By CHIEF ROBERT DUTTCHEN, Corman Park Police Service
It is not every week that this column gets to begin with a medal.
On October 9, Corman Park Police Service (CPPS) Cst. Dan Lawrence received the Royal Canadian Humane Association (RCHA) Silver Medal for Bravery from Her Honour the Honourable Bernadette McIntyre, Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, during a ceremony at Government House in Regina.
The medal recognizes Cst. Lawrence’s actions on the morning of May 5, after a head-on collision on Highway 11 within Saskatoon city limits. When police arrived, a heavily damaged white Ford van was on fire, the ground around it was burning, and the driver was still in his seat, surrounded by flames and thick black smoke.
RCMP Cst. Patrick Kean spotted the trapped driver and alerted Cst. Lawrence. Cst. Kean reached in and burned his hands trying to pull the man free. When the driver then fell from the van into the flames, Cst. Lawrence grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him clear. Together, the two officers dragged him about nine metres (30 feet) across the grass. Seconds later, the van was completely engulfed in a fireball.
Their work was not finished. Noticing that the man’s pants were still on fire, the officers patted out the flames, and when someone handed over a fire extinguisher, Cst. Lawrence used it to put out the fire on his clothing. Cst. Lawrence then took control of a chaotic scene with many onlookers, while Cst. Kean stayed with the injured driver, keeping him warm and comforting him until paramedics arrived.
The driver suffered life-threatening injuries, including severe burns and multiple broken bones. Both officers burned their hands and suffered smoke inhalation, and Cst. Lawrence also injured his knee. There is no doubt that their quick and selfless actions saved a life while putting their own at risk. Cst. Kean was also named a recipient of the RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery for the same rescue.
Dan, on behalf of every member of the Corman Park Police Service, thank you. We are proud of you, and grateful to your family, who were there to share the moment with you. Our congratulations and thanks also go to Cst. Kean and our partners at the RCMP. That morning, the shoulder flash on the uniform did not matter; two officers ran toward the fire together. We also thank Her Honour and the staff of Government House for hosting a ceremony that honoured courage from across our province with such warmth and dignity.
The same day brought a strong reminder of why traffic enforcement matters. On October 9, CPPS officers stopped a vehicle on Highway 219 after seeing it travel 50 km/h in a posted 100 km/h zone and fail to maintain its lane. Driving at half the speed limit is not usually what gets someone pulled over, but it can be every bit as much a warning sign as speeding. In this case, it was the beginning of a much larger investigation.
During the investigation, officers seized $3,600 in cash, two scales with cocaine residue, hundreds of small baggies, unstamped tobacco and other drug paraphernalia. They also seized a collection of weapons: bear spray, a collapsible baton, a prohibited knife and a BB gun. The driver has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and with weapons offences. The driver also failed a Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) and received a 21-day driver’s licence suspension and a seven-day vehicle impoundment. The charges have not been proven in court.
Two days earlier, shortly before 1 p.m. on October 7, CPPS officers responded to a report of a suspicious person near Highway 11 and Township Road 393. They found a man walking on the highway, contrary to The Traffic Safety Act. Highway 11 serves a lot of purposes, but a footpath is not one of them. Checks showed the man was wanted on outstanding warrants from the Fond du Lac RCMP Detachment. At the direction of the RCMP, he was released on a notice to appear in court and given a ride into the city, which was a much safer trip than the one he had been making on foot.
Looking back to September, our members also removed several impaired and unsafe drivers from RM roads.
On the afternoon of September 9, an officer on patrol near Highway 663 and Tamke Road stopped a vehicle with tinted windows. At the roadside, the officer formed the opinion that the driver had been drinking and demanded a breath sample into an Approved Screening Device (ASD). The result was a ‘Fail.’ The driver was arrested for impaired operation of a motor vehicle and taken to the Saskatoon RCMP Detachment, where he provided two breath samples of 70 mg%. He received a three-day licence suspension and a vehicle impoundment, and he was released into the care of a sober adult.
At about 11 p.m. on September 11, a CPPS officer parked near Highway 16 and Township Road 382 watched someone throw garbage from a passing vehicle onto the highway. What began as a littering stop quickly became more serious. The officer found open containers of alcohol in the vehicle and learned that the driver, who holds a probationary licence, did not have his licence with him. An ASD test showed a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 38 mg%, a breach of his zero-BAC licence restriction. He received a 60-day licence suspension and a three-day vehicle impoundment, along with tickets for littering, failing to produce his licence and having open liquor in his vehicle. A sober friend picked him up at the scene.
In the early morning hours of September 12, an officer on patrol saw a vehicle on Highway 219 failing to maintain its lane. After the vehicle crossed the centre line twice, the officer stopped it. The driver provided an ASD sample that registered an ‘Alert,’ and the officer also noted that he was not wearing his seatbelt. He received a 60-day licence suspension, a three-day vehicle impoundment, and tickets for failing to wear a seatbelt and failing to maintain his lane.
Every one of these files started with something small: a pedestrian on a highway, tinted windows, garbage tossed from a window, a vehicle drifting over the centre line, and a car travelling at half the speed limit.
That is the value of proactive traffic enforcement. Road safety always comes first, but traffic stops routinely uncover impaired drivers, outstanding warrants and, as we saw on Highway 219, weapons and evidence of drug trafficking.
Our members will continue to be visible on RM roads. If you have been drinking or using drugs, please do not drive; plan a safe ride home.
If you see a driver you believe may be impaired, call 911. From all of us at the Corman Park Police Service, thank you for helping keep our roads and communities safe, and Happy Thanksgiving.