Saskatoon police deal with about 80 to 110 incidents each year involving bear spray, Supt. Randy Huisman told CTV News Wednesday.
“We see it in gang activity, home invasions, robberies and street robberies.”
He said police first noticed an increase in bear spray used in attacks starting about five years ago.
He said bear spray is easy to buy from many sporting goods stores. All you need is to be 18, have ID and sign a quick waiver saying you won’t use the spray as a weapon.
“Bear spray can hit multiple victims at the same time … pain and vision loss means you can’t defend yourself,” Huisman said.
An incident Tuesday night ended with a 12-year-old boy in custody and three people suffering from the effects of bear spray. There were also concerns over a toddler who had already left the scene.
Officers were dispatched to Avenue W South and 19th Street West where they found the boy being restrained by adults. They were told he had gone to a home and set off bear spray.
Police also went on an early morning firearms call to a home in the 1000 block of 23rd Street West. When they arrived they found a front window had been smashed out and bear spray was deployed into the home. No one was injured.
Later that night police attended to the 3400 block of Eighth Street East where about 20 people were involved in an argument. They say a man started waving a can of bear spray around and threatening to use it. The man was arrested.
Then around 11 p.m. Monday, police say a 22-year-old woman was attacked in the 800 hundred block of Sauer Lane while walking home from a bus stop. She said a suspect, possibly female, sprayed bear spray in her face and tried but failed to steal her back pack.
Huisman said all police officers go through pepper spray training which involves being exposed to the effects to know what it feels like if they are in a position where they need to fight after being sprayed.
