REGINA - The midyear crime statistics are out for the city of Regina, and they show Regina Police Service making some headway to reverse some upward crime trends seen over the last number of years.
The numbers for RPS were presented to the meeting of the Regina Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday. According to the report covering the period January to June, there were 9590 police reported crimes in the first half of 2024, a three per cent decrease from a year ago but a 14 per cent increase compared to 10 years ago, when the number was at 8,411. Numbers have fluctuated over the past decade with a high of 10,722 in 2019 and a low of 8,272 in 2021
Violent crimes decreased by one per cent in the first half compared to a year ago, a reversal of an upward trend with a 42 per cent increase since midyear 2015. There had been a rise in level one assaults and assaults against police officers compared to a year ago, but that has been offset by reductions in extortion, robbery and threats.
There was also a 13 per cent decrease in property crimes, driven by decreases in break and enter, mischief, and thefts. Other criminal code offences were up by four per cent, due mainly to breach offences.
In the category of homicide and attempted murder, numbers have fluctuated over the past decade with a high of eight in 2020, but lows of three each seen in 2023 and 2024. Attempted murders are slightly down from a year ago, from 17 down to 14.
Numbers of assault victims increased by three per cent from 2023 to 2024, up from 1208 to 1247. The numbers of Assault 1, the lowest level of assault, were at nine per cent, while the more serious Assault 2 and Assault 3 categories decreased by four and seven percent. Sexual assaults have been on the rise, with 106 reported in 2024 compared to 98 a year earlier.
Some progress on arsons
A major concern in the city has been the increase of arson cases over the past decade. Arson has seen a steady increase from a low of 50 in 2015, up to 194 in 2023 and now 268 in 2024.
When adding in the latest numbers for July the number of arsons for the year to date stands at 305, a 20.6 per cent increase compared to a year ago. But that percentage increase has been brought down considerably from 69 per cent year-to-year recorded in April. There was also positive news seen in the month of July, with total arson down for the month year-to-year from 59 in 2023 to 36 in 2024.
Police Chief Farooq Sheikh pointed to progress seen lately by Regina Police to address the arson situation, particularly in garbage bin fires which had driven much of the earlier increases.
“What we weren’t doing before, we weren’t identifying in the report the breakdown of the arsons, what kind of type, was it garbage fires, etc. So we’re breaking that down more, and we identified that most of the fires (were) to garbage bins. So working collectively with the City and the Fire (department), can we get those garbage bins emptied sooner? Can we make sure that we’re patrolling in the right areas to make sure that we are proactively going out there and arrest suspects. And what happens with a lot of offences normally is that a few offenders are doing most offences. So I think, coupled with a few things we’re doing and the fact that we are arresting more people in the last few months, (those) are some of the things that are bringing it down as well as our patrol strategies.”
Overall, Sheikh was happy with what he was seeing this year in the monthly numbers, which showed a year to date decline of 10.3 percent in total persons and property crimes in 2024.
“When I look at violent crime, property, crime, auto crime, and stuff like that, and the crimes that are coming down, that’s reassuring to me. And I just want to make sure that we maintain that and continue to do that.”
