VIDEO: Inside a night shift with the Corman Park Police Service

In Corman Park, a police officer’s shift can take them from busy highways to prairie farmland, industrial areas and anywhere in between, as they patrol one of Saskatchewan’s largest municipalities.

At 5:45 p.m. on a Friday in August, sergeant Dana Schreiner of the Corman Park Police Service headed to the first of several impaired driving calls he tackled during his shift.

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“It’s very common, especially on the major highways in and out of Saskatoon,” Schreiner said, explaining that he gets around 20 of these calls during a typical night of work.

Schreiner said these calls can turn out to be anything from an erratic or speeding driver to someone operating a vehicle while significantly impaired.

“We do try to get out on the highway and stop those cars and just see exactly what is going on, and then take any enforcement action that’s necessary,” Schreiner said.

Sergeant Dana Schreiner, with the Corman Park Police Service, during a traffic stop. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Schreiner brought 650 CKOM reporter Mia Holowaychuk on a ride along to see what a night shift looks like for an officer patrolling the rural municipality that covers 2,100 square kilometres around Saskatoon.

Officers travel past hamlets lined with multi-million-dollar homes, a potash mine and growing commercial developments, but Schreiner said some calls take him right back to his farming roots.

“You could be going through one of these developments, and then 10 minutes later have a call that there’s a cow running down the road, and you’re out there trying to get that cow off the road and back into the pasture,” he said.

Schreiner pointed to a field just off of Highway 16 where, just a week earlier, officers had to track down the owner of several loose cattle and get them back into the field.

“We’ve got members here that grew up in the city and have no idea how to chase cattle. It’s actually kind of humorous,” he said with a laugh.

Schreiner said patrolling the RM surrounding Saskatoon so unique because multiple different police services work together to reduce crime.

“Crime doesn’t stop at the border of a municipality, and so it’s important that everybody’s working on the same page,” Schreiner said.

The Saskatoon Police Service, Vanscoy RM Police Service, Dalmeny Police Service and Saskatchewan Highway Patrol are some of the organizations that work together to share information and assist in investigations in Corman Park.

Schreiner said information sharing is important, as there are times when the Corman Park police have information that might not be relevant to its service, but may help another force find answers in a separate investigation.

“I really don’t care personally what color the stripe is on your pants,” he said. “Everybody works together for a common goal.”

A lot of ground to cover

Schreiner said travel time is one of the biggest challenges Corman Park police officers face.

“It’s such a big RM that even if we got a call right now on the far west side of the RM, it’d be a good half an hour to get out there,” he said.

To help cut down response times, Schreiner said officers position themselves in different areas of the RM, giving them a better chance of getting to a call quickly.

Schreiner said there are occasional hot spots when it comes to rural crime, but officers are also proactively policing throughout the RM.

“Sometimes we stumble across areas that maybe we didn’t know about where there might be an issue,” he said.

Schreiner said officers try to distribute their patrols evenly across the RM, which stretches from the Borden Bridge and Asquith area toward Dundurn, Clavet and Aberdeen.

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During the ride along, Schreiner pulled into a construction site south of Saskatoon, packed with stacks of lumber and other materials. Schreiner said officers regularly patrol work sites in an effort to deter theft and spot suspicious activity.

“We’ve had issues with people stealing diesel fuel. We’ve had issues with people stealing lumber at construction sites, tools, that kind of stuff,” he said.

Firefighters respond to industrial fire near Saskatoon. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

From patrol to fire scene

Later in the evening, Schreiner pulled into the scene of an industrial fire. He explained that while industrial fires are less common, officers typically respond to grass and structure fires at least once a month.

“It looks like they had a fire in a dust collector,” he said. “I’m not sure if their dust collector had any kind of fire suppression, but from what (the fire department) was saying, it sounds like it’s for the most part extinguished.”

Schreiner said police work alongside firefighters to help with traffic control and collect witness statements when needed.

“If there’s any kind of criminality at all, police will just hold the scene and we’ll look into it from that point,” he said.

Sergeant Dana Schreiner, with the Corman Park Police Service, at the scene of an industrial fire. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Behind the uniform

Schreiner said a career with the RCMP was on his radar while growing up. He said he liked the idea of policing a rural area, but ultimately didn’t want to move away.

In 2009, Schreiner started with the Corman Park police as an auxiliary, a special volunteer constable who only carries a baton and pepper spray.

“I was hooked,” Schreiner said.

Schreiner went to police college in 2013, and has been working with the Corman Park Police Service ever since.

“I get to stay where I grew up, which to me is awesome,” he said.

“I’ve gotten to foster new relationships with people in the RM that I’ve gotten to know throughout the last number of years.”

When Schreiner started, he said there were three or four officers working at the service. Since then, that number has grown to 13.

“Hopefully we can continue to grow,” Schreiner said, noting that the RM of Corman Park’s population has also grown substantially over the years.

Looking back at his career, Schreiner said policing has become more dangerous since he started.

“Firearms are a lot more prevalent on the streets now,” he said. “When I started back in ‘09, hearing about a firearm on the street was pretty uncommon.”

Despite how the job has changed over the years, Schreiner said he still looks forward to coming to work each day.

“I still enjoy it every day,” he said. “No regrets.”