Superintendent Joshua Graham, Officer in Charge of Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes, left to right, Chief Superintendent Teddy Munro, “F” Division (Saskatchewan) Criminal Operations Officer, and Assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, attend a news conference in Regina on June 6. A report into how Mounties responded to a mass killing and manhunt in Saskatchewan has found some communication problems but nothing that significantly impacted the outcome.Liam Richards/The Canadian Press
There was nothing that Saskatchewan police could have done to significantly alter the outcome of one of Canada’s deadliest mass killings, an internal review evaluating the RCMP’s response to the 2022 stabbing rampage in James Smith Cree Nation found on Thursday.
Mounties captured Myles Sanderson, 32, during a high-speed chase on Sept. 7, 2022, after he killed 11 people and injured 17 others on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon, around 300 kilometres north of Regina. He died of a cocaine overdose later that day in custody. Since then, concerns about policing protocols related to the incident have arisen across the country.
“We are humans working in unpredictable conditions, and I will forever be proud of what our members and employees did in the face of such horrific circumstances,” said Rhonda Blackmore, Saskatchewan RCMP’s commanding officer, responding at a news conference in Regina to the review she initiated shortly after the conclusion of a four-day manhunt for Mr. Sanderson nearly two years ago.
Earlier this year, in January and February, a pair of coroner’s inquests examining the deaths of the victims provided more than a dozen recommendations for the RCMP about their conduct, staffing and foresight when dealing with similar situations. Then, in March, the Parole Board of Canada provided further recommendations, as it assessed why Mr. Sanderson was on statutory release at the time of the killings despite his history of violent assaults.
On Thursday, Assistant Commissioner Blackmore joined several other high-ranking Mounties to address those recommendations while highlighting the 36 other key areas of growth that were found through a review of her Saskatchewan force conducted by her counterparts at the Alberta RCMP’s Office of Investigative Standards and Practices.
“On a broad level, the review team did not identify any common underlying circumstance that significantly impeded the RCMP’s ability to manage the response,” said Chief Superintendent Teddy Munro, who added that the internal review was not mandated but was being released to “ensure we’re being open and transparent with the public.”
The review focused not only on the attacks, but also events predating the killings. It also relied on Jason Stonechild, executive director of justice for the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, as an independent observer on behalf of 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan to provide cultural guidance.
“I commend Assistant Commissioner Blackmore for her leadership and authentic interest to work with First Nations to address many justice issues that affect our people,” Mr. Stonechild, a retired deputy police chief of the Prince Albert Police Service, said in a written statement read on his behalf at the news conference. He called the review team “highly competent and impartial.”
According to the review’s recommendations, the RCMP should build stronger relations with the James Smith Cree Nation; create a standard command structure for major events; improve police radio coverage, especially in remote areas; fix communications gaps; and upgrade the division’s emergency-operation centre.
Assistant Commissioner Blackmore said that Saskatchewan RCMP is struggling to fill many front-line positions and would need more financing from the province to consider expanding some specialized teams. For future crises, however, she said the force has implemented a new command structure and technology to allow investigators to communicate better in real time. Mounties have also purchased radios that work better in remote areas, she added.
Although members of the James Smith Cree Nation had raised concerns that Mounties should have responded faster to the stabbings, the review concluded that the response time was appropriate, stating it “could not have been streamlined more than it already was.”
Responding to calls to look into a person’s history of domestic or intimate partner violence as part of warrant enforcements, Assistant Commissioner Blackmore said the RCMP “agrees with the recommendation in principle,” but that it would be a “labour intensive” task. Discussions about that are continuing, she added, and in the interim a “Top-50 most-wanted list” has been developed.
The review also found that aircrews were inundated with requests from officers, but pilots weren’t sure who they should be taking direction from, resulting in them flying “with little purpose.” In response, Mounties have changed their procedures and will now assign an “air boss,” Chief Supt. Munro said.
“It is easy to assume that the rest of the world shut down during this tragic time, but the reality is that all communities across the province continued to require the policing services that help keep them safe,” he added. “It’s important for me to recognize that incredible work was already being done and processes were already in place.”