Violent crimes on the rise in Saskatchewan: RCMP

Violent crimes are on the rise in Saskatchewan, according to data from RCMP.

“The reality of the situation is crime continues to increase across Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction,” Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said about the numbers for 2023.

The RCMP  numbers coincide with the release this week of annual Crime Severity Index numbers by Statistics Canada. Those numbers point to Saskatchewan having the highest crime rate and highest crime severity index among provinces in the country.

On Friday, the Saskatchewan RCMP data did not paint a pretty picture about crime trends in over the past 10 years in areas of the province serviced by the RCMP.

“The number of homicide victims has increased by 275 per cent. The number of violent firearms offences has increased by 271 per cent,” said Blackmore.

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Assaults on RCMP officers up 79 per cent

There were also some alarming numbers about assaults on RCMP officers.

“The number of assaults on our RCMP officers increased by 79 per cent,” said Blackmore. According to the statistics, assaults on police were up from 280 in 2014 to 502 in 2023.

RCMP Chief Superintendent Ted Munro shed some light on what the force was seeing so far in 2024.

“In 2024, we’ve seen an average of 41 police officers assaulted per month. From January to June this year, homicides reported to the Saskatchewan RCMP have increased 47 per cent compared to the same time frame in 2023.”

Munro also noted that 44 per cent of those charged with homicides over the past five years were out on conditions when the offence occurred.

RCMP said that while the province’s crime rate is down, that was the result of decreases in other Saskatchewan police force areas. In the Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction, crime is high and increasing.

The RCMP also said the force was handling a disproportionate amount of crime compared to other police in the province.

Even though their jurisdiction is just under half of the provincial population at 46 per cent, the RCMP deal with 60 per cent of total criminal violations. RCMP is seeing a disproportionate amount of crime happening in rural and remote areas, and in particular in the rural and remote north.

Similar homicide numbers to Calgary

The Saskatchewan RCMP data revealed a number of  other trends, including:

• The provincial homicide trend for the entire province has steadily gone up since 1961, reaching a high of 73 in 2022.
• Fourty-three of those 2022 victims were in the RCMP’s jurisdiction, and there were 30 in the RCMP jurisdiction in 2023. The Saskatchewan RCMP says they are seeing similar homicide numbers to what Calgary sees in a year. Homicides in 2024 to date number 23.
• In the past 10 years, 251 homicide files have been investigated, with 215 solved.
• The number of violent firearms offences has also increased over the decade, from 126 in 2014 to 467 in 2023.
• RCMP is responding to 6,500 more victims of  violent crime compared to 10 years ago. The north had 11,694 incidents in 2023, the central area 4,765, and southern Saskatchewan 4,310.
• There were a total of 12,955 assaults in 2023. Most were common assaults, but assaults with a weapon or causing boldly harm have almost doubled in the decade — up from 2,068 in 2014 to 3,840 in 2023. Aggravated assaults were also up from 223 to 315.
• RCMP said a large amount of violent crime can be attributed to intimate partner violence (22 per cent) and family violence (24 per cent).
• Property crime has been increasing over the past 10 years, with RCMP officers investigating almost 12,000 more property crimes in 2023 than a decade ago. The greatest number of property crimes have been in the north (54 per cent), an with only 27 per cent of  Saskatchewan’s population.
• Mischief offences drive most of the property crime in Sask. RCMP jurisdictions, with 20,635 incidents of obstruction of enjoyment of property and 6,658 damage to property reported in 2023.
• There were 2,004 motor vehicle thefts in the Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction, with thefts up 61 per cent from 2014. The most commonly stolen vehicles are trucks, but in 2023 SUVs were in second place, narrowly ahead of cars.

Solutions include addressing addictions, gangs

On Friday, RCMP officials said they were implementing many new strategies to address the rising crime trends.

Blackmore said there was a need to increase police presence, and was encouraged by the provincial government committing to funding a full complement of 1,047 officers.

She also spoke of the need to fill the RCMP’s vacant positions, and the changes to RCMP recruitment so that those who are recruited to the RCMP from Saskatchewan and who want to return to Saskatchewan are able to do so.

Law enforcement is one part of the equation to decrease crime, however.

“Social issues like substance addictions, gangs and the absence of community resources are some of the root causes of crime. These issues are complex and take a concerted multi-agency response.”

Blackmore also pointed to some of the issues they are seeing in the north of the province.

“… vulnerable communities (are) being impacted by gangs from outside of their community, outside of the province,” said Blackmore.

“It’s something that we’re very … alert to and making sure that we’re doing our best to address.”

Blackmore also said the RCMP was reassigning their crime reduction teams to the affected communities and deal with prolific offenders. She also said there was a need for more mental health and addictions treatments in the north and in remote communities.

Blackmore encouraged people to report crimes while also highlighting an increase in intimidation by gang members on potential witnesses.

“We’re doing our best to try to work with those witnesses.”

She said the justice system needed to look at how it addresses people charged with crimes.

“When we have individuals charged with a serious crime and then not held in jail, it’s certainly intimidating for some of those witnesses.”

Read more

• Regina driver charged after pedestrian seriously injured on Broad Street
• Regina man charged with sexual assault, luring a minor
• Community rallies around victim of Saskatoon lemonade stand robbery