Saskatoon police say violent crime is up 10 per cent since last year

Violent crime in Saskatoon was up by nearly 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, according to new data from the Saskatoon Police Service.

In an update for the upcoming board of police commissioners meeting on Thursday, interim Chief Dave Haye reported a spike in homicides between Jan. 1 and March 31, with smaller but significant increases in other violent crimes like stalking and uttering threats compared to the first months of 2023.

Of the six homicides in Saskatoon’s first quarter, Haye writes that factors included illicit drugs, a home invasion, negligence, and an argument. A fatal shooting on Matheson Drive involving two boys, 12 and 13, is listed in his report as “not intentional.”

The two youths each face a manslaughter charge in the death of another 12-year-old boy, who suffered a gunshot wound in the early hours of Feb. 19.

Haye reports that property crime fell by just under 12 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024.

One notable exception is residential break-ins, which were up nearly 38 per cent — that translates to 168 break and enters reported across Saskatoon in that period.

The new crime data describes the city as a whole, but doesn’t address how the rates may differ depending on neighbourhood.

Some residents and businesses in Fairhaven, Confederation and Pleasant Hill have related growing concerns about the homelessness crisis, public drug use and property crime.

In a presentation to the city’s governance and priorities committee last month, members of the police and fire department acknowledged there was a disconnect between people’s deteriorating perceptions of safety and the crime rate reported by police.

They did concede that some zones like the Confederation Suburban Centre experienced a “significant increase” in shoplifting and assaults against staff members of area businesses in 2023, although they said that crime against both people and property in the nearby Fairhaven residential area has remained somewhat steady in the last two years.

Some vocal Fairhaven residents contested that data, telling city councillors that many had simply stopped reporting incidents to police.

In his report before the board of police commissioners this week, interim Chief Haye referenced the previously reported statistics, but didn’t provide updated first-quarter data for these specific areas of concern.

Haye, who will give up the helm to the newly appointed Chief Cameron McBride on Thursday, said the police service is working to address increased crime in the Confederation shopping district.

Police are consulting with businesses to adopt environmental design practices to help deter crime, he says, and alternative response officers are assigned to Confederation and Fairhaven during weekdays.

Hayes says the community engagement division assigned a member “whose sole function is to engage with residents and businesses in these areas on crime or public safety issues,” and that he personally “attended a meeting with representatives of the Fairhaven Community Association to hear them describe what is occurring in their community.”

Despite evidence of a modest decrease in theft and non-residential break-ins city-wide, on Friday Saskatoon business association the NSBA wrote a letter to the board of police commissioners saying it is “deeply concerned about the recent increase in crime and its effects on businesses.”

The organization says it surveyed its members following complaints about the “alarming increase in crime” over the past few months.

According to the NSBA, 80 per cent of its members who responded reported being “directly or indirectly (employees and customers) impacted by the increase in crime,” which has led to increased business expenses and changed hours of operation.

Vandalism and break-ins were the top two concerns expressed by members, particularly businesses in the north end and downtown, NSBA said.

According to the police data, wilful property damage and non-residential break-ins were down 14 per cent and 51 per cent in the first quarter of the year, respectively.

In the letter, NSBA executive director Keith Moen makes five recommendations to the police board to combat the threat experienced by members.

He calls for an increase in police presence and patrols, especially after work hours downtown and in the north end and “stronger enforcement of the law for all illegal activities and going back to basics.”

Moen also contends the police data doesn’t capture the real picture, and is encouraging businesses not to let any crime go unreported, even if they suspect it won’t help.

“Many businesses have ceased reporting crimes due to cumbersome reporting processes and perceived lack of outcomes,” Moen writes.

He wants to see police make it easier to report theft over $5,000, for them to assign a police liaison for the business community in each major district, and to develop a program to compensate businesses for vandalism and property damage.