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A local pastor says a new report on crime statistics in the Fairhaven and Confederation Park neighbourhoods since the Emergency Wellness Centre opened in December of 2022 does not reflect the reality that many residents and businesses are seeing on a daily basis.
“If we want to give a complete report and have a full picture, we need to hear the stories,” Fairhaven Baptist Church pastor Robert Pearce said.
Those stories include the experiences many residents and businesses have had over the past year that have not been reported to police or that don’t make up the official statistics, he added.
The report, titled “Community Changes and Response to Emergency Shelters,” was completed by both the Saskatoon Fire Department and Saskatoon Police Service. It will be presented to city councillors on Wednesday at the governance and priorities committee meeting.
The report indicates that in 2023, the number of Saskatoon Fire Department interactions with people in homeless encampments throughout the city nearly doubled, from just over 500 in 2022 to more than 1,000.
Interactions with those who were homeless increased nearly 66 per cent, from 221 to 366 during the same time period.
In the Confederation Suburban Centre, which is next door to Fairhaven, the number of needles recovered by the SFD skyrocketed from 73 in 2022 to 541 in 2023, while in Fairhaven the numbers went from just a few to 84.
The number of overdoses in both areas also increased, while there were 227 emergencies or near emergencies at the Emergency Wellness Centre itself when a fire engine or inspector was dispatched.
Calls for police and fire department service, property crimes, and violent crimes have increased in the Fairhaven and Confederation Suburban Centre areas since the Emergency Wellness Centre opened. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)
According to the report, since the Emergency Wellness Centre opened its doors, social disorder calls have increased as have property and violent crimes in both Confederation SC and in Fairhaven.
“Violent crime has increased, particularly with respect to common assaults and robberies,” read the report, referring to the Confederation Suburban Centre.
The report shows that in 2023, there were 1,297 property crimes in the Confederation area compared with the 2018-22 average of 646 per year. The 2023 number was more than double that average.
There were also 218 violent crimes in the same area in 2023 compared with 82 on average between 2018 and 2022. In Fairhaven, violent crimes increased from an average of 69 in the previous five years to 96 in 2023.
Pearce said the report is a good start, but more needs to be done.
“After the shelter opened, what we did notice is there was a lot of crimes that never really occurred before. So we have armed robberies, we have assault, assault with a weapon, people possessing illegal weapons (and) home invasions, which I don’t think really ever happened,” he said.
He thinks some may be getting used to the increase in crime.
“A lot of it has to do with — and it pains me to say this — I think people are getting accustomed to things that are happening in their community that never happened before and shouldn’t be happening in any residential community,” he said.
“As a city, this should be disturbing us.”
Pearce said community consultations are needed so that residents and business owners can express what’s happening to them, adding that many people are frustrated.
“That’s an important part of the healing process … We’re going to hold our own public consultations … I’m not waiting for the city to figure out how and when they want to do this. That should be on our timetable … If (city officials) care enough, then they’ll be there to hear it,” he said.
Pearce has also called for the closure of the EWC in an open letter addressed to Premier Scott Moe, Health Minister Everett Hindley, Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky and Public Safety Minister Paul Merriman.
Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand is expected to respond to the report and the crime statistics included in it relating to the EWC on Friday morning.
