Regina gun seizures on the rise

Police reluctant to attribute increase to ‘gang’ activity

The number of guns taken off the street in Regina this spring was nearly triple the number seized during the same time frame last year.

Statistics provided by the Regina Police Service show there were 97 firearms taken off the streets between May and June of 2016, as opposed to 34 the year before.

But despite claims in areas like North Central that the spike is due to heightened gang activity, RPS Supt. Corey Zaharuk was reluctant — as others in the force have been — to use the term “gang.”

“No,” he responded simply when asked if he had ever seen a period like it for gun-related crimes, yet Zaharuk said many factors were at play, besides organized crime.

“‘Gang’ is a tricky word for us to use,” he said. “When we look at what’s happened in May and June ... it’s really low-level disorganized crime. A big part of it is disadvantaged kids making very bad decisions.”

June was a record month for guns, with the low point coming when 58 firearms-related charges were brought against four youths aged between 13 and 15.

Between June 18 and 27 alone, 17 reports were made to police on the sighting, sound of, or presence of firearms, including BB guns and pellet guns. On numerous occasions houses were shot at; on others, gunshot victims arrived at hospitals but were reluctant to provide officers with any information.

“We do know that our firearm activity has been closely connected to the drug trade in some cases,” Zaharuk conceded, saying the increased use of drugs like methamphetamines tends to produce a more “desperate” type of crime.

He said weapons-related calls for service — all weapons, not just firearms — are up one-third in just three years and as a result, his officers are under unprecedented pressure.

Although the plan was in motion long before the recent spike, Zaharuk confirmed that regular beat police are now fully cleared to carry high-powered carbine rifles, something that will be rolled out in the fall.

Such weapons are currently used by Regina SWAT officers, but placing them in standard patrol cars has long been debated. At present, regular patrols only have the use of shotguns.

The new weapons will be introduced in a slow rollout for municipal forces provincewide, with a program having been set up to train instructors through the Saskatchewan Police College.