Regina police chief fired after misconduct investigation into text messages
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REGINA – Regina’s police chief has been fired following a misconduct investigation involving inappropriate text messages, the city’s mayor announced Tuesday.
Chad Bachynski told reporters the probe found Farooq Sheikh sent the messages to a member of the Regina Board of Police Commissioners for several months, including during an in-camera discussion of his employment contract.
He said the chief wanted the messages deleted, knowing they posed a risk.
“(It) demonstrated a significant and continuing lapse in the professional judgment and conduct inconsistent with Regina Police Service’s core values,” said Bachynski, speaking for the board.
“Overall, the chief did not take responsibility for his conduct.”
In April, Sheikh was temporarily removed from active duty pending the results of the investigation by Saskatchewan’s Public Complaints Commission.
While Sheikh spoke with investigators, they determined he characterized the texts in a way that was offensive to the force’s core values of integrity, transparency and accountability, the mayor said.
“The board feels strongly that a change in leadership is necessary to ensure continued public trust and confidence,” he said.
Bachynski said the commission is not identifying the complainant and declined to say whether they remain a member of the commission.
He said Sheikh’s contract was terminated with cause and he will not receive severance pay.
“The decision today is to make sure that we are committed to public trust,” he said. “My hope is we’ve demonstrated that this board takes these complaints very seriously.”
Sheikh began in the job in December 2023 after former chief Evan Bray retired and began hosting a radio call-in show.
Deputy Chief Lorilee Davies had served in the role since April and will continue to do so until the commission finds a replacement, Bachynski said.
“We have all the confidence in acting chief Davies,” he said. “She’s a 29-year member of the service, has amazing community involvement and is a strong leader.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2025.