Local police officers Cst. Luke Torgunrud, left, and Sgt. Brian Glynn are being recognized by the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police for saving a suicidal man who had barricaded himself inside a home in Prince Albert last fall. (Charlene Tebbutt/paNOW Staff)

By Charlene Tebbutt

Recognizing local police

Local police officers to be recognized

Apr 26, 2019 | 7:00 AM

Two local police officers are being honoured for their efforts to save a suicidal man barricaded inside a Prince Albert home last fall.

Prince Albert Police Sgt. Brian Glynn and Const. Luke Torgunrud will be recognized next week with an Excellence in Performance Award from the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police. The awards ceremony will be held in Weyburn April 30.

The two officers were nominated for the award by the Prince Albert Police Service. In a report to the Board of Police Commissioners the police service said the incident clearly put the officers’ “personal safety and mental wellness at risk.”

To hear Glynn and Torgunrud describe it though, they were just doing their jobs.

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“He was in very serious danger and his life was potentially going to end because of his own actions,” Torgunrud said. “And we know that if someone’s doing that, we need to get in there now, like really fast.”

The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. the morning of November 11, 2018. The officers responded to a call at a downtown-area home for a report of a suicidal man.

Glynn, a 14-year member of the service, and Torgunrud, who has worked as a police officer for six years, told paNOW it took several kicks to make an impact on the heavy, wooden door of the house.

Torgunrud said he was eventually able to climb through the bottom part of the door that had broken away to help the man. Glynn soon followed, after the door finally gave in and he was able to remove it, and helped Torgunrud while awaiting EMS.

“I’m not a big guy by any means, but there was a big enough opening in the bottom of the door that I just forced my way in,” Torgunrud said.

While police officers never know what they might encounter in any given situation, Glynn said they are trained to help people in their worst moments.

“We deal with people that are in a mental health crisis on a regular basis, and we do it more and more,” Glynn said. “This was just a situation where we were able to get in there and intervene and there’s a good, happy ending.”

The officers say they’re a bit shy to be put into the spotlight but are honoured to be recognized for their efforts.

“You’re being picked out of your whole police service when your whole police service does things every day that saves people’s lives,” Torgunrud added.

Glynn sums up the incident as “a humbling experience for two guys who work a patrol shift, who work on the street.”

“Just to be recognized because basically we went out and did what we’re taught to do, and what we’re compensated to do, it’s humbling,” he said.

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt