In recent weeks, there have been headlines in Saskatchewan, and across the country, over the need to increase the presence of police at various high schools due to violent incidents and illegal activities. While it is something that isn’t unheard of in southeast Saskatchewan, we wanted to know what the situation was like in Weyburn and reached out to the Chief of Police, Jamie Blunden.  

“My answer would be no,” Blunden told Discover Weyburn. “I’ve looked at some of our stats and you know, over the last couple of years we might have had a dozen to a dozen and a half calls there for service; some minor in nature and some a little bit more.” 

Some of the calls the police have dealt with in Weyburn include dealing with teens sharing explicit photos with each other, bullying, mischief and parking complaints. The most serious incident happened in 2021 when a student had taken a pellet gun to school. That particular incident, however, was handled by police and staff at the school.  

Blunden credits the relationship the staff at the school have with the police, and the community as a whole for not needing to have a regular police presence at the school, be it regular patrols or responding to a high number of calls for service.  

“We’ve got a great community here,” Blunden pointed out. “I’ll speak to the crime severity index, and we’ve got a very, very good community.” He added that for the most part, people in Weyburn are law-abiding citizens with a lot of values and ethics that are imparted onto their children, which is evident in the schools.  

The staff at Weyburn Comprehensive School help as well. Blunden said the work being done by the staff has eliminated the need to put a specific policing strategy for the school in place as well.