Regina Victims Seek Stronger Penalties for Police Data Misuse

A group of about 20 people gathered outside Regina police headquarters on Tuesday before a board of police commissioners meeting to demand stricter penalties for officers who access private information for personal reasons. Kerry Benjoe told the board that officers who breach privacy for personal gain should face consequences severe enough to deter future violations.

She said a one-day suspension provides no meaningful deterrent. Benjoe described how a Regina police sergeant contacted her in 2018 after she had left an abusive relationship and was staying in a shelter. The officer used details from her domestic-abuse file to initiate contact under a false identity.

An internal investigation later determined that the same officer had used the police database to target 33 women. He pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust and one count of unlawful use of a computer, receiving a two-year conditional sentence and three years of probation before resigning from the force.

Benjoe and other attendees said current disciplinary measures are insufficient and called for mandatory job loss and criminal breach of trust charges in similar cases. Mayor Chad Bachynski, chair of the police board, and Police Chief Lorilee Davies attended the meeting.