The number of drug-related arrests this year might be down by half compared to 2021, but the quantity of drugs that police have seized has increased, the police chief says.
Moose Jaw police have made 26 arrests for drug possession from January to October of this year, including four for cocaine, six for marijuana, eight for methamphetamines and eight for other types.
In comparison, during the same period last year, officers made 57 drug-related arrests, including six for cocaine, 10 for marijuana, 24 for meth and 17 for other types.
Overall, this is a decline of 54.4 per cent in drug-related arrests.
Meanwhile, police seized 37.5 grams of illicit drugs from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2021, while during the same period this year, they captured 884.4 grams. The largest quantity of drugs seized by type during both years has been methamphetamine.
Police noted that these numbers don’t reflect prevalence in the community, but do reflect the results of their investigations.
“So we have (had) a couple situations (recently) … . We will have more of these as we actively engage in projects, getting at the supply of the illicit substances in our community,” Police Chief Rick Bourassa said during the recent Board of Police Commissioners meeting.
Bourassa thanked the board for allowing the police service (MJPS) to hire more officers to fill the criminal investigation section (CIS). This has allowed it to pursue additional projects and identify suspects allegedly involved in the importation and distribution of drugs. Moreover, the recent creation of the tactical unit has allowed the organization to go after distributors.
For example, the unit pursued a project two months ago that seized drugs and firearms, while it — along with the CIS and Regina’s tactical unit — conducted another search a month ago that resulted in a suspect firing shots at police, officers issuing a public alert, the arrest of the suspect and the seizure of “a significant quantity” of drugs, weapons and money.
“I want to commend our members … on their diligence and their thoroughness and their reduction of harm, even though a shot was fired at them,” Bourassa added. “They were still able to take this person into custody without harm to anybody else. And that’s a real testament to their capabilities — and our tactical capabilities … .”
Guns, gangs and drugs all seem to come together and are rarely isolated, which is alarming because they lead to an increased risk of violence, said commissioner Mary Lee Booth. Meanwhile, she appreciated how the police chief commended “the rank and file” since she thought it was important for them to receive praise for keeping the community safe.
It may look as if there is an increase in those three issues, but it’s actually the work of officers investigating situations that have gone undetected for months and years, said Bourassa. While it might seem as if the situation is growing worse, that’s not true; it’s the work police are doing to detect and suppress that.
“Having said that, we do know we’re not an anomaly and we are seeing this increase in guns, gangs and drugs across the country,” he continued. “And we’ll keep working on that.”
Bourassa added that there has been a gang presence in Moose Jaw for some time, but he didn’t know if it was increasing, especially since “crime is so mobile” and it frequently travels between communities.
Moose Jaw is subjected to gang behaviour, especially when people come here to participate in initiation processes with existing members, said Supt. Devon Oleniuk. Over the years, such activity has remained consistent in Canada’s Most Notorious City.
The next Board of Police Commissioners meeting is Thursday, Dec. 8.
