Regina Police Chief Evan Bray. Photo courtesy of Manfred Joehnck.
Saskatchewan continues to have the highest overall crime rate of all the provinces in Canada.
Regina has the highest crime rate of the major cities in Canada, with Saskatoon coming in second. It’s a trend that started seven years ago, with the two cities coming in first or second on the crime count.
The numbers for 2016 were released today by Statistics Canada. Regina’s total crime severity index increased 16 per cent last year, while the national rate remained unchanged. Police Chief Evan Bray says there are a number of reasons for that, including a jump in break-ins, attempted murders and gun crime.
“Firearms, absolutely, and I talked about our attempted murders being up by a large number over 2015, and by an astronomical amount over the last decade,” he said. “2016 was a bad year for firearms and firearm use.”
Regina Mayor Michael Fougere says even though the numbers went up last year, early results for this year indicate a downward trend. He says residents still feel safe in their community.
“So I’m not making excuses here because we have that ranking,” he said. “But we also have a safe city, and I think people believe it, and I know that to be true, but have work to do, there is no question about that.”
Saskatchewan also has the highest crime rate of all the provinces at more than twice the national average.
RCMP released a statement on the numbers, saying there was some encouraging news with a steady decline in property crime over the last 10 months after a six-month spike during the first half of 2016.