Regina police exploring 'tiered policing' options in community, report crime increase in 2021

The Regina Police Service (RPS) has been utilizing “tiered policing” in their day-to-day operations, with the goal of becoming more efficient and effective.

Tiered Policing is defined as a policing strategy that mixes conventional police officers with other service providers with limited powers. These other service providers can include special constables, private security, civilians, volunteers and community partners.

“We’re putting a label on something that is ultimately, ‘how do we deliver a service in our community and how is that service going to be delivered through police personnel,’” Regina police Chief Evan Bray said.

The overall goal of Tiered Policing is to save money, create efficiency and free up resources of officers.

The report states RPS employs 422 sworn police officers, 191 civilian employees and a handful of special constables.

Hiring specialized civilians results in a better use of resources by freeing up police resources to deal with other complex and often criminal activity in the community.

“Knowing that a large portion of the work that we do is social in nature and not criminal in nature, if we can find ways to deliver service or partner with agencies that can help people with those social challenges I think it ultimately provides a better benefit to them,” Bray said “They get the help they need potentially by someone specialized in that area.”

The Police and Crisis Team (PACT) is an example of a partnership, where RPS and the Saskatchewan Health Authority work together to send mental health social workers out to calls with a mental health related-crisis alongside officers.

Bray explained tiered police is not about sending civilians out to do police work, but rather it’s about understanding what the challenges are and thinking about how can we take that information and get people the help they need.

RPS is going to work on a further report to come back with more finite details of the cost benefit analysis and take a look at even more ways to deliver alternate services.

Crime up in 2021

Regina police also presented the year-end crime statistics to the Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday,

The report found 18,552 police-reported crimes in Regina in 2021, a three per cent increase in total crime from 2020.

Chief Bray said they saw some increases in areas of crime in 2021 as things open back up, and he expects to continue to see trends as the world continues to open up post-pandemic.

Homicides have reached their highest level in over a decade. Last year, there were 15 homicides, an increase of four from 2020.

Regina police reported four female victims and eleven male victims ranging in age from two to 52.

In 2021, there was 20 attempted murders reported which is a decrease from its peak in 2019.

“Often, drugs or domestic conflict is at the root of homicide,” said Bray, adding the pandemic, the anxiety people were experiencing, and the complex changes the community and individuals were going through in result of the pandemic, attributed to the number of homicides.

Domestic conflict does not just refer to the typical husband and wife relationship, but includes all types of family relationships including siblings, parent and child.

There was a seven per cent increase in sexual assaults from 2020 to 2021, with 207 reported last year.

An effort has been made in the last few years encouraging people to report this type of assault to police as they know sexual assaults are typically under reported.

“We do hope that those efforts have resulted in more people willing to come forward,” said Bray.

There were also 315 arson occurrences reported last year.

The report states, individuals breaking into abandoned houses and starting fires to remain warm or potentially purposefully igniting them was a pattern in 2021, with several of these occurrences believed to be related to homelessness and substance use.

A spike in dumpster and garbage fires was also reported last year with that type of “senseless” arson being done by youth.

“That speaks to some of the social challenges we’ve seen through COVID with not being in school, no organized activity, all of those kind of social challenges that we as adults experienced through COVID children experienced it as well and sometimes that can manifest in different ways in the community,” Bray said.

There was a three per cent decrease in robberies, a two per cent increase in property crimes, and an 11 per cent increase in theft of motor vehicles.

A 10 per cent increase in break and enters were also reported overall.

Residential break and enters increased by four per cent, while businesses decreased by six per cent.