REGINA, Sask. — A Regina Police Service (RPS) civilian employee has been charged after an internal investigation found she improperly accessed police databases six times between 2023 and 2026.
Katrina Caza was found by an internal investigation to have accessed the police service’s internal databases improperly six times between 2023 and 2026.
Speaking to the media on Monday, RPS Chief Lorilee Davies said the news gives the force a “black eye.”
“It’s not a good day, especially given that this has happened.”
According to Davies, the investigation found Caza had used the databases to access two media releases the service had sent out and four records related to a person she had a relationship with.
The information was discovered through a random audit by the RPS.
“Our access and privacy unit has a fulsome audit process. They do several different types of rounds or random audits. One of just random file numbers, [had been] one of media releases,” explained Davies.
After discovering the information, the RPS sent the case to the attorney general for any potential charges under the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LAFOIP).
On Monday, Caza was officially charged under section 56(6) of LAFOIP.
"If convicted, Caza will be subject to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for not more than one year,” explained Davies.
However, because the charge is still pending and internal discussions have taken place, she remains an employee of the RPS.
“She has been reassigned to an area that doesn’t require access as part of her duties.”
But Caza’s employment could change pending the court’s decision.
“We’ll wait until the court proceedings are concluded, and then we’ll complete our internal disciplinary process. So, I would say this will continue until the conclusion of both the court and disciplinary proceedings,” said Davies.
Caza is now the third member of the RPS in the past few years caught improperly accessing databases.
Former RPS officer Robert Semenchuk was sentenced to two years in the community and three years of probation after snooping on 33 people over several years in an attempt to establish relationships with women.
RPS Const. Clinton Duquette is also currently facing charges under LAFOIP for accessing information on his former partner and their relatives 67 times over a few years.
With all this coming to light, Davies said it speaks to the accountability the force is taking.
“We hold public trust very highly. It's important to us, and I think that the fact that we are being transparent that this has happened and we're sharing that information, the public should take solace in that. I take very seriously my role in ensuring that we build and maintain trust.”
But that trust and public opinion can easily be broken with one bad case.
“I've talked about pennies in the piggy bank before. [It] takes thousands of pennies to build public trust and just one smash of the piggy bank to destroy that,” noted Davies.
Davies also addressed people calling for harsher penalties for RPS members caught snooping.
“We’ve heard that, and that’s why we’ve changed our processes. Historically, we would not have sent these files to the Crown or the Attorney General for consideration of criminal charges or charges under LAFOIP. We’ve heard the concerns, and we’ve made changes to our processes to ensure we’re meeting the public’s expectations. We’ll see how this plays out in court, certainly in this case.”
In the coming months, Davies said the RPS will conduct employee-specific random audits.
As of right now, Davies estimates roughly 550 RPS employees have access to its databases.
Any new findings “will not be tolerated,” said Davies.
“They'll be dealt with harshly. I fully believe that our employees understand the consequences they face. Nobody wants to be put in this situation, and I think that people are acting accordingly.”
