Sask. man pushes for change in the Prince Albert police after losing family member

A Prince Albert man hopes to help mend the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Prince Albert Police Service.

Chase Sinclair said he became an advocate after his friend died from injuries sustained during an altercation with P.A. police officers.

Sinclair told CTV News he’s lost dozens of friends to addictions, suicides and murders, but the death of his adoptive brother Boden Umpherville was his breaking point.

“We live in a world of hurt. I’m done with it. I don’t want to hurt anymore,” Sinclair said in an interview.

Umpherville went into medical distress on April 1, after officers used Tasers, pepper spray, and batons to apprehend him. He was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries three weeks later.

“To see him laying there, it was disgusting.”

“He was always there for us,” Sinclair said, “We all were holding on to the guilt of not being able to save him,” he added.

Sinclair said Umpherville’s death provoked him to make a change. He created a Facebook page with about 1,300 members called ‘Justice for Boden and hope for Indigenous People’.

“What I’m trying to do is allowing people to share their stories on there; creating a place where people can just talk,” he said.

He plans to meet with interim police Chief Patrick Nogier and Deputy Chief Farica Prince on Wednesday for a discussion. Nogier confirmed there will be a meeting, but said there is no set agenda for it.

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Sinclair said he helped organize a peaceful protest outside the police station earlier this month, and said he has plans to hold monthly protests. His goal is to advocate for restorative justice for Indigenous peoples, and said he wants to see justice in the death of Umpherville.

The circumstances of Umpherville’s death are still under investigation by the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT).