Saskatoon police stats show Fairhaven crime not rising, despite lingering fears

After weeks of breathless demands from neighbourhood residents who say a nearby homeless shelter is contributing to a crime wave, police released statistics from the two neighbourhoods at the centre of the controversy.

Some residents of the Fairhaven and Confederation Suburban Area neighbourhoods believe crime has significantly increased since the Emergency Wellness Centre came to the area in December 2022.

“We’ve had a number of attempts to forcibly enter the church while we’ve been here,” said Robert Pearce, a pastor at a nearby church.

While some residents echo his concerns, a recent report from Saskatoon police and fire said violent crime in the area has fluctuated for years.

The report comes after city councillor Darren Hill requested crime stats for the two neighbourhoods. The report said violence increased one month before the shelter opened, and a few months afterwards, however, December 2021 and January 2024 show the same number of monthly incidents.

But Pearce said these numbers don’t paint the full picture.

“I think a lot of people have gotten to the point where they just don’t want to report it. There’s nothing the police will do about it, nothing they can do about it, so they just deal with the loss,” he said.

Current ward 3 councillor David Kirton said it’s crucial to report all incidents so there’s accurate data.

“I expect that I’ll hear from residents that these statistics don’t really reflect what’s going on in the neighbourhoods. They do, these are solid statistics, but if people aren’t reporting the crime, then,” Kirton said.

The report notes that 2023 was the first time in the Saskatoon Police Service’s history that over 150,000 calls for service were made to police.

Since the shelter opened, the report said calls for service and property crime initially increased in both neighbourhoods surrounding it. The property crime impact was most severe in the Confederation area, where numbers are still much higher than in 2022. However, Fairhaven has seen a decline back to 2021 levels since the initial increase.

Meanwhile the Saskatoon Fire Department said last year it saw the number of encampments almost double and saw 500 more overdose incidents compared to the previous years.

The fire department responded to 227 emergencies at the shelter, including requests for public assistance and medical calls.

"I’m hopeful that the investments council is making in trying to address this and also the partnership that we are working on with the province will help to alleviate some of these concerns," deputy mayor Cynthia Block said.

The Saskatoon Tribal Council, which runs the shelter, declined to comment, but said it plans to hold a press conference Friday morning.