New protocols in place after Regina police officer allegedly used databases to pursue personal relationships with women

WATCH: Regina Police Chief Sheikh speaks to reporters about Sgt. Robert Eric Semenchuck, a 22-year member of the service who was charged.

Regina’s Chief of Police Farooq Sheikh says Sgt. Robert Eric Semenchuck was suspended immediately in early 2023 and blocked from accessing police databases when a member of the public reported that the 22-year member had been using internal information to pursue personal relationships with women.

Semenchuck, who was suspended with pay, was charged with one count of breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer on March 11, 2025.

According to Sheikh, Semenchuck contacted women he had no previous relationship with but couldn’t comment on his motives other than it was for “personal and intimate relationships.”

According to the Regina Police Service (RPS), Semenchuck started out as a uniformed patrol officer and went on to spend a large portion of his career in investigative units as a plainclothes officer, dealing with complex investigations such as stolen autos and robberies.

Chief Sheikh said he wanted to speak to the media on Thursday to be as open and transparent as possible, but stressed he is limited on the information he can provide as the case remains under investigation and the matter is before the courts.

The police service was not able to say how many people Semenchuck allegedly reached out to – but added that it appeared to have been happening for “a number of years” and more witnesses may now come forward with the charges and allegations made public.

According to Sheikh, since the allegations came to light, RPS has been working closely with its access and privacy unit to implement new policies that would prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

“We introduced new audit systems in May as a result of this investigation,” he said.

The measures include random screening of officers and being much more thorough with internal security processes, according to Sheikh, who said he could not speak on previous protocols before the allegations came to light.

“If there’s somebody who has been dealt with for minor misuses of our computer databases internally, we will thoroughly monitor them and we’re going to be doing random checks to make sure that we are monitoring people.”

Sheikh also said that every time a member logs into an internal system – they must read a warning that reminds them accessing files is for legitimate police uses only.

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In a news release provided to members of the media on Wednesday, RPS provided a photo of Semenchuck.

This was done due to the possibility that some of those affected may know Semenchuck by a different name.

“We’ve done this before in the past for other investigations where we think people may have used a different name. So, in that case if there are additional witnesses or affected people with additional information, we recommend that you contact our professional standards department.”

Semenchuck is scheduled to make his first court appearance on April 22.

“The message here is clear. We have notified all our staff of what’s happened here and we have also reassured them that we will not tolerate [this],” Sheikh said.

He added that the allegations against Semenchuck have had an adverse effect on many RPS members who were disappointed to learn of the alleged incidents.

“Majority of the staff are outstanding here, so they are extremely disappointed today to learn what’s happened here,” Sheikh said.

“Public trust and confidence are paramount to the work that we do here and in the community, we acknowledge that a police officer being charged can negatively impact trust and confidence and I hope that our community can openly recognize our accountability and transparency today.”