In the past five years, the number of incidents of firearm-related violent offences in Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction has increased by 43 per cent, from 440 in 2017 to 627 last year. The Saskatchewan RCMP reports that most of the increase is in Northern Saskatchewan, which experienced a 75 per cent increase in that time period.

Chief Superintendent Ted Munro, the Saskatchewan RCMP’s Criminal Operations Officer, stresses that it’s their duty to focus on the people behind these numbers, because each one of these incidents had at least one victim impacted by violence and trauma. He notes that only police and the communities they serve experience the vivid truth of how firearm-related violence impacts northern and west-central Saskatchewan.

Last year, RCMP officers in this province removed 1,377 dangerous firearms and so far this year, there have been 1,395 removed. Sixty-six per cent of the seizures are non-restricted rifles and 22 per cent are non-restricted shotguns.

Munro says the danger and investigational complexities have increased, but the resources have not. He adds that officers often have to reprioritize their response to non-violent crime, meaning officers carry an unreasonable workload and endure long hours. He suggests that with more staff and officers, they could be more proactive than reactive.