RISK & REWARD
Jennifer Ackerman sits down with Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray to reflect on some of the major events and issues of 2019. Here’s a glimpse into what he views as the biggest challenges, lessons learned and more from the past year.
Q What was the biggest challenge of 2019 for the Regina Police Service?
A You hear me talk about guns, drugs and gangs. You hear me talk about risk in the community. I think the challenge is how do we operationally meet that? ... We have to have the ability to keep our members safe through all of this type of what I would say higher risk activities in our community ... finding that balance is something that we talk about probably more than anything else in this organization.
Q October 2019 marked one year since cannabis legalization. What has been your biggest take-away?
A It was important that we did all the preparation that we did to get ourselves to the point that we were educated and ready and prepared for the worst. The worst did not happen and has not happened yet. We have not seen an increase in the number of impaired drivers in our community. We have not seen a large number of charges of even things like simple possession, or possessing over the legal amount,
calls for illegal grows ... we have seen an increase in the number of illegal dispensaries setting up in the city ... we’ve done a couple of waves of enforcement in that area.
Q The (Nadine) Machiskinic death investigation review was a hot topic this year. In hindsight, what would you have done differently?
A As a result of that and a couple of other files, we definitely have improved major case management ... I just had a meeting with Delores Stevenson (Nadine’s
aunt) in the last couple of weeks that was a really meaningful meeting in terms of moving forward for both of us: for the Regina Police Service and our organization, for her and her family. We’ve acknowledged that there were parts of that investigation that there were significant delays that shouldn’t have happened. But I think we need to get to a point where we can move on for the healing of the family and for our organization to be better as a result of that. I feel like we are at that place.
Q Would you do anything differently in terms of what you made available to the public and when during that review?
A I don’t think I would do it any differently. I’m maybe wiser. Maybe I would communicate things differently going forward next time. But at the end of the day, we do a lot of things in this organization and I don’t for a second think that we’re above the ability to ask for help or ask for some guidance from time to time. And I’d like to think that there are times that I can do that in a private way.
Q There has been a push by some for more oversight of police agencies. Do you see the need to move, as other provinces have, to an independent, civilian-led oversight body?
A I’m 100-per-cent supportive of oversight. I’m never going to shy away from anything that we can do to enhance the public’s trust in the police and the systems that we operate under. The reality is, that’s not my decision to make nor is it my cheque to write. Those are two very important pieces of this because that does come with a cost ... but we’re also alive to the fact that oversight is something that often speaks to perception as opposed to need. Is there a perception that having a police service do its own investigation of its members is going to result in a bad investigation? I think we have a track record in this province that has shown those investigations have been very good, very strong investigations ... however, people still have this perception that police might sweep something under the carpet.
Q We have a Regina officer before the court on two assault charges, and an arrest video that has surfaced and caused concern. What do you say to the public about use of force at the Regina Police Service?
A We have a very robust system within our police service to try to constantly review and adjudicate on situations where force is used. ... Almost every time without fail it is justified and it meets the professional standards that we expect ... From time to time, those uses of force are called into question ... those public complaints are thoroughly investigated. We’ve got an independent body that investigates those. Every once in a while our officers use too much force and ... if it’s serious enough that the prosecutors recommend an assault charge, then we would proceed with an assault charge.
Q In May, the RPS formalized its contact interview policy, which some people still consider carding. What do you say to the public about that?
A Whether we call it contact interviews or street checks, it is definitely very different than carding. Carding was police services, mostly in Ontario where the concept came from, going out and basically taking an inventory of anybody walking down the streets of their city. Our police service has never done that and so to me the contact interview policy that the (Saskatchewan Police Commission) adopted and then all municipal police services in the province subsequently did as well, is really aimed to try to set out some clear guidelines that you will not arbitrarily stop people based on culture, religions, race, all of the prohibited grounds essentially under human rights.
Q What aspect of service needs the most improvement?
A We need front line police resources, and by front line I’m not just talking about uniformed police officers that are going to answer 911 calls. We need that, but we need front line resources in a lot of areas.
Q What is the biggest success over the past year?
A We’ve been able to do some very positive things in terms of trying to reduce crime in the community ... We sunk a lot of energy and resources into an auto theft strategy that was collaborative with partners and that, along with a few other factors, we’ve been able to bring auto theft for example back down to the point that we’re actually lower than where we were last year ... But, really, when I look at the level of collaboration we have with community partners to try and dig into ... the more meaningful social justice issues, those are the real true measures of success.
Q What are the major things on your to-do list for 2020?
A We’ve got to get a building built and get people successfully moved into our new headquarters. That’s not going to happen just in 2020. That’s probably a three-year project, but now we’ve got in a position where we can start to put out a construction tender.
Q What is your fondest memory of 2019?
A I love community and so I say no very seldom. I go to everything I can whether it’s serving at a lunch, reading to children in school. Yesterday I was wrapping some Christmas gifts for a while and then shopping for Christmas gifts in the afternoon and then serving a community supper at night ... I would say that that involvement in community is a very rewarding part of my job, and I see it as an important part of my job.