during the recent Regina Police Service (RPS) board of police commissioners At the meeting, the police chief reveals that Regina regularly deals with over a hundred people. drug overdose One month
RPS chief Evan Bray said, “We still have to acknowledge that more than 100 overdoses a month are still a significant problem in our community.” “Our police service continues to work to reduce the amount of illegal drugs in the community.”
According to a recent Board of Police Commissioners report, in December 2022, there were 121 drug overdoses in the city, police attended 28 incidents and 12 apparent drug overdose-related deaths. More than 60 percent of incidents occurred in the central part of Regina.
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“We need to find a way to help people get healthy. We really need to take the lens of health and put it on top of this problem and dig into (it),” he said. There may be an endorsement, it may be intense work, but… the justice system is not going to fix this problem.,
At 118, the latest number of fatal overdoses for 2022 is a significant drop from 2021 when Regina experienced 164 fatal drug overdoses, but Chief Bray is not celebrating the news.
“I think we’re a long way from calling it a success. There could be a number of factors contributing to that shortfall,” he said. “But let’s hope the momentum continues.”
RPS initiated program called Virtual Police Reporting System in June 2022 that allows people to talk to a police officer via the Internet.
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“It’s evolved into an online reporting system where you go to our website and you can report a crime, and if it meets a specific mandate or specific criteria,” said RPS Staff Sgt. Pierre Beaushen. “Therefore, a member of the public can report this crime from the comfort of their home, in the privacy of their office, and speak to that police officer at virtually any time. It’s convenient and safe and secure and private for them.
The province announced on December 1, 2022 that the Saskatchewan Drug Task Force is providing $650,000 to initiate the Overdose Outreach Teams pilot project and will run until May 15 in Regina and Saskatoon.
In a December release, Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Everett Hindley said, “Overdose Outreach Teams are a vital tool in helping people access the support and care they need to get started on the path to recovery and treatment. ” “Establishing these teams is part of our commitment to helping people living with addictions by improving access to addiction and harm reduction services.”
As per the report, in the month of December 2022, there were 1,681 traffic stops, 532 calls for domestic conflict, 193 missing reports, 137 missing people, 138 suicide calls, 53 firearm seizures, 12 violence with firearm calls and 54 drug seizures .
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