Regina reports 20 per cent decrease in crime severity from 2019 to 2020
The Regina area has recorded a drop in the severity of reported crimes from 2019 to 2020, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Centre for Justice.
Regina reported a 20 per cent drop, the most significant decrease among census metropolitan areas (CMA). On Tuesday morning, the Regina Police Service presented the latest details on the crime severity index.
Police say this is largely due to a decline in break and enters, theft under $5,000, theft of vehicles and fraud.
The police chief says the pandemic changed people’s behaviours – which reduced the opportunity for a lot of crime.
“We saw property crime decreased significantly in 2020 and we’ve talked about that through the pandemic about how just the difference in behaviour, people working from home and businesses being closed down, has really allowed for a decrease in property-related crime in our community,” Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said.
The Regina CMA saw an 11 per cent increase in drug-related crimes from 2019 to 2020.
Bray says this is partially to do with extra enforcement being put on these investigations - but also because Regina is experiencing a major drug problem.
“Overdoses were at an all-time high,” Bray recalled. “We ended the year with over 1,200 overdoses in the year, approximately 10 per cent of those were fatal, which is a serious number and that’s a number that is very unique to our city.”
Out of the provinces and territories, Saskatchewan rated number three in homicide ratings at 5.09 - behind the Northwest Territories at 13.29 and Nunavut at 7.62
Saskatchewan ranked fourth in attempted murders with a rating of 3.90 - behind Nunavut at 17.79, the Yukon at 7.13 and Nova Scotia at 4.80. The province was also rated the highest in methamphetamine charges with a rate of 92.
Chief Bray said overall these numbers are down, but as restrictions lift across the country, Canada may see an increase in 2021 numbers.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.