RCMP turnover creates challenges for Saskatchewan communities

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s growth over the recent years has brought smaller communities more people, more opportunities, and even more challenges.

Many municipalities struggle with the high turnover of workers, including police officers, and it’s a challenge shared by Mounties.

There are 31 RCMP detachments in the southern portion of the province, but according to Superintendent David Fensom, attracting and retaining members is more challenging than ever.

“Three to five years is what we look to keep someone in the community, but with the changing demographics and promotions we may see that accelerating recently than in past years,” he explained.

Filling those vacancies is more than just a struggle for recruitment and was addressed at the Regina District Association of Rural Municipalities annual meeting Thursday.

Carmen Sterling, the reeve for the RM of Weyburn said there’s often a lack of relationship between the community leaders and law enforcement.

“Sometimes they are hitting the ground running those officers, and they’re more involved in the reactive and taking the calls then being able to set some time for the proactive stuff like getting in contact with the municipalities that you are serving,” she added.

New members do undergo an orientation process but can be patrolling around four or five towns at once.

Erwin Beitel, the reeve for the RM of Lajord added that high turnover rates often don’t give Mounties the chance to learn rural roads that can’t be found on a GPS.

“With the roads in the summer and winter, there have been lots of issues.”

Last October, an RCMP officer was seriously injured after being rundown west of Regina and it’s those type of crimes that have caused Mounties to forgo less formal interactions, like ride-alongs with community leaders.

Fensom said the ride-alongs used to help show a new member the ins-and-outs of a community, but the process is now more focused on safety.

“We’ve had to look at those risks and in modern terms, the world has changed,” he said.

Representative from more than 50 municipalities in southern Saskatchewan turned out for the annual meeting Thursday, which wraps up at the Travel Lodge on Friday.