Sask. RCMP's top officer on James Smith Cree Nation inquests, Indigenous recruitment, other challenges

Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, the commanding officer of the RCMP in Saskatchewan sat down with CBC's Alexander Quon for a year-end interview earlier this month.

Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Quon: So I'll start off by asking how has this year been for the RCMP in Saskatchewan? 

Blackmore: It's been a busy year. We continue to see an increase in the number of calls. We continue to see an increase in violent calls. We've unfortunately seen an increase in the number of assaults on our members out there. So there's certainly been challenges.

What does the future look like for the RCMP here in Saskatchewan? Are there any major changes coming up?

I think the 2024 is going to be a positive year. I'm very optimistic that there are great things coming.

Some of our challenges this past year have been around recruiting, and our inability to recruit enough members to come to Saskatchewan, and there's been changes to the RCMP process and the ability for people who apply from Saskatchewan to remain in Saskatchewan.

So if someone wasn't interested necessarily in leaving the province, they have the ability to remain here. I think it's great that we have individuals who understand the challenges of the province staying here.

We have our Indigenous recruiting unit, which we started up late last year, and they have seen great success this year in attracting Indigenous applicants to the RCMP.

Our first all-Indigenous troop, which we are hoping to fill — if not all, the majority of positions — with Saskatchewan applicants, is scheduled to happen this coming year. That to me is super exciting, so that we can be more representative of the populations we police.

Recruiting isn't only a problem for RCMP. We've heard it from Regina police. We've heard it from a number of police forces. Why, in particular, is it a challenge for Saskatchewan RCMP?

There was COVID, there was the defund the police movement which sort of detracted from applicants who may otherwise have been interested in policing as a career. But I think we've we've turned a corner on that and that people recognize there is need for police.

There is a high amount of accountability with policing. There are lots of oversights with policing. I think people are starting to understand that a little bit better.

When it comes to recruiting here in Saskatchewan, we want to make sure we have individuals who understand this province, who are interested in being part of their community. When members are from Saskatchewan, they already have that sort of interest in the province.