Regina’s latest crime statistics show that crimes against people and property are increasing in the City.
Overall, crime was up 16.1 per cent in March compared to last year, with part of that increase seeing crimes against people increasing 19.3 per cent year-over-year, driven by increased robberies, assaults, and sex crimes.
In March, there were 17 robberies and 170 assaults, with the degree of those assaults varying.
Ninety-two assaults were classified as common assault, 59 were classified at a higher level, which is assault with a weapon or causes bodily harm, with there being six instances of aggravated assault, meaning someone was wounded, maimed, disfigured or their life endangered, and 13 “other assaults,” which includes pointing a gun at someone or assaulting an officer.
There were also two cases, each of kidnapping/forcible confinement and criminal harassment/stalking charges.
“Other sex crimes” were up in March, with 11 instances recorded compared to seven last year. That includes sexual interference, luring a child via a computer, bestiality or voyeurism.
Property crime was up 15.2 per cent, mostly due to theft under $5,000 and mischief/wilful damage.
There were 416 charges of theft under $5,000 last month compared to 384 recorded in March 2022. For mischief/wilful damage, there were 204 charges laid, a 44 per cent increase.
WARRANT STRATEGY SHOWS PROGRESS
The Regina Police Service’s warrant strategy showed a decrease in the number of overall warrants and wanted offenders throughout 2022.
The report indicated that the number of wanted offenders in Regina decreased by three per cent, mostly due to provincial statutes and bylaw warrants.
There were 4,850 warrants added to Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) in 2022, while 5,211 warrants were removed.
At the start of 2022, there were 3,094 people who were wanted on 4,235 outstanding warrants in Regina. Of those, 2,890 were Criminal Code warrants.
By the end of 2022, the number of people wanted to be decreased to 3,006 wanted on 3,874 outstanding warrants. Despite the decrease, the number of Criminal Code warrants rose to 2,919.
Of the people wanted on Criminal Code warrants, 59 per cent are believed to be no longer in Regina, have no fixed address or are classified as historical.
