聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 At least a decade ago, while covering North Battleford provincial court, a case came up that was something you didn鈥檛 see every day.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The prisoner hobbled into the glassed-in 鈥渇ishbowl鈥� in the docket court, barely able to stand. His leg had been torn up by the teeth of a very large dog, a police dog who had been dispatched to take him down.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The man had stolen an all-wheel drive Toyota Sienna minivan from Calgary. I remember this because, at the time, I was considering buying one, and a friend did a year later.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 He got to North Battleford and gassed up, but neglected to pay. That resulted in the cops chasing him eastbound down Highway No. 16.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The man pulled into a yard off the highway and turned around. When a cop pulled up, he yelled something out the window akin to, 鈥淵ou鈥檒l never catch me!!鈥� and stomped on the gas, heading back out on the highway.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The pursuit took off at insane speeds eastbound again to the point where he ended up somewhere near Maidstone. Everyone was called in 鈥� cops from all directions, and at least one conservation officer (more on this in a minute).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It was evident he didn鈥檛 know the area, because he turned right 鈥� south 鈥� off Highway No. 16. A few miles to the south is the North Saskatchewan River, and only one bridge.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There was nowhere to go, and that鈥檚 exactly what happened. He raced at insane speeds down gravel roads, tossing up huge clouds of dust. Several times he reversed himself, and pursuing police officers found themselves forced off the road by this guy playing chicken with them.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Eventually he ran out of road, ran out of trail, ended up in a pasture in the river valley, went through a fence, knocked over some trees about four inches in diameter, and got hung up. He took off on foot and hid in the bushes.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The cops found a large knife beside the driver鈥檚 seat. Considering him now armed, and that he tried to kill several of them by playing chicken with them in a cloud of dust, they hunted him down with a dog, and eventually used the dog to subdue him.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It was one of the most adventuresome pursuits I had ever heard. And, most relevant in 2017, it was the first and only time I had heard of a conservation officer being called in on a pursuit, although this might have also happened on the Spiritwood RCMP deaths around that time.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Step forward one decade. We鈥檙e now over a year since an aboriginal man was killed on a farm north of Biggar in the Cando area. That鈥檚 an area that, a decade ago when I was covering it, was plagued with violent home invasions and a never-ending string of break-and-enters to local farms 鈥� something that did not get much press when the news of the shooting, hit the airways. 聽聽聽聽聽聽 My understanding is things have just gotten worse there.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 People in rural Saskatchewan are up in arms about the fact they have little expectation the police will respond in a timely manner if something bad happens. They feel like they are alone.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The province鈥檚 strategy to address this, and continuing concerns about chronic understaffing of RCMP detachments in rural Saskatchewan, was to announce provincial response teams this past summer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 While 30 new cops are being added, the gist of the announcement was that whenever an emergency call comes in, we鈥檒l pull in whoever we can, including conservation officers, to respond, if they are closest. If they鈥檙e on highway patrol, they go. If they are weighing a semi, they go (presumably, leaving the truck on scales). If they have a gun and a uniform, they go.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Therein lies some of the problem. We have fish cops for a reason. If fish cops are chasing bad guys for break-and-enters or domestic disturbances, when does the fish cop have time to be a fish cop? Don鈥檛 the fish, ducks, geese, moose, deer and elk still need dedicated cops to protect them?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Don鈥檛 highways need someone to make sure commercial vehicles are safe?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If you do have a full court press, like the pursuit of this guy who tried several times to whack a cop with his stolen mommy mobile, I can see pulling in the conservation officers. For a shooting? Yeah. But you can鈥檛 pull them in for everything. We, as a society, and our critters, still need cops dedicated to fish and other wildlife.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The strategy announced only 30 new police officers, and a further 228 people are being reshuffled in a smoke-and-mirrors show.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So much for the provincial response teams.聽
