The Saskatchewan RCMP is assessing the lessons learned from the mass killings that occurred in September 2022 in the James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon communities.

This Thursday morning, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore released the results of a comprehensive internal review into the mass stabbing incident and the subsequent manhunt for Myles Sanderson, who killed 11 people and injured 18 others before fleeing for several days. A series of conflicting emergency alerts were issued as updates continued during the search, leading to widespread fear in the province.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also addressed detailed responses to recommendations from two investigations conducted by the coroner—one looking into the circumstances of the 11 killings, and the other determining what is known about Sanderson's death in police custody.

A forensic toxicologist concluded that Sanderson died from a cocaine overdose shortly after being forced off the road by an RCMP officer, following a horrific high-speed chase on the wrong side of the busy Saskatchewan Highway 2.

Victim investigation recommendations

Among the recommendations from the jury in the first inquest held in January in Melfort, Sask. - a call for the RCMP to watermark any photos they upload to police information databases with the date the photo was taken.

This recommendation stems from an incident that occurred in the days leading up to the wave of killings, when officers were called to a home in James Smith looking for Damian Sanderson - Myles's brother. The two had been trafficking cocaine in the community prior to the event, and Damian was Myles's first victim.

When police arrived at the home looking for Damian, they were working off an eight-year-old photo from the RCMP database. Damian provided the officers with a false name and they did not recognize him.

Now, Blackmore says all photos added to police databases in the province will be watermarked with the event number, the date they were obtained, and the name of the detachment that obtained them.

The coroner also urged the RCMP to find ways to retain more current images of patrol officers.

The RCMP says its officers have access to the SGI photo database, and that staff in the department's communications center can obtain images from "any available digital media."

The jury in Melfort called on the RCMP to allocate more resources to its specialized drug enforcement team, as many described the killings as a result of the illegal drug trade in rural communities.

While the RCMP agreed to the recommendation, it noted in its response that it is facing a significant staffing shortage across the province.

The report stated: "Due to human resource pressures, SERT is currently managing a 30 percent vacancy rate among regular member positions."

"The department is in the process of hiring a number of vacant positions, and the vacancy rate is expected to decrease significantly in the coming months."

In its set of separate recommendations, the coroner also called on RCMP leadership to ensure that enforcement teams in Saskatchewan are fully equipped.

Based on its struggle to fill vacancies across the province, the RCMP simply said it agrees to those recommendations "in principle."

During the inquiry conducted in January, several relatives of the victims in the brutal killing spree committed by Sanderson noted that police made no effort to track him down when it was announced he was unlawfully at large months before the incident. This, despite the fact that he was widely known to travel between Saskatoon and James Smith, staying with the mother of his children, Vanessa Burns.

Others pointed to a pattern of violent crimes committed by Sanderson and a history of domestic violence against Burns, feeling that the police and parole officers had downplayed red flags that they saw.

The coroner urged the RCMP to change its practices regarding arrest warrants to prioritize offenders with a recurring history of domestic violence and intimate partner violence.

At this point, it seems the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is cautious in its commitment, at least without clarifying the conditions.

"Currently, domestic violence is not taken into consideration in the violence priority matrix. The report notes that much of the violence prioritization process is conducted automatically, thus identifying a history of domestic violence would be a manual task.

Before establishing such a procedure, the RCMP says it will need to define what constitutes domestic violence and intimate partner violence, to what degree historical information about domestic violence should be considered, and whether it will be limited to including only cases where charges have been laid.

The RCMP wrote: “The manual tagging process could be extensive.”

The investigation into Myles Sanderson's death

In the inquiry conducted in February regarding Sanderson's death in custody, the jury viewed dashcam footage of the high-speed chase that ended the three-day manhunt.

Witnessed in the investigation was Cst. Heidi Marshall executing a flawless high-speed maneuver to force Sanderson's stolen vehicle into a ditch, leading to his arrest along Highway 11 near Rosthern, Sask.

In the dashcam footage of the chase, the investigation heard the RCMP commander ordering officers to "get him out."

Marshall replies - "Get him out?"

The commander replied: "If we can, we are going to ram the car with [another police cruiser] to get him out of the game."

As a result, the jury later called on the RCMP to implement enhanced mandatory driver training to teach patrol officers this technique.

In its response on Thursday, the RCMP was not prepared to commit to implementing such a "dangerous and inherently dynamic intervention" broadly for all its officers.

Executing a maneuver at speeds over 80 kilometers per hour is considered the use of deadly force, the RCMP says, and "poses a significant risk of death or serious bodily harm to the suspect, the police, and the general public."

In its response, the RCMP stated that its national advanced driving course is currently being updated, and it will consider an "optional unit" in the use of the PIT maneuver, exclusively for members "identified as being proficient in advanced driving skills."

The RCMP says its policy on high-speed pursuits was amended in 2020 to remove explicit descriptions of "pursuable" and "non-pursuable" offenses. It said that the decision should be left to the supervisor based on “the totality of the situation,” and the urgency to apprehend the suspect.

In the tense three days following the wave of killings in September 2022, apprehending Sanderson was the police's top priority across Saskatchewan.

After Marshall's testimony in the February inquiry, even Sanderson's uncle thanked her for putting her life on the line to end the chase.

He said: "We were with you."