Regina Police Service Chief Lorilee Davies officially sworn in

Lorilee Davies was officially sworn in as Regina’s Police Chief, the first woman to lead a Saskatchewan police service. Sierra D’Souza Butts reports.

After filling the interim role twice within her 29-year career, Lorilee Davies was officially sworn in as the new chief for the Regina Police Service (RPS) Thursday evening.

“There have been many people involved leading to today. I’ve been privileged to start from a foundation of loving parents and a family who provided me with the most amazing opportunities to try new things, to grow and to learn,” Davies said emotionally.

“From the youngest age, my parents and grandparents’ model of community engagement is an essential part of life. Commitment to community is part of my DNA.”

Hundreds of people were in attendance celebrating her success, including former chief of police Evan Bray, who joined the police service around the same time as Davies and has witnessed her growth throughout her career.

“I can’t help but think we should be celebrating what this means for the police service and the community,” Bray expressed. “This is a win. It’s a win on a lot of levels. It’s a win for young girls who not only now see themselves in uniform but see themself as the chief.”

“It’s a win for members of the police service who look for a leader that after foundation, understands the needs of those doing this job and the impact of caring and nurturing those needs,” he added.

During her time with the police service, Davies has worked in both uniform and investigative divisions, along with developing the RPS’s Truth and Reconciliation strategy.

Prior to stepping into the permanent role as chief, Davies had served as acting chief since April 2025 – following the suspension and eventual termination of former chief Farooq Sheikh.

Her appointment marks the first time in Saskatchewan’s history that a woman has become the chief of a major city’s police service, according to the City of Regina.

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“Today, she becomes the first woman to serve as chief of police in Regina’s history, and the first in the history of our province,” said Mayor Chad Bachynski. “That is a milestone worth celebrating, but what makes this moment truly special is not the barriers being broken.”

Bachynski credited Davies’ three-decade experience in the police service to her being the obvious person to serve as chief.

“She knows this service inside and out because she’s lived every corner of it, and she knows the community just as well,” he expressed.

“Chief Davies believes that policing is not something done to a community. It’s something done with our community. Her work developing that truth and reconciliation strategy and committee is a testament to that belief. She understands that trust is built.”

When RPS first announced Davies’ appointment last month, she shared her ideas regarding the first steps she would take as head of the police service.

“I think it’ll be sitting down with our leadership team, hearing from all of our employees in terms of where they think we need to go and where we need to have some additional work and then make plans from there,” she told reporters on Dec. 4, 2026.

Now officially taking on the permanent role as head of the organization, Chief Davies said the focus will continue to be building relationships with the community through one police officer at a time.

“It’s about getting out in the community, and it’s not just me. It’s every employee in the Regina Police Service,” she told media.

“Because if you can think about the Regina Police Service and you can picture a person that you’ve interacted with and that was a positive interaction, then that makes building trust so much easier. We’ve got some work to do, but I’m confident that we’ll get there.”

Davies first joined RPS in 1996.

-With files from David Prisciak and Donovan Maess.