Regina police chief frustrated over anti-mask rallies

Regina’s police chief is frustrated over the amount of resources that need to be spent on anti-mask rallies.

Chief Evan Bray said officers are extremely busy on any day, but sometimes the rallies can call for as few as three or four officers to upwards of 40.

“We’ve got some busy things going on in the community that keep our police busy, we’ve got important things that we should be focusing our efforts on, and so while I respect freedom of speech, I also have to respect that our job is to uphold the law,” Bray said.

“So when we have large gatherings that are essentially flipping their nose at the public health order, which is a lawful piece of legislation, it’s frustrating because it takes a lot of resources and a lot of time.”

Bray said police have issued more than 50 tickets in relation to anti-mask rallies.

He has noticed the amount of enforcement needed is changing as the rallies get smaller.

“You might get the diehards who are going to continue to say, ‘No problem, do your enforcement, give me a ticket,’ and they may continue to do that but it is my hope that people and the general public are understanding there’s consequences to being involved in this and they are making those choices wisely,” Bray said.

Bray said while there will still be restrictions and other things as the province continues along its reopening roadmap, he does think it will open up more officers as health orders become less stringent.

“Even the calls for service that we get throughout the day and night of people saying, ‘My neighbour has too many people in their house,’ or, ‘Someone who is not in their bubble is in their house,’ those type of things will minimize as the health order opens up a bit,” Bray said.