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The Regina Police Service is investigating after RCMP-issued equipment, clothing and guns were stolen from a garage in Regina on Saturday night.
It’s believed that sometime on Saturday night, or the early hours of Sunday morning, a detached garage was broken into in the 3300 block of Green Moss Lane in Arcola East.
The homeowners discovered the theft at around 10 a.m. on Sunday when they saw that their garage door was wide open.
Some of the things taken include a Cabela’s gun locker containing a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and a Remington SPS .308-calibre rifle.
A duty bag containing RCMP Public Order equipment and clothing including an RCMP rain poncho, RCMP coveralls, RCMP shoulder patches, two RCMP ballcaps (one with white lettering; one with blue lettering), RCMP inclement weather pants with a yellow stripe, batons, a green gas mask, and a riot helmet also were missing.
There were also some tools, a mobile air conditioner and various other things taken as well.
“The firearms are personal, legally owned rifles, which were stored in a gun safe; however, in the hands of criminals, they now pose a potential threat to public safety,” read a media release from police. “The combination of stolen firearms and RCMP-issued clothing adds particular urgency and concern to this matter.”
Bray reacts
“Like anything, where there’s a break and enter and an opportunity for it and it happens, it’s something that we need to take seriously,” Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said Tuesday morning.
Bray said thankfully, this kind of thing doesn’t happen often but it has been seen in Canada before that such things can be used for a bad purpose, “and we want to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”
According to Bray, most people know what an RCMP officer is supposed to look like in terms of complete dress and uniform.
“If there’s something that doesn’t seem right, it’s OK to do some verifications on that,” said Bray.
But the chief doesn’t see that type of thing — the thief dressing up as an officer — to be the issue here.
Bray could only speak for the Regina Police Service, not the RCMP, but said it would depend on the officer and the kind of work they do whether they would have equipment at home.
Patrol officers would usually change into their uniform at work, but officers in specialty sections or investigators might have things with them if they get called out from home.
The Regina police are working with the RCMP on the case and Bray said it’ll be investigated like any other break and enter.
“They look for fingerprints, they look for nearby surveillance video (and) they work with sources that they might have in the community to try and determine who committed this crime and see if we can get this stuff back,” said Bray.
Bray explained that, several years back, an officer’s uniform and badge were in a gym bag that had been stolen from their car. Bray said police were able to recover that at the time and he hopes they’ll be able to do the same in this case.
Anyone who has information to assist in this investigation is asked to contact the Regina Police Service, or their nearest RCMP detachment or police agency. Information can be reported to the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500, or anonymously through Regina Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick
