A homicide that took place on Saskatoon’s Melrose Avenue in 2022 is being repurposed as a reminder of how resource-intensive police investigations are.

At the recent Board of Police Commissioners meeting, board members were shown a video titled ‘The Anatomy of a Homicide’. It was created using mainly body and dash cam footage captured in the 700 Block of Melrose Avenue following the homicide of Brandon Baxandall.

The video shares that during the first 38 hours of the investigation, 54 officers reported to the scene, who collectively worked over 120 hours of overtime.

Alyson Edwards with the Saskatoon Police Service says the video demonstrates why it’s so critical for police to front-end load a response, and why investigations are such a draw on police resources.

“And then, of course, you have the public, who are addicted to true crime in many cases, whether that be television shows, movies or podcasts, and we felt this was a really good example of how it’s happening in real life.”

She adds that the video was a response to the need for community awareness regarding the work Saskatoon Police do.

“We knew that there was a need to raise awareness and create a better understanding of the really important work being done by the Saskatoon Police Service. We feel like the report and the video encapsulate that in one specific incident.”

Mayor Charlie Clark says the video was successful in giving a realistic glance into how much work goes into an investigation.

“There’s a huge amount of responsibility on the Police Service to be able to effectively secure the scene and all the things that are outlined there, that I think are probably underappreciated or misunderstood.”

Click on the link to view the video.