relationships that have created that distrust.”
Fiddler’s hope is that RPS can rebuild that trust.
“It’s going to take a bit of work and a bit of time for everybody to trust that police are doing what they are supposed to do,” she added. “And building those relationships to where they are good, concrete and heathy.”
Missing Persons Saskatchewan stats show there are 143 cases open in the province.
Fiddler said a minimum of 20 family, friends or community members are impacted by each case.
“Do the math,” she said. “The impact is quite substantial.”
Fiddler also said investigators feel the strain as well.
“Our police search for these people day in and day out,” she said. “It’s all about understanding we are all impacted and we are all in this together.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Hamas rocket attack from Gaza sets off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time in months
Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv for the first time in months on Sunday in a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel's massive air, sea and ground offensive.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 delayed as strong storm forces fans to evacuate Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The start of the Indianapolis 500 was delayed as a strong storm pushed through the area Sunday, forcing Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 fans who had already arrived for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
At least 9 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after severe weather roars across region
Powerful storms killed at least nine people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.
As Canada warms, infectious disease risks spread north
Cases of Lyme disease have now increased more than 1,000 per cent in a decade as the warming climate pushes the boundaries of a range of pathogens and risk factors northward.