RPS purchases first aircraft, expected to patrol over city by October
The Regina Police Service (RPS) purchased its first aircraft, a Cessna 182, which is currently getting cameras and surveillance equipment installed onboard.
The plane is currently in Saskatoon being outfitted but RPS expects to have the aircraft patrolling over the city by the end of October.
Elizabeth Popowich with RPS said they received the second-hand plane in April of this year.
Saskatoon has operated a similar plane for a number of years.
“If you can spot the suspect from the air, watch the suspect until they stop the vehicle somewhere and call in your arrest teams to take action on the ground, you have eliminated a whole lot of risk to the public, the police and even the suspects themselves,” said Popowich.
Regina’s police aircraft was purchased from a dealer in Texas for just under $400,000 U.S. The 2005 model Cessna will be based out of the Kreos hangar at the Regina airport. Equipment will bring the final price to just over a million dollars with some of the money coming from a proceeds of crime fund and SGI.
“They’re often used to assist patrolling members that can find people who may have been involved. For example, in a break and enter, those property insurance claims can add up as well and so there is a benefit to SGI on that front,” said Tyler McMurchy with SGI.
The plane will do much of its flying at night and the constant circling over the city could pose a noise issue for some residents.
Police are taking that into account and are installing a special muffler to make this aircraft quieter than most.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.