‘Representation is huge’: Regina’s 1st Black female officer hopes to blaze path for others

When she was preparing to apply for the Regina Police Service, Const. Desiree Ates wondered if she’d ever seen another female Black police officer in the city.

“When I started to dig a little bit more, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, there actually isn’t one. I’d better get on this application quicker rather than later,’” she said, laughing. 

Ates, whose father is Black and whose mother is Indigenous, said it was exciting when she graduated from Regina’s police academy in December and realized she would fill that gap as the city’s first Black female police officer.

“Representation is huge and it matters a lot,” she said, adding she hopes her presence shows other young women what’s possible when they put doubt aside and believe in themselves and what they have to offer.

The Regina Police Service has said it wants to build a more diverse workforce. Visible minorities accounted for 6.9 per cent of sworn members at the end of 2023, a number that increased to 8.4 per cent as of September 2025.

Members have diverse life experiences, which is true of Ates as well.

The 34-year-old and her family originally lived in the U.S. state of Georgia. Her father served with the U.S. military before they moved to Regina when she was in elementary school. 

Ates has had a complicated experience of race and how she was perceived in the two different countries. 

“To an extent, people look at you and they immediately notice your skin before they notice a word that comes out of your mouth,” she said. 

“I felt like in the States, sometimes you were quick to be judged, whereas like here in Canada, I didn’t really feel that.”

Canadians who may have been more discriminatory toward Indigenous people tended not to realize Ates herself was half-Indigenous, she explained. 

But now, as a police officer, she feels she’s able to bridge these worlds. Police services across the country, including in Regina, have grappled with historic tensions and mistrust between Indigenous peoples and police.

Ates said she’s seen that herself.

“Looking at me, they might just think like, ‘Oh, she’s a Black cop, she doesn’t understand my struggle, she doesn’t understand what I’m going through.”

At times, she’s able to explain she has Indigenous family, with her mother having been removed from her own family as part of the Sixties Scoop.

“I’ve seen what this does, this type of addiction, and the effects that it has on a family generation after generation. Sometimes when I’m allowed to open up in situations like that, I definitely find that it’s a benefit.” 

She may be Regina’s 1st Black female officer, but she hopes not to be the only one

Bridging gaps and mistrust starts with building a foundation of understanding between police officers and the community around them, she said. 

“We’re not just there to enforce the law. Sometimes it’s about relationship building, and that relationship starts being built before you even speak a word.”

It’s been a long journey in other ways for Ates. She studied nursing at university as a student athlete playing volleyball, after which she bounced around doing other jobs and travelling. When she graduated from the police academy last year, she said her parents were thrilled she had settled on a career.

“They were over the moon. My mom, every day she tells me like, ‘I’m so proud of you. Like you wanted to do it, signed up, and you did it.’”

Ates gives one of her characteristic belly laughs, adding, “It feels like I’ve grown up. I’ve become a real adult now.”

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For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.