Saskatchewan RCMP head reflects on the complex challenges, successes of 2024

From the scourge of the addictions crisis to managing recruitment and enforcement in rural areas, the Saskatchewan RCMP had a busy 2024.

Rhonda Blackmore, the assistant commissioner of the Saskatchewan RCMP, spoke with Morgan Campbell of CTV News Regina to discuss the challenges the provincial police force dealt with throughout the past year.

Blackmore serves as the head of the RCMP in Saskatchewan – overseeing a total of 1,600 employees, including 1,100 sworn officers stationed at 80 detachments across the province.

Drug Trafficking

A frequent headline in 2024 was the overdose and addictions crisis – and the threat posed by drugs such as fentanyl.

More than 200 people lost their lives due to overdoses in the province last year – with drug toxicity suspected in an additional 128 deaths, according to Saskatchewan’s Coroners Service.

"That's the most concerning part; the impact on families. The tearing people apart and when it gets to the point where you have overdose deaths, it's just really, really tragic to see that happening within a family," Blackmore said, also noting other issues, such as violent crime and domestic violence, that are closely interconnected to the drug crisis.

"When people are not thinking clearly because they're under the effects of those illicit drugs. It's very, very detrimental to our families and our communities in Saskatchewan," she added.

On the enforcement side, the service has seen some success, with the RCMP’s Saskatchewan Enforcement Response Teams (SERT) seizing 17 kilograms of narcotics over the course of its operations and the service’s roving traffic unit seizing 50 kilograms of drugs out of a vehicle on one occasion.

However, Blackmore noted that enforcement is just one piece of the service’s work.

"Those enforcement measures are certainly part of it, but it has to be a whole wrap around approach with support, addictions, treatment, all of those pieces," she explained.

"Because if we just focus on one aspect, such as enforcement, as much as we may take a drug trafficker out of a community, if there is demand for it through addictions, people are still going to be interested in purchasing that. It'll just be from a different trafficker unfortunately."

The importance of collaboration was also touched on.

"The criminals certainly don't stop at any borders. Provincial borders very easy to cross, of course," Blackmore explained.

"We're seeing people from as far away as Ontario that are showing up in some of our vulnerable communities, and it's very concerning, but we focus very much on that interoperability."

An advantage of the RCMP being a vast, far-reaching national police service is the interconnected nature of each province. That fact, on top of integration with municipal police services, Blackmore believes the service under her command is able to collaborate effectively.

"We have integration with Moose Jaw and soon to be [the] Regina Police Service [as well] in our crime reduction teams focusing on that overall strategy, as opposed to just looking at RCMP jurisdiction," she said.

"Because we do know that our drug traffickers travel very, very much, and we want to have that same aspect that we're covering all the territory seamlessly."

Officer Involved Deaths

The year of 2024 was also marked by several fatal interactions with police.

In late August, a pedestrian died after he was struck by a police vehicle near Buffalo Narrows.

Later in September, Joseph Desjarlias was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Fishing Lake First Nation.

"It is certainly the last outcome that we want to happen," Blackmore said.

"However, we have a responsibility to protect that community and many of these individuals – this is not something that happens very quickly. It's been either addictions issues or violent crime, which are those two are often very much interconnected, and we see that and then threats to the community, to other individuals or to the police officers."

"Without keeping our police officers safe, we can't keep our community safe. So, it's very much a complex issue," she added.

Blackmore also noted that RCMP members are trained in de-escalation and utilize every available measure possible before force is considered.

Recruitment and Retention

Recent changes within the RCMP now allow recruits to request postings to the provinces of their choice – breaking the tradition of rookie officers expected to go wherever the service sends them.

Blackmore explained that those who have ties to communities in the province are now more likely to return there in an official capacity.

"So, if you are from Saskatchewan and want to stay in Saskatchewan, you are guaranteed that you will come back to Saskatchewan," she said. "[Its] so great that we can have that local impact."

In addition to those changes, the service’s Indigenous recruiting unit has reported great progress – securing an array of recruits from the province’s fastest growing demographic.

“We have several indigenous cadets over at depot right now getting very close to finishing their training, which is really exciting that we can bring them back to Saskatchewan and have that connection be more representative of our indigenous population," Blackmore added.

The RCMP’s focus going forward also accounts for a more diverse workforce to better represent the communities being policed.

On the province’s First Nations, where there is a level of mistrust of the police historically, Blackmore spoke on the advantage of having Indigenous officers with a better understanding of the challenges faced by those communities.

"When they see someone who is indigenous and who may have a better understanding of that intergenerational trauma and the spin off effects of that, be it addictions issues or mental health issues, that relatability sometimes generates that greater feeling of trust within the community," she explained.

"[It’s] easier to build that trust than it might be for someone from outside the community. So, there's, there's huge benefits to us having that diverse workforce."

Marshals Service

A point of contention between the Government of Saskatchewan and organizations such as the National Police Federation (NPF) is the Saskatchewan Marshals.

The agency, which is currently in development, is meant to enhance law enforcement in rural areas by deterring criminal activity in areas experiencing high levels of crime, apprehending high-risk and prolific offenders as well as conduct investigations related to farming and agriculture offenses.

Blackmore says the RCMP has met with the Marshals executive team to discuss details going forward.

"Which not all of those are known yet, some of the mandate that they're looking at and when it comes to serious crime," she explained. “We're working on that now with our Saskatchewan Enforcement Response Teams, crime reduction teams, warrant enforcement teams. They are out there and doing a great job."

According to Blackmore, in 2023, the various teams organized by the service arrested 805 individuals and laid 982 charges.

"So significant impact that they're having," she said. "We're just looking to see what are the details that the marshals are going to be able to tell us, in hopefully the near future, as to how that interoperability with them will look and where they see themselves coming into support the RCMP."

The full conversation with Assistant Commissioner Blackmore can be viewed using the video player above.