‘There’s no pattern to them’: Saskatoon police chief troubled by homicide rate
Saskatoon's interim police Chief Dave Haye says he’s troubled by the rise in homicides this year.
“We’re really concerned about the number of homicides we’ve had this year. We’re up to eight,” he said in an interview with CTV News this week.
The number of killings has nearly doubled over the same period last year. According to Saskatoon Police Service data, there were a total of 12 homicides in 2023.
Haye says the thing that makes these cases challenging is the lack of pattern.
“There is no pattern to them … some are related to drugs, some are related to gangs, some were actually just a terrible accident,” Haye said.
Two homicides occurred just this week — a 25-year-old man was fatally shot, and a 24-year-old woman was found dead in a basement suite.
Police said they still investigating these two homicides, and they haven’t released other information.
“Our investigators are working hard, gathering evidence and hopefully we identify and we will identify the people who’re responsible,” Haye said.
The interim police chief said of those eight homicides, police have laid charges in six of them.
According to the Saskatchewan RCMP major crimes unit, there was 50 per cent increase in the number of homicide victims in their detachment areas from 2019 to 2023.
According to the RCMP’s January report, 20 homicides were reported in 2019, compared to 31 in 2020, 33 in 2021, 42 in 2022, and 30 in 2023.
When it comes to persistent concerns about the perception of crime and safety in Fairhaven, the Saskatoon interim police chief says it requires a whole city approach to deal with the issues there.
He said he had a discussion with the Saskatoon mayor and city manager about a whole-city approach.
“The actual solution is something other than crime fighting. When we go in where we’re working within the law that we’re allowed to work within … other organizations can actually provide solutions that we aren’t able to,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Inspires a sense of adventure': Sask. man conquers Mount Everest
A Saskatchewan man made it to the summit of Mount Everest earlier this month.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event. The family asked for privacy and that people honor Murray by being kind to one another.
Some birds may use 'mental time travel,' study finds
Real quick — what did you have for lunch yesterday? Were you with anyone? Where were you? Can you picture the scene? The ability to remember things that happened to you in the past, especially to go back and recall little incidental details, is a hallmark of what psychologists call episodic memory — and new research indicates that it’s an ability humans may share with birds called Eurasian jays.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Hamas rocket attack from Gaza sets off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time in months
Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv for the first time in months on Sunday in a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel's massive air, sea and ground offensive.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 delayed as strong storm forces fans to evacuate Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The start of the Indianapolis 500 was delayed as a strong storm pushed through the area Sunday, forcing Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 fans who had already arrived for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.