Off-duty RCMP officer charged with two counts of impaired driving following incidents on July 27 and July 28

A member of the Swift Current Rural RCMP Detachment is facing a pair of charges of operating a vehicle while impaired during a pair of incidents this past week.

Kevin Granrude, a constable with the Swift Current Combined Traffic Services, is facing two counts of operating a vehicle while impaired and one count of failure or refusal to comply with a demand for a breath sample.

An original incident occurred at approximately 10 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27 when Swift Current Rural RCMP received a complaint of an impaired driver in Waldeck. After investigation, the officers arrested Kevin Granrude at the scene.

Granrude was subsequently held overnight in police custody and released on July 28, with conditions and an indefinite administrative driver’s license suspension.

Additionally, on Wednesday, July 28, at approximately 1:45 p.m., Swift Current Rural RCMP received a complaint of a vehicle driving erratically on the Transcanada Highway. Officers located the vehicle and stopped it near Rush Lake. A roadside approved screening device test was performed, which the driver of the vehicle failed. As a result, Granrude was arrested for a second time and held in custody.

RCMP have confirmed that Granrude was not on duty and was not in a police vehicle in either incident. The vehicles involved in both incidents were impounded.

Granrude made his first appearance in provincial court via telephone on July 29. He will next appear in Swift Current provincial court on August 18, at 9:30 a.m.

The Swift Current Rural RCMP is actively investigating the second incident. Additional charges are pending.

Granrude, a constable with Swift Current Combined Traffic Services of

Saskatchewan with 15 years of service, will also be the subject of an RCMP Code of Conduct investigation. As a first step of the RCMP internal conduct process, he has been suspended with pay while the RCMP reviews all available discipline measures.

“I understand hearing about incidents like this is very concerning to the public,” stated Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, Saskatchewan RCMP’S Commanding Officer. “I too share these concerns. These are not the standards we hold our police officers and employees to. The Saskatchewan RCMP will ensure these matters are thoroughly investigated.”

As this matter is now before the courts and subject to further criminal investigation and internal investigation, the RCMP are unable to provide additional details.