The Saskatchewan RCMP have noted a few incidents this year adding to an already disappointing statistic.

An incident back on October 23 was just the latest instance of assault on a provincial officer, after a side-by-side suddenly accelerated and rammed the officer’s vehicle outside a business near Onion Lake, Saskatchewan. Fortunately, the officer was not physically injured.

Assaults were also noted on September 18, September 30, and October 6, leading to this statement from the provincial detachment. 

“Assaults on police officers have increased 29% in five years in Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction,” says A/Commr. Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of Saskatchewan RCMP. “I’m committed to transparency, and to painting an accurate picture of policing in Saskatchewan. The statistics show that our officers are at increasing risk of being assaulted while doing their job – keeping our communities safe. I’m proud of the dedication they have to community safety, even as risk to their personal safety increases.”

Outside of a slight increase in yearly assaults in 2020, Saskatchewan has been noticing a gradual increase in member violence.

  • 2018 – 362 incidents;
  • 2019 – 390 incidents;
  • 2020 – 435 incidents;
  • 2021 – 414 incidents;
  • 2022 – 471 incidents.

A majority of last year's calls took place in the RCMP's North District with 289 arrests coming from those areas. 118 were totaled inside the Central District, and then members only saw 64 total assaults within the South District. Breaking those numbers down further, 377 were standard assaults, 83 came after causing bodily harm/assaults on police officer with a weapon, eight were for disarming a police officer, and then three resulted in aggravated assault charges.

So far in 2023 for the period between January 1 to September 30, there have already been 375 assaults reported within the Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction.

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Discover Moose Jaw encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the Discover Moose Jaw app HERE.