Sask. RCMP says it received more reports of domestic violence than municipal police last year

The Saskatchewan RCMP says its officers responded to more incidents of intimate partner and family violence in 2023 than municipal police, exceeding both provincial and national rates.

The RCMP’s provincial statistics for 2023 showed intimate partner violence rates grew to 813 reports per 100,000 residents, while family violence rates were at 890 reports per 100,000.

That compares to provincial rates of 710 and 741 per 100,000, the RCMP said. Provincial rates encompass both municipal police services and RCMP detachments.

“Crime statistics shared by Saskatchewan RCMP earlier this year indicate that calls for police service to intimate partner and family violence incidents have increased by 13 [per cent] over the past five years across the jurisdiction, with regional increases of 19 [per cent] in Central District, 14 [percent] in North District, and [seven per cent] in South District over the same period,” the release said.

The RCMP says intimate partner violence includes physical or sexual assault, harassment, uttering threats and other types of violence by a current or former common law partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, or other intimate partner.

Family violence is a broader category, RCMP says, and includes violence by a spouse as well as by a parent, step-parent, sibling, child, or other family relationship.

“It can happen to anyone, and we see it across all socioeconomic circumstances,” RCMP domestic violence coordinator Sgt. Kim Stewart said in the release.

Stewart is part of a unit that specializes in intimate partner and family violence investigations, offender risk assessments and keeping victims safe from further incidents, the RCMP said.

The RCMP says both forms of domestic violence increased across all of Canada in 2023.