'Alternative response' officers start patrolling Regina's downtown core

Seven new special constables are out walking the beat in Regina's downtown as of this week.

Alternative response officers, or AROs, officially began patrolling on Tuesday after weeks of in-service training. 

"I think our community has lots of complex challenges right now, so we need to think outside of the box in terms of what is a good fit for our community," Regina Police Service Deputy Chief Lorilee Davies said at a Thursday news conference at Hill Tower, in the city's downtown.

"AROs are a new way for us to be present downtown, provide that proactive presence, and really engage with people who may be facing complex issues and connect them to services. So it's less of an enforcement and more a sort of community support."

The special constables, who are not fully armed, are meant to complement the work of armed police officers already working in the downtown and free up those officers to respond to calls for service. 

The new officers can deliver public safety programming in instances where an armed police officer isn't required, the police service said in a news release.

That could include connecting with vulnerable people and helping them find the support they need, and engaging with businesses and people in the area, Regina police said.

Their duties also include enforcing bylaws and provincial legislation, and they will help in transporting people who are arrested, taking complaints from citizens and writing police reports. They'll also participate in public events, such as parades, police said.

The new officers will operate on two overlapping 10-hour shifts, allowing them to be visible throughout the day.

One of the newly appointed officers in Regina, Special Const. Vlad Grygoruk, immigrated to Canada from Ukraine and has called Regina home for the past six years.

He said at Thursday's news conference he has dreamed of working in law enforcement since he was young, and feels like joining the alternative response program will be a good way to give back to the community that welcomed him as an immigrant. 

"I challenged myself, came to another country," and initially worked as a bus driver, he said.

Over time, "I just decided I want to do something more useful to the community and the people who surrounded me. So that's why I decided to apply for being an ARO with the Regina police," Grygoruk said. 

Alternative response officers have been patrolling in Saskatoon since 2021.