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The leadership of the James Smith Cree Nation is happy with how the RCMP handled the arrest of Myles Sanderson, the man who stabbed and killed 11 people and injured 17 more in a stabbing spree on the reserve east of Prince Albert in 2022.
However, the leaders still would like to see some changes in the justice system, such as the jury’s recommendations following the inquest being made binding, which they are not right now.
“We saw that the RCMP did everything within their power to take Myles Sanderson into custody alive. Once arrested, the RCMP and medical responders used all the tools at their disposal to try to save his life. We commend them for their compassion and bravery,” Chief Wally Burns said.
On Thursday, the second coroner’s jury made four recommendations after hearing the details of Sanderson’s days following the stabbings, his capture and arrest by the RCMP near Rosthern, and his subsequent overdose death.
Three of those recommendations were directed at the RCMP, including training all officers in the PIT manoeuvre, a high-risk method of stopping a fleeing vehicle.
One of the officers who testified at the inquest in Saskatoon said he had doubts about universal training in the PIT manoeuvre being a good idea. Officers are already trained in high-risk driving techniques and the RCMP normally bans its members from using the manoeuvre, which can kill the suspect, officer and the public if it goes wrong.
In this case, Const. Heidi Marshall executed it perfectly, but she was only given the go-ahead because of Sanderson’s recent killings and the fact he was still a very active threat.
The other recommendations James Smith leadership would like to see followed through on are enhanced driver training in high-speed pursuits, and having officers trained on extraction techniques for offender takedowns.
The fourth recommendation was for the Saskatoon police to create a team to capture and arrest people with outstanding warrants. Sanderson had an outstanding warrant for violating his release conditions but was fairly openly travelling between Saskatoon and James Smith selling cocaine in the days before he began his killing spree.
The provincial government has addressed some of the issues by creating more Warrant and Enforcement Suppression Teams (WEST).
In the case of Sanderson, the James Smith Cree Nation leaders recognize the limited scope of a coroner’s inquest and that it is a fact-finding mission. A statement released Friday said they were satisfied that the process allowed the details of the manhunt to be made public, which helps family members get some closure.
James Smith will continue to push for a national inquiry into the massacre and lobby for reforms inside prisons and the parole system, says Burns.
It’s also working to create a self-administered police force on reserve.
“The system failed to help Myles Sanderson. We see his mental health, addictions, and the root causes of his anger were not corrected inside the system. I fear this could happen again without mandatory participation in culturally appropriate programming to rehabilitate criminals,” said Burns.
“We are calling on the federal government to sit at the table with us to address the systemic issues that contributed to the deaths in James Smith Cree Nation.”
A security force created with federal funding received praise from Melfort RCMP members at the first of the two inquests into the stabbings, held in Melfort six weeks ago.
Police said the force provides valuable local knowledge and contacts in the community, which still sees a disproportionate amount of policing coming from the Melfort detachment, due to continued issues with crime and addictions.
Twenty-eight security guards patrol the First Nation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and work closely with local RCMP to help reduce crime. Federal funding for the program ends March 31, 2024.
Sanderson was charged with 125 crimes as an adult but also had a record as a young offender. Of the 46 cases filed against him in provincial court, two were attempted murders, 18 were assaults and three were break-and-enters. Four of those assaults involved stabbings with weapons like knives, a fork, and broken beer bottles.
The First Nation would like to see prisoner reform taken more seriously in the correctional system and the elimination of drugs and gangs.
“We know offenders who enter the prison system are at risk of becoming more criminalized and put at odds with organized gangs. The system is failing our people by not caring to focus on rehabilitation,” said Peter Chapman Band Chief Robert Head.
The First Nation would like to be notified when offenders are released and create on-reserve aftercare and transitional housing for released prisoners.
Myles Sanderson was not the first to commit murders in the James Smith community.
Almost exactly one year before Sanderson went on his rampage, a shooting took the lives of a 37-year-old man and 28-year-old woman and sent a 44-year-old man to hospital with serious injuries. Shawn Moostoos, the 33-year-old who is charged with the killings, has yet to have his trial completed.
After those events, the Nation asked for an RCMP detachment on the reserve but did not get the response it hoped for.
The community has 1,850 people with the nearest detachment in Melfort, 45 kilometres away.
The leadership said the current security force is not enough to manage the existing crime in the community. A trained and armed police force that can administer the criminal code is needed.
Leadership also wants to keep pushing to make sure recommendations from the first inquest are not forgotten.